The Bookshop

In a small English coastal town in 1959, a widow named Florence Green decides to open a bookshop in a long-empty house. Her plan meets polite but determined resistance from local residents, and her choice of stock, including Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, sharpens the conflict. The town's most influential figure, Violet Gamart, works against her, while Florence finds an unexpected ally in the reclusive widower Mr. Brundish.

Isabel Coixet directed and wrote the screenplay, adapting Penelope Fitzgerald's novel. The film sits seventh in her filmography, following Endless Night and preceding Elisa & Marcela. Emily Mortimer plays Florence, with Bill Nighy as Mr. Brundish and Patricia Clarkson as Violet Gamart; James Lance, Hunter Tremayne and Honor Kneafsey appear in supporting roles. The production was a German, British and Spanish co-production made for about 5 million dollars, and it took roughly 12 million dollars worldwide, a solid return on its budget.

Reception was modest. On IMDb it holds 6.5 from around 19,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.5 from about 471 votes, while a critics' rating stands at 5.5 from 111 reviews, slightly below the audience scores.