When the weather is bad, it’s always nice to be able to jet off somewhere and get away from it all. And living in the UK, there are a number of attractive locations to go to that are just a short hop away.

One of the closest, and most appealing for a number of reasons, is Amsterdam. It’s a beautiful city, with attractive canals to walk along and to avoid falling into. And then there’s the notorious red light district, which brings new meaning to window shopping. And a number of coffee houses, where you have to be careful how many brownies you have, speaking from experience.

For all of the above, it attracts a mostly youthful crowd, but this drama sees an unusually older couple visit there.

An older Irish couple, living in Glasgow are Stella (Lesley Manville) and Gerry (Ciarán Hinds). With their son, with his own family, not coming to visit them for Christmas, Stella decides to give her hubby a gift they can both benefit from – a trip to Amsterdam.

The trip gets off to a good start, with the pair igniting their passion, but they quickly drift apart, as Stella had an ulterior reason for going, with her spiritual side seeking attention, with her difficult past resurfacing, that causes a problematic rift between her and Gerry.

This is the directorial debut for Polly Findlay, after a career in directing a number of theatre productions. And despite the picturesque locale, you could see the story working well as a two-hander on stage, which may have been the appeal.

It’s based on Bernard MacLaverty’s 2017 novel of the same name, and features two strong performances from Manville and Hinds, as a couple floating apart emotionally on a trip.

The story takes its time to reveal itself, with Stella haunted by an incident that happened to her in Belfast, which found her making a pledge to God that she never fulfilled. Once revealed, it doesn’t quite feel impactful enough to still resonate all these years later; if anything, it comes across as a narrow escape. You have to factor in Catholic guilt though, but even then it doesn’t feel enough to warrant what transpires on their break.

That said, the pair are very watchable, with Manville sporting a believable Irish accent, which makes many of their shared scenes deeply heartfelt.

On top of that, it works well as a short break destination advert for Amsterdam, looking idyllic, that will no doubt encourage a fair few to pack their bags and explore there.

It’s an unflashy debut for Findlay, who captures the relationship between the pair with a nuanced and sympathetic eye, that just about papers over the dubious crux of the film’s narrative.