‘7 Miles Out’ review: Carol Morley adapts her semi-autobiographical novel into a vibrant study of life in 70s and 80s Stockport

Dir/scr: Carol Morley. UK. 2026. 127mins

An adaptation of her semi-autobiographical 2015 novel, Carol Morley’s latest film may revolve around a tragic death, but emerges as a rich, vibrant celebration of life. Following a young woman through her formative years in 1970s and 80s Stockport, Greater Manchester, writer/director Morley brings a frank authenticity and regional specificity to her film that sets it apart from other similar coming-of-age stories.

Has a raw, in-the-moment energy that entirely suits the narrative

Premiering in London competition and produced by Morley’s longtime collaborator Cairo Cannon, 7 Miles Out sees Morley returning to the same personal territory as her 2000 non-fiction debut The Alcohol Years, in which she similarly looked back at her troubled youth. Her follow-up, powerful 2011 documentary Dreams Of A Life, explored themes of death, memory and friendship; the latter also a central theme of features The Falling (2014) and Typist Artist Pirate King (2022). 7 Miles Out is perhaps a more commercial prospect, with the presence of former Screen Star Of Tomorrow Lucy Halliday (Blue Jean) and a soundtrack full of 80s punk classics, but may struggle to travel beyond homeground audiences.

This is Morley’s second book-to-film project after 2018’s Out Of Blue, which was adapted from the Martin Amis novel Night Train. Her personal involvement with the material makes for a more satisfying transition from page to screen: the story is based on her own father’s death by suicide when she was 11, and the subsequent years she spent growing up in Manchester’s club scene.

Her on-screen proxy here is Anne (played as a youngster by Amelie Hughes), who is happy in the modest home she shares with her mother Bryn (a terrific Gemma Whelan), father Ronald (Aiden Gillen) and older siblings Susan (Hannah McIver) and music journalist wannabe Scott (Kasper Hilton-Hille, impressive in a role inspired by Morley’s brother Paul). When Ronald’s sudden suicide rocks the family, it sends Anne into a spiral of grief that she doesn’t know how to navigate; particularly as, back then, suicide was such a taboo that Ronald’s cause of death is kept hidden.

A new friendship with the shy Helen (Daisy-Mai Foden), whose mother is an alcoholic and father is absent, proves a saving grace and when, the film skips forward four years, the teenagers are inseparable. Now played by Halliday and striking newcomer Leila Entwistle, the two have a natural, easy rapport, their friendship the guiding light in a film that explores dark themes with a gentle touch. There’s a sense that both girls have the potential to go severely off the rails, but their bond keeps them somewhat in check, their obsession with music giving them an outlet for all that built-up angst.

The raucous, anti-establishment punk rock sounds of local boys Joy Division, The Clash and The Fall cuts a swathe through the girls’ lives; in a town with limited prospects, music allows them to dream big. When they form a band, Anne’s lyrics prove a way in which she can work through complicated feelings (original songs are written by Morley and composer Carly Paradise), and it seems they may have the talent to find a path out of Stockport. Yet when Helen makes an announcement that coincides with the death of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, Anne feels the doors slamming in her face. The choices she makes over the following years lead her down a dark path, her father’s spectre a constant, uneasy presence. 

Filming exclusively in and around Stockport, a manufacturing town seven miles away from the buzzing city of Manchester city (a distance which gives the film its title), the film has an effortless, lived-in period style. Working within a team of all-female HoDs, production designer Jane Levy and costume designers Natalie Ward and Sidonie Roberts capture the muted tones and drab domestic surroundings – Ronalds’s bronze company car appears almost extraterrestrial when it arrives on their drive – but gives a comfortable warmth to both the family home and the boarding house in which Anne and Bryn subsequently live.

Similarly, cinematographer Agnes Godard, reuniting with Morley after Typist Artist Pirate King And The Falling, lends a well-worn documentary-style intimacy to her lensing. Shot with a limited budget on a strict 21-day schedule, 7 Miles Out has a raw, in-the-moment energy that entirely suits the narrative and its plucky protagonists.