Edie

This unapologetically metaphorical drama about seizing the day in later life proves a vehicle worthy of Sheila Hancock, whose own third-act renaissance has been predominantly on stage. She plays the eponymous 83-year-old in director Simon Hunter's gentle but never saccharine portrait of a suburban wife and mother who feels she's wasted her life caring for a controlling husband. Sensing a final chance following his death - and temperamentally unsuited to the zombification of a nursing home - she heads to Scotland to scale the 731-metre Suilven mountain that her father always wanted to climb in her company, but never did. This majestic location in Sutherland symbolises possibility and fresh air in stark contrast to Edie's grey English life. Comically ill-equipped for the trip, she accepts help from a young, initially mercenary guide, warmly played by Kevin Guthrie (Sunshine on Leith). Hancock lives the part, leavening bone-deep regret with the ability to match Guthrie in fireside banter. She also gamely camped out for real, bringing authenticity to her battle with the elements. There are few surprises along the way, but the central relationship visibly deepens in a touching and empowering film that reaches out across the generations.