★★★☆☆ The Queen director Stephen Frears' latest offering Philomena (2013), one of a plethora of Oscar hopefuls at this year's BFI London Film Festival, is a heartfelt and nicely poised dramatisation following the true story of Philomena Lee. Its further bolstered by two classy performances from the ever-reliable, but utterly brilliant Judi Dench as the titular heroine, and an effectively restrained turn from Steve Coogan as former BBC reporter Martin Sixsmith. In 1952, Philomena was sent to a Rosecrea convent after falling pregnant. Here, she would give birth to her son, Anthony, who was cared for by the nuns while she worked off her debts.

The convent's nuns subsequently gave away the child to an American couple, whilst Philomena would keep her son's existence a secret for fifty years. The story finally came out when Sixsmith, a disgraced spin doctor, took up the slack and published his 2009 book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee.