Faraway Home
What you need to know before watching
Faraway Home tells the story of two young Jewish siblings torn from their home in Nazi-occupied Austria and placed on the Kindertransport—the real historical rescue operation that evacuated roughly 10,000 Jewish children to Britain and Ireland between 1938 and 1940. Their parents make an impossible choice: send them away to survive. The children end up on a refugee farm in Northern Ireland, a landscape and culture entirely foreign to them. It's a drama about displacement and belonging, told from a child's point of view rather than through the machinery of history.
The film premieres at the 2026 Galway Film Fleadh and hasn't yet rolled out to theaters or streaming platforms widely. That said, you can track where it lands using Movie OTT's streaming tracker — the site updates as new platforms pick it up or regional availability shifts.
The cast and who carries the weight
Michiel Huisman, known from Game of Thrones and The Age of Adaline, plays Papa Müller—the father who must put his children on a train and let them go. But here's the thing: he's barely onscreen. That absence is the point. His presence haunts the film from offscreen, which is exactly how it should work.
The emotional center belongs to the two young leads: Doireann McNally and Conlaoch Gough-Cunningham. The trailer footage alone suggests they're carrying this the way only child actors can—without sentimentality, just honesty. The adult ensemble also includes Iddo Goldberg, Flora Montgomery, and Eileen O'Higgins, who grounds the Northern Ireland sequences with the kind of authenticity that comes from living in a place rather than just playing it.
Director Terry Loane (an Irish filmmaker whose previous work has focused on quiet human stories within larger historical contexts) adapted this from Marilyn Taylor's novel of the same name. The production itself is a genuine Ireland–UK–Austria co-production—backed by Powerscourt Pictures, DB Films, Northern Ireland Screen, and Screen Ireland among others—which means the cross-border storytelling wasn't an afterthought.
Why this film matters—and why it's not a typical WWII story
What strikes me about Faraway Home is how deliberately it resists the standard approach. Most dramatizations of the Kindertransport center the adults—the parents making impossible decisions, the rescuers with their paperwork, the historical machinery grinding away. Loane's film doesn't. It keeps two children at the center, children who don't fully understand what they're fleeing or what they've lost. That shifts everything.
The Kindertransport itself is documented history. The specific characters here are fictional. But the framework is real—and the film seems interested in how history feels from inside a child's confusion rather than from a position of historical knowledge.
One detail nobody mentions often enough: landscape does emotional work. Northern Ireland's particular light—grey, soft, Atlantic-touched—is genuinely different from the alpine world these children left behind. If the cinematography leans into that contrast, it'll carry more weight than exposition ever could. Hard to say if Loane fully exploits it until the film gets a wider release, but the pieces are there.
Where and when to watch
Faraway Home hasn't hit wide theatrical or streaming release yet. The film premiered at Galway in 2026, but formal distribution dates haven't been announced. That's worth stating plainly rather than pretending otherwise.
Check Movie OTT's where-to-watch widget for the most current availability—it updates in real time as platforms acquire streaming rights or theatrical dates get scheduled. Given the film's co-production structure across three countries, regional availability will likely vary. You might find it on one service in Ireland or the UK before it hits North America, or vice versa. The widget handles that tracking so you don't have to check each platform manually.
Is it worth your time?
Faraway Home isn't for viewers who want WWII delivered through battle sequences and heroic speeches. It's quieter. More patient. More focused on what it feels like to be uprooted than on geopolitics.
If you've responded to recent Irish cinema—films that trust their audience to sit with discomfort—this belongs on your radar. Parents especially might find it difficult to watch (in the best way). If you came to Michiel Huisman through his more understated work rather than his blockbuster roles, this is exactly the kind of project that suits him.
Watch the festival circuit coverage over the coming months. Once critics see it and Galway delivers its verdict, movieott.com will aggregate the reviews alongside updated streaming and theatrical information. That's when you'll get a clearer picture of whether it's the film you're looking for.
FAQ
Q: Who directed Faraway Home?
Terry Loane, an Irish filmmaker known for intimate stories set within larger historical contexts. He adapted the screenplay from Marilyn Taylor's novel.
Q: Is this based on a true story?
The characters are fictional. The Kindertransport—the rescue operation at the film's center—is documented history. About 10,000 Jewish children were evacuated to Britain and Ireland between 1938 and 1940.
Q: Who's in it?
Michiel Huisman (Papa Müller), Iddo Goldberg, Flora Montgomery, Eileen O'Higgins, and young leads Doireann McNally and Conlaoch Gough-Cunningham.
Q: Where can I watch it?
Not yet widely available. Use the where-to-watch widget at the top of this page or check Movie OTT for updates as platforms acquire it.
Q: When does it come out?
It premiered at the 2026 Galway Film Fleadh. Wide release dates haven't been announced yet.