Philomena is based of a true story. Fifty years after an unwed mother (Judy Dench) was forced to give up her son by the nuns in Ireland, she gets help searching for her long lost son. The search leads to the US and discoveries about the son, his successes and his partner. The highly acclaimed movie has many facets. It is a comedic road movie, a detective story, an infuriated anticlerical screed, and an inquiry into faith and the limitations of reason, all rolled together. Fairly sophisticated about spiritual matters, it takes pains to distinguish faith from institutionalized piety.