Evelyn

Dublin, the early 1950s, the day after Christmas — that's where Evelyn (2002) begins, a drama you can watch online on iFILM. Pierce Brosnan stars, and it's about as far from James Bond as he ever went.

Desmond Doyle's wife walks out, leaving him with his daughter Evelyn and two young sons. He's broke, often out of work, and with no woman in the house the courts and the Catholic Church rule the children must go to church-run orphanages. So Doyle, a quiet and devout man, does something he's never done — he fights back, dragging the state into a custody case with help from a small team of lawyers played by Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rea and Julianna Margulies.

Directed by Bruce Beresford of Driving Miss Daisy, the film draws on a real case that reached Ireland's Supreme Court and forced the country to rewrite its custody laws. No big twists, just one stubborn father wearing the system down — a small drama that earns its ending honestly. Stream Evelyn (2002) online on iFILM.