An arthritic Nova Scotia woman works as a housekeeper while she hones her skills as an artist and eventually becomes a beloved figure in the community.
With its plaintive score and bleak landscapes, it seems to unfold as slowly as a Nova Scotia winter, but it has one thunderously exciting asset in the performance of Sally Hawkins.
In a performance that echoes her breakthrough role in Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, Hawkins embraces this fiercely independent spirit, broken body and softly-spoken soul.
While it's far from timeless drama, this wistful character study of a lonely woman and a lonely man who find each other in coastal Nova Scotia has a winning, twee charm.
An unsentimental but emotional film for anyone who suspects in their heart of hearts that suffering really is the only thing that makes anyone worth a damn.
What shines through is the beauty of Guy Godfree's cinematography - the light has a lovely, soft stillness to it, like a painting - and a remarkable performance by Hawkins, whose impossibly wide smile seems to bring the sun.
A lead performance alive with exquisite spirit and inspiration elevates Maudie, a selective biopic of famous Canadian 'outsider' artist Maud Lewis, well above what could have been a very sketchy outcome.