A classic post-war film has been celebrated as “one of the most beautiful movies ever made”. The picture follows a young Irish woman torn between two worlds during the 1950s.

Both critics and audiences have lavished praise upon its emotional precision and timeless appeal. Boasting an impressive 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, Brooklyn (2015) is the perfect weekend watch. It is now available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer but the platform warns viewers they only have 18 days left to catch the film.

Brooklyn (2015) is based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Irish author Colm Tóibín. Set in the 1950s, young Irishwoman Eilis Lace (played by Saoirse Ronan) leaves her small hometown behind in pursuit of a fresh start in Brooklyn.

Although she initially battles homesickness, she gradually finds her feet. Eilis ultimately finds love in Brooklyn and embraces her newfound independence. However, an unexpected family crisis draws her back to Ireland, where she finds herself entangled once more in the life she left behind.

Caught between her past and her future, Eilis must decide between two countries and the vastly different lives each one represents. Booklyn was awarded the Outstanding British Film award at the 2016 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs).

The film also received several nominations, including Best Leading Actress (Ronan), Best Supporting Actress (Julie Walters), Best Adapted Screenplay (Nick Hornby), Best Costume Design (Odile Dicks-Mireaux) and Best Make Up & Hair (Morna Ferguson, Lorraine Glynn).

Brooklyn was also nominated for three Oscars, including Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Leading Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Reviews

“In short, Brooklyn is one of the very best films of the past decade and worth looking back on,” wrote Dave Giannini for InSession Film.

Awarding the film a five out of five, Don Shanahan from Film Obsessive shared: “Brooklyn is a forthright, approachable, and esteemed historical drama where the dignity and honesty soar to heavenly heights to shine on the plights of love and independence.”

Viewers were equally effusive in their praise for the film. One remarked: “Beautiful story. One of the best movies. Moving.” Another enthused: “Beautiful classic in every sense of the word. Outstanding performances. Atmospheric joy. Don’t miss it.”

A third wrote: “It’s a masterpiece, and profoundly moving, especially if you’re an immigrant yourself. The closing is one of the most beautiful romantic scenes ever. In my opinion.”

Finally, one viewer declared: ” One of the most beautiful movies ever made. Colours, music, and reticence punctuate throughout. I have watched the scene in the dining room of the church 7,351,212 times.

“The man sings, the actress recognises brilliance amidst shuffles and anonymity, and then the director cuts to her chaperone listening to a radio. So god**** brilliant.”

Brooklyn is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer by clicking here.

AI in game development remains a contentious subject among gamers, and it turns out the majority of game developers think it might be a net negative for the industry, too.

That’s according to survey findings from the Skillsearch Games & Immersive Salary & Satisfaction Report 2026, which found that among game developers interviewed for the survey, 64% of them felt that AI is having a ‘negative impact’ on the creative industry.

Only 30% of respondents had a positive view towards using AI in creative projects.

According to the research, 52% of respondents say that AI has been integrated into their workflows. The top three concerns that developers raise are the ethical use of AI, the loss of creative authenticity, and job security for employees.

However, there are three benefits also mentioned in the research paper. Some respondents explain that AI has led to increased efficiency, the ability to ‘do more with smaller teams’ and lower development costs.

Although gamers themselves remain skeptical about AI use in game development, there are plenty of studios embracing the technology.

Embark Studios, the developer behind ARC Raiders, explained earlier this year that its studio was able to iterate quickly on the extraction shooter thanks to AI.

The studio famously used AI text-to-speech technology to voice its cast of NPCs at launch. However, those have now been replaced by human voices now that the game has found its feet.

CEO of Embark Studios, Patrick Soderlund, said at the time: ““AI may be a race, but the winners won’t be the first movers – the winners will be the ones who understood the challenge.

“Think of game development as auto mechanics. The tools are available to everyone, but not everyone has the knowledge and experience to use them. That’s where Nexon is different.”

However, other development studios are standing their ground and insisting AI doesn’t have a place within its development pipeline. Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of GTA 6 publisher Take-Two Interactive, recently told GamesIndustry.biz, “Specifically with regards to GTA 6, Generative AI has zero part in what Rockstar Games is building. Their worlds are handcrafted. That’s what differentiates them.

“They’re built from the ground up, building by building, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood. They’re not procedurally generated, they shouldn’t be. That’s what makes great entertainment.”

However, he does accept that AI is being introduced elsewhere in the company, explaining: “This company’s products have always been built with machine learning and artificial intelligence.

“We’ve actually always been a leader in the space, and right now we have hundreds of pilots and implementations across our company, including within our studios. And we’re already seeing instances where generative AI tools are driving costs and time efficiencies.”

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