Midwinter Break

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2:12

Midwinter Break

PG-13

Feb 2026

1h 30m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

63%

Tomatometer

52 Reviews

42%

Popcornmeter

50+ Verified Ratings

MIDWINTER BREAK is a stirring meditation on faith, commitment, and the enduring power of love, as a longtime couple takes a life-changing trip to Amsterdam.

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Critics Consensus

While Ciarán Hinds and Lesley Manville are characteristically terrific playing off each other, this rumination on love and spirituality is so restrained that it veers into tedium.

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Donald Clarke

Irish Times

Mar 20

3.5/5

Hinds and Manville skilfully convey a relationship founded on the most fragile of intertwining insecurities. We get a sense that both understand the evasions they are making and accept them for fear of bringing the whole structure down upon their heads.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Mar 19

5/5

There is often something soft and fuzzy and depressing in the wrong way about these films’ lenient sunset-sentimentalism -- but not so with Polly Findlay’s fiercely sad, spiky and wonderfully acted film.

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Keith Uhlich

(All (Parentheses)) (Substack)

Feb 27

Feature-debuting theater director Polly Findlay keeps things gentle and dutiful, with even the should-be-revelatory scenes (Manville’s teary to-a-stranger confessional, particularly) curdled by senescent sentiment.

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John Serba

Decider

4d

The drab Midwinter Break never fulfills the promise of its powerhouse leads.

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Chuck Bowen

Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)

May 8

Most movies give us much less than Manville and Hinds at the peak of their artistry.

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Graeme Tuckett

The Post NZ

Apr 29

4.5/5

This is a simple, quiet film, but it is brilliantly performed and assembled. If you have the maturity to hear what it is saying, then I think you might like it very much indeed.

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Anita K

Mar 7

Slow moving and most boring!

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Bob G

Mar 4

not terrible not great.

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Randle

Mar 2

Very slow. Good characters and acting. Plot twist is underwhelming.

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Mike

Mar 1

Slow, but that's on purpose. It's a very small movie, about two people who are trying to navigate their lives. I'm glad I saw it, and now want to read the book.

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Mindy

Mar 1

It was a very slow, dark and sad movie. We didn’t like it at all.

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Patti

Feb 28

Depressing from start to finish !!!

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Polly Findlay

Director

Lesley Manville

Stella

Ciarán Hinds

Gerry

Niamh Cusack

Kathy

Leila Laaraj

Hennie

Julie Lamberton

Young Stella

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Midwinter Break: Trailer 1

2:12

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Synopsis

MIDWINTER BREAK is a stirring meditation on faith, commitment, and the enduring power of love, as a longtime couple takes a life-changing trip to Amsterdam.

Director: Polly Findlay
Producer: Guy Heeley, Floor Onrust
Screenwriter: Bernard MacLaverty, Nick Payne
Distributor: Focus Features
Production Co: Shoebox Films, Film4
Rating: PG-13 (Bloody Images|Alcoholism|Some Strong Language|Suggestive Material|Thematic Material)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 20, 2026, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 10, 2026
Box Office (Gross USA): $506.8K
Runtime: 1h 30m

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