''My Sailor, My Love'' is a 2022 Irish

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Klaus Härö Klaus Härö (; born 31 March 1971 in Porvoo, Finland) is a Finnish film director. In 2004, he won Finland's State Prize for Art. Härö grew up in a Swedish-speaking Finnish family. He studied directing and attended screen writing seminars at ...

. An international co-production between

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the project marked Härö's English language debut. The film premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

, and was subsequently distributed by

Music Box Films Music Box Films is a distributor of foreign and independent film in theatrical, DVD/Blu-ray, and video-on-demand markets in the United States. Based in Chicago, Music Box Films is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corpo ...

. The cast includes

James Cosmo James Ronald Gordon Copeland (born 1947), known professionally as James Cosmo, is a Scottish actor. Known for his character work, he has played supporting roles in films such as '' Highlander'' (1986), ''Braveheart'' (1995), '' Trainspotting' ...

, Bríd Brennan, Catherine Walker,

Nora-Jane Noone Nora-Jane Noone (born 8 March 1984) is an Irish actress. In 2020, ''The Irish Times'' ranked her 47th on its list of the greatest Irish film actors of all time. She made her screen debut in her breakthrough role film ''The Magdalene Sisters'' ( ...

, Aidan O’Hare,

Gina Costigan Gina Costigan is an Irish actress of stage and screen. She appeared in the original Broadway companies of Jez Butterworth's '' The Ferryman'' and Martin McDonagh's '' Hangmen''. In 2023 she starred as Grace in the UK National Tour of Brian Friel ...

, and Molly McCann.Gates, Marya E. “My Sailor, My Love Movie Review (2023).” RogerEbert.com, September 22, 2023. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/my-sailor-my-love-movie-review-2023. The film was nominated for the 2023 Dublin Film Critics Circle Award for Best Irish Film. For his performance

was nominated for the

BAFTA Scotland Award The British Academy Scotland Awards are presented annually at an awards ceremony organised by BAFTA Scotland. History The annual British Academy Scotland Awards were launched in 2004 to recognise outstanding achievement by individuals working in t ...

for Best Actor. Bríd Brennan and Catherine Walker received nominations from the

Irish Film & Television Academy The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...

for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.

Plot

Cast

as Howard * Bríd Brennan as Annie * Catherine Walker as Grace *

as Kelly * Aidan O’Hare as Martin *

as Joyce * Molly McCann as Alison

Reception

The film received generally positive reviews. On the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 30 reviews.Rotten Tomatoes. “My Sailor, My Love.” Rotten Tomatoes. Accessed February 27, 2025. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_sailor_my_love. Critics have praised the film's nuanced portrayal of familial relationships. Marya E. Gates of

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

noted that the film excels when delving into Grace's pain, highlighting how it has affected her interactions with others. Similarly, Similarly, ''Loud and Clear Reviews'' commended the film for subtly shifting audience perceptions of its characters, particularly in exploring the complexities of Grace and Howard's relationship. Amy Nicholson in a reiview for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' was more critical, noting "The painful dynamic is credible; the dialogue not so much. Still, the actors are in full command of our empathy, especially Brennan’s gray-haired caretaker who, when she cracks open her heart, seems to glow from within."Nicholson, Amy. “‘My Sailor, My Love’ Review: Rough Waters at Home.” The New York Times, September 21, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/21/movies/my-sailor-my-love-review.html.

Awards

References

External links

*{{imdb title, tt5851696 Irish drama films 2022 drama films 2020s Irish films