Jimmy's Hall

Set in Ireland in 1932, Jimmy's Hall tells the story of James Gralton, a political activist who returns home after ten years in the United States. He had left the country after building a hall in his rural community where local young people could dance, box, study drawing and take part in other cultural activities. The church and local politicians disapproved of the hall, and Gralton was forced to leave. Now back to help his mother run the family farm, he hopes for a quiet life, but the young people of the area urge him to reopen the hall. He hesitates before agreeing, and the same opponents who drove him out before begin to work against him once more.

Ken Loach directed the film, the seventeenth of the twenty features listed in his filmography, following The Angels' Share and preceding I, Daniel Blake. Paul Laverty and Donal O'Kelly wrote the screenplay, with Rebecca O'Brien producing. Barry Ward plays Gralton, alongside Simone Kirby, Jim Norton, Andrew Scott, Brían F. O'Byrne and Francis Magee.

The film was released in 2014 and runs 106 minutes. Made for about 7 million dollars, it took roughly 5 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.7 out of 10 from around 7,300 votes, and on TMDB 6.7 out of 10 from 211 votes. A critics' rating of 6.8 out of 10 from 99 reviews places it slightly above the audience scores.