Saoirse Ronan shines as a woman who journeys from post-war small-town Ireland to New York in Nick Hornby's adaptation of Colm Tóibín's best-selling novel.

There aren't many opportunities for young women in postwar Ireland, but soft-spoken Eilis (Ronan) is lucky: America has long been considered the land of opportunity, and when her family makes arrangements with a kindly Brooklyn priest (Jim Broadbent) for her to move there, she jumps at the opportunity. Overcoming the turbulent waves of both sea and homesickness, she sets about establishing her new life on American shores and is soon filled with the joy of young love and the promise of a future when she falls in love with doting Italian American Tony (Emory Cohen) - a handsome young man with an infectious passion for life. But when an unexpected family tragedy forces her to return to Ireland, her freshly acquired sophistication attracts the attention of Jim (Domhnall Gleeson) and the prospect of a permanent return home.

With captivating performances from an excellent ensemble cast (including a delicious turn from Julie Walters as Eilis' Brooklyn landlady), this warm and affecting drama captures perfectly its central character's exquisite pain of choosing: between an Irish homeland and the new promise of America; the dapper certainty of one suitor and the infectious dreams of another.

• The screenings of Brooklyn on Tue 24 Nov are part of our Cinébites deal: Get 30% off any main dish in the Café/Bar with a valid cinema ticket.

We’re getting a new kitchen in December

Throughout December the builders will be in to fit our new kitchen. We will still have a Soups and Sharing Platters menu and the bar will be open as usual but as the kitchen will be closed Cinebites is going to take a month’s break. Find out more here, including details of the schedule of work. Thank you for your patience in advance.

---