The Sea, film review: Ciarán Hinds's soulful performance captures sense of loss

(12A) Stephen Brown, 87 mins Starring: Ciarán Hinds, Charlotte Rampling

John Banville scripted this adaptation of his own Booker Prize-winning novel. Inevitably, fans of the book have complained that the film doesn't do it justice but this is stirring, atmospheric fare in its own right.

Ciarán Hinds gives a soulful performance as the bereaved husband revisiting the seaside resort where he had some of the most turbulent experiences of his childhood. As he puts it, he is "fleeing one sadness by revisiting the scene of an old one".

The film, evocatively shot by John Conroy and with a haunting score by Andrew Hewitt, moves gracefully between periods in its protagonist's life and captures his sense of yearning and loss.