A four-time Oscar nominee and she’s still only 30, actress Saoirse Ronan has shown the breadth of her talent across comedies, period pieces and action. In The Outrun, from director Nora Fingscheidt, she tackles the challenging territory of addiction, playing alcoholic Rona, and, as ever, she’s sensational. Based on Amy Liptrot’s memoir and set on the Orkney Islands, the film is a vivid portrait of redemption and rebirth, and a love letter to the rugged Scottish landscape.

‘I can’t be happy sober,’ Rona despairs in this sometimes devastating, but ultimately hopeful drama. We see her self-destruction in flashbacks, as Rona throws away her relationship with Daynin (Paapa Essiedu) and a promising scientific career in London, due to an inescapable desire to be drunk. Sloping reluctantly back to Orkney when it all goes wrong, she is revealed to have a difficult relationship with her kind but suffocatingly religious mum (Saskia Reeves), while Rona’s bipolar farmer father (Stephen Dillane) needs care and support from her.

There are some optimistic depictions of rural internet connection, but otherwise this feels bracingly authentic. The Outrun might be stunningly shot and alive to the healing power of home, but it’s also beautifully unsentimental on Rona’s relationships with her family and the local area. It captures the fierceness of the wind, waves and rain, with the ferocious Scottish weather turning out to be a powerful ally in Rona’s battle against her demons.

The Outrun was screened as part of Edinburgh International Film Festival and is in cinemas on Friday 27 September.