Irish cinema may be about to get a second act worth waiting for. Caitríona Balfe is leading a new adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s work, A LONG WINTER, which arrives in cinemas in January 2027. It is drawn from Tóibín’s 2006 short story of the same name, part of his collection Mothers and Sons, and it puts Balfe in the role of Louise, a mother at the centre of this stark and intimate drama.

Tóibín’s name carries real weight at the box office and with awards voters. BROOKLYN took in more than €62 million worldwide and collected three Oscar nominations, so the bar for any new screen version of his writing is high. If A LONG WINTER can match even a fraction of that emotional pull, audiences are in for something special.

Balfe won’t be carrying it alone. Kit Connor joins her as Tommy, Fred Hechinger plays Mike, and Martin Freeman rounds out a cast that gives the film real star power alongside its literary pedigree. The production also looks to be as striking as the story is quiet. Cinematographer André Turpin shot the film, which is said to treat the brutal, expansive winter wasteland as a living character in its own right. The cast and crew travelled to the wilds of Calgary, Canada, filming in the same mountainous region that gave us THE REVENANT. Few landscapes feel so unforgiving, which makes it a fitting backdrop for a story about a family facing its own long, cold season.

Between Tóibín’s storytelling, a cast at the top of its game and a setting that looks almost too beautiful to be real, A LONG WINTER is shaping up as one of the most anticipated Irish literary adaptations in years. Mark January 2027 in your diaries.

Caitríona Balfe has never needed a reminder to fly the flag for Irish talent, and this week in Toronto she did it again. The Monaghan-born Outlander star turned up at the Toronto International Film Festival for the premiere of TENZING, a biographical drama that revisits one of the twentieth century’s great human achievements: the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953.

The film tells the story of Tenzing Norgay, played by Phuntsok, a Himalayan climber whose skill and determination have long been overshadowed in the popular telling of that expedition, which paired him with New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary, played here by Hiddleston. Encouraged by his wife Dawa, played by Lhamo, Tenzing finds an unexpected ally in expedition secretary Jill Henderson, the role taken on by Balfe, and together they make the case to Colonel John Hunt, played by Dafoe, that Tenzing deserves a place on the British climbing team as an equal rather than a guide serving it from the margins. That argument sits at the heart of TENZING‘s tension, since where the Western climbers speak of “Everest” as a summit to be conquered, Tenzing holds “Chomolungma” as a sacred mother goddess, a mountain to be honoured rather than claimed.

The film traces the expedition through that clash of worldviews as much as through the physical dangers of the climb itself, weaving in the frictions of class, background and ambition that shadow the team even as they ascend together. Yet somewhere above the clouds, those distinctions of empire and rank begin to fall away, leaving two outsiders who find in each other a rare mutual trust, and leaving Tenzing, at last, at the summit of both a lifelong dream and a spiritual calling. For Balfe, whose career has carried her across continents and franchises, the trip to TIFF for TENZING was another quiet showcase of Irish talent taking its place on the world stage.

Caitríona Balfe is back in corsets — and we are absolutely here for it. Focus Features and Working Title are bringing a fresh, irresistible new adaptation of Jane Austen’s debut novel to the screen, and the first official poster has just dropped. Balfe herself shared it on Instagram, writing that she is proud to be part of this beautiful new adaptation and praising director Georgia Oakley for creating what she called a truly sumptuous film.

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY tells the story of the three Dashwood sisters — Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret — and their widowed mother, who are forced to abandon the family estate following the death of their father. Denied their rightful inheritance by a half-brother unwilling to share, the family retreats to a modest cottage in Devon, where the two eldest daughters navigate the pleasures and heartbreaks of love. Balfe takes on the role of Mrs. Dashwood, mother to Elinor, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Marianne, played by Esmé Creed-Miles — a casting that already feels like something special.

Balfe has spoken warmly about the experience, telling Parade that filming has been incredible and that she believes it is going to be really special. There’s also a quietly poignant note to her involvement: after years of stepping away from OUTLANDER for projects like THE CUT before always returning to the series, she reflected that this is the first time there is no going back — and that the difference is both palpable and exciting.

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY opens in theatres on October 16.

Caitríona Balfe is one of the busiest actresses working today, with an impressive slate of projects either already available to watch or heading our way in the coming months.

Her film THE CUT is currently streaming on Paramount+, in which she plays a woman who co-owns a boxing gym alongside Orlando Bloom’s character, a former champion fighting his way back from a career-ending defeat. It is a compelling showcase for Balfe in a grittier, more contemporary setting than many of her recent roles.

Looking ahead, the most anticipated project on her schedule is a new adaptation of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY for Focus Features, directed by Georgia Oakley from a screenplay by Diana Reid. Balfe plays Mrs. Dashwood, mother to Elinor and Marianne, played respectively by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles, with George MacKay and Fiona Shaw also among the cast. The film is set for release in the UK on September 25th and in the US on October 16th, and by all accounts it looks set to be something special.

She has also recently begun production on THE HOUSEKEEPER, a romantic drama set in the 1930s shooting in and around London, and has joined the cast of A LONG WINTER alongside Ebon Moss-Bachrach. With projects this varied and this promising in the pipeline, Caitríona Balfe is clearly entering one of the most exciting chapters of her career.

Caitriona Balfe’s journey from fashion runways to television icon began over a decade ago when she first stepped into the role that would define her career. In 2014, the Irish actress made her debut as Claire Fraser in the opening series of Starz’s period drama OUTLANDER, captivating audiences with her portrayal of a time-travelling nurse navigating eighteenth-century Scotland. Twelve years later, fans around the world eagerly anticipate her return alongside Sam Heughan, who plays her Highland warrior husband Jamie Fraser, for the show’s final chapter set to premiere on Friday, March 6th. But even as OUTLANDER prepares to close its epic story, Balfe is already charting new territory with a role that promises to showcase a completely different dimension of her talent.

The actress has joined the star-studded cast of THE HOUSEKEEPER, a film adaptation of an upcoming short story by bestselling novelist Rose Tremain. Set against Cornwall’s wild and brooding landscape, the story follows Danni, the housekeeper at Manderville Hall, a grand historic house owned by the wealthy widower Lord Grenville-Whithers, portrayed by Anthony Hopkins. When young writer Daphne du Maurier, played by Mackenzi Laird, arrives at the estate, Danni finds herself drawn into a clandestine and intoxicating affair. For one woman, it becomes an all-consuming love; for the other, an awakening of long-suppressed desires. Their fragile secret threatens to unravel under the scrutinizing watch of Adelaide, Lord Grenville-Whithers’ calculating niece, brought to life by Helena Bonham Carter.

The project marks an intriguing departure for Balfe, trading the sweeping Scottish Highlands for the dramatic coastline of Cornwall, and exchanging period bodices for what appears to be a more intimate, psychologically complex character study. With such formidable talent assembled and source material from a celebrated author, THE HOUSEKEEPER is shaping up to be essential viewing for anyone who has followed Balfe’s remarkable transformation from her breakthrough role to one of television’s most compelling performers.