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Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story

Play trailer Poster for Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story 2024 1h 38m Documentary Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 22 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
In 1960, a young Irish woman named Edna O’Brien wrote a sexually frank debut novel, The Country Girls. She became a literary sensation, writing for The New Yorker, delivering provocative interviews, and authoring screenplays. Her success enraged her writer husband and made her a pariah in her native Ireland, where her books were banned and burned. She would make her home in London, where she conducted numerous love affairs, hosted star-studded parties, and made and lost a fortune. In July 2024, Edna passed away and this film provides a final testimony from her, aged 93, as she reflects upon her extraordinary life for filmmaker Sinéad O'Shea's camera. Granting the director access to her personal journals, read aloud in the film by the Oscar-nominated Irish actress Jessie Buckley, and with additional perspectives offered from Gabriel Byrne, Walter Mosley and an array of renowned writers, Edna does not shy from any subject.

Critics Reviews

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Nicole Flattery Sight & Sound Nov 5
As an ode to O’Brien’s life, Blue Road is generous but frequently doesn’t move beyond the surface of this complicated woman. Go to Full Review Kevin Maher The Times (UK) Apr 28
4/5
O’Shea’s moving, polemical work is full of bold aesthetic choices that portray a lucid, passionate woman in her final days, ruefully reflecting via a procession of low, whispery and faltering breaths. Go to Full Review Mark Kermode Kermode and Mayo's Take (YouTube) Apr 25
The documentary makes really good use of interviews, of readings, of archive footage. Go to Full Review Stephen A. Russell Flicks (AU, NZ, UK) Jun 18
Sinéad O’Shea’s bracing documentary honours the Irish writer whose novels unashamedly embraced sexuality in a way that was okay for James Joyce but scandalous for her ... O'Brien gets the last laugh. Go to Full Review Kathy Fennessy Seattle Film Blog May 14
4/4
Though an American could have made this documentary, and it wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world, only an Irish woman could really get her as thoroughly. Go to Full Review Sarah Manvel Movies We Texted About May 2
There are very many roadblocks to women being able to succeed in their chosen careers, and Blue Road demonstrates the intermingled joys and price of that success better than most. With only two movies Ms. O’Shea has become a director of global importance. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jessica B Aug 4 A completely compelling and brutally unapologetic account of this magnificent writer who did so much to lay bare the ignominies suffered by women in Ireland and abroad without ever losing her love of life. Ironically her life was seriously blighted by the significant men in her life but this undoubtedly fuelled her writings. The film contains fascinating clips from TV interviews and depictions of rural Ireland as well as a wonderful eclectic soundtrack. See more Read all reviews
Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story

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Cast & Crew

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Sinéad O'Shea

Director

Edna O'Brien

Self

Jessie Buckley

Edna

Declan Conlon

Ernest

Gabriel Byrne

Self

Sinéad O'Shea

Writer
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Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story

Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story (2025) Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story (2025) Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story (2025) Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story (2025) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In 1960, a young Irish woman named Edna O’Brien wrote a sexually frank debut novel, The Country Girls. She became a literary sensation, writing for The New Yorker, delivering provocative interviews, and authoring screenplays. Her success enraged her writer husband and made her a pariah in her native Ireland, where her books were banned and burned. She would make her home in London, where she conducted numerous love affairs, hosted star-studded parties, and made and lost a fortune. In July 2024, Edna passed away and this film provides a final testimony from her, aged 93, as she reflects upon her extraordinary life for filmmaker Sinéad O'Shea's camera. Granting the director access to her personal journals, read aloud in the film by the Oscar-nominated Irish actress Jessie Buckley, and with additional perspectives offered from Gabriel Byrne, Walter Mosley and an array of renowned writers, Edna does not shy from any subject.
Director
Sinéad O'Shea
Producer
Eleanor Emptage
Screenwriter
Sinéad O'Shea
Production Co
SOS Films
Genre
Documentary, Biography
Original Language
British English
Runtime
1h 38m