Brooklyn (2015), directed by Irish director John Crowley, starring Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, and based on the novel by Irish author Colm Tóibín, seems like a simple immigrant growth and love story on the surface. Upon watching and analyzing the film, it's much deeper and contains a powerful storyline coupled with visual and auditory elements that depict immigration in an honest way.

The film follows Eilis Lacey, a young Irish woman who leaves her small hometown in Ireland for Brooklyn in search of opportunity and a future that Ireland can't offer her.  She journeys to New York and begins a new life in the city, living in a boarding house and interacting with other Irish immigrants. As she adjusts to life in America — balancing homesickness, a foreign culture, new independence, and a developing romance — she’s forced to choose between the comfort of home and the possibility of a new life.

In this episode, your hosts, Ray and Jackie, discuss how the film depicts immigration as both an opportunity and an emotional struggle. They explore themes of identity, belonging, and reinvention, and how the film presents America not as a fantasy, but as a place of growth shaped through personal choice and resilience. 

Tune in to this episode, "Revisiting Brooklyn" to dive deep into the film and its symbolism and elements.