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Philomena

In the reliable hands of British director Stephen Frears, this astonishing story is told with remarkable sensitivity and simplicity. Holding it together is a never-better Judi Dench, mustering all her twinkly charm and occasional miserliness as Philomena, ably accompanied by a world-weary Coogan. A film that will both break and heal your heart.

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Synopsis

Steve Coogan plays journalist Martin Sixsmith, who becomes privy to the story of Philomena Lee (Dench), an Irish Catholic plagued by regret. As a pregnant teenager in Ireland she was shipped off to a convent where nuns forcibly adopted her child, who she has been looking for ever since. Persuaded by Sixsmith, she sets out on a journey to uncover the truth about her long-lost son.