Baltimore 2023

Rose Dugdale, Imogen Poots, is introduced as an English heiress who finds her university years opening a door to Irish republicanism, challenging the life of privilege she was raised in. She forms a student club to spark radical reforms in British society and to question how Ireland is treated by her country. A pivotal moment comes when she witnesses news footage of British soldiers assaulting an unarmed civil rights protest, and she bluntly tells her classmates that only “action” will bring about lasting change.

only “action” will bring about lasting change

As graduation approaches, Dugdale rejects a planned government career, sells her expensive home, donates every penny to the poor, and renounces her family name. She moves to Northern Ireland and becomes a committed pro-Irish activist, a shift that tests loyalties and deepens her resolve. Her mother, Carrie Crowley, looms as a reminder of the life she leaves behind, adding emotional weight to her bold new path.

Through her steadfast activism, Dugdale is drawn into the orbit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). She is invited to join their ranks and undergoes extensive training in weapons, explosives, and spycraft. Her determination pays off when she takes part in the bombing of a police station, quickly earning a leadership role within the organization.

In April 1974, a dramatic plan unfolds: Dugdale aims a raid on Russborough House, the home of Sir Alfred Beit, John Kavanagh portraying the Beit patriarch. Disguised with a blond wig and a French accent, she and her team break into the estate, restraining Sir Alfred Beit, and his wife, Lady Beit Andrea Irvine, subjecting them to harsh verbal and physical abuse. The sequence is tense and meticulously staged, highlighting Dugdale’s evolving strategic mind and willingness to take big risks.

Yet the raid reveals Dugdale’s deeper fixation on the Beit art collection, not Beit himself. The team targets a priceless Vermeer—one of only two copies remaining in the world—carefully extracting the paintings and moving them to a rural property Dugdale rents under an alias. From there, she contacts the authorities in a bold gambit: demand the release of IRA prisoners and issue a ransom, threatening to destroy the paintings if her terms aren’t met.

The search for the missing artworks triggers a wide-reaching manhunt. Police close in as investigators trace the lease back to Dugdale, forcing a raid on the rural property before the team can complete their plan. Dugdale is arrested and convicted of both the art theft and her prior involvement in the station bombing. The film ends with a defiant moment as she raises a fist to the court while being led away to serve her sentence.