Comedy movie Glenrothan, return to Scotland with Alan Cumming and Alexandra Shipp

Glenrothan, the movie’s plot

Glenrothan is the comedy and drama movie coming out. After thirty-five years spent in the United States, Donal (Alan Cumming) returns to Scotland. His departure had been marked by a violent argument with his father on the day of his mother’s funeral, a trauma that had pushed him to build a new life in Chicago, where he opened a blues club.

But when the venue is destroyed by a fire, his daughter Amy (Alexandra Shipp) convinces him to respond to a letter from his brother Sandy (Brian Cox), who complains of health problems and asks for a reconciliation. But the return to the Highlands means confronting Sandy, Jess (Shirley Henderson) – the ex-girlfriend who became master distiller of the family distillery Glen Nairn – and above all the past, which Donal believed was buried. Sandy wants his younger brother to take over the family business, a distillery with 200 years of history.

“Well brother, it’s been almost forty years since you left for America” Sandy says to Donal, in the released trailer. “This is a great opportunity for you guys to sort everything out” Amy encourages. “I’ve decided to resign from the position of president of the distillery. My brother will take the reins” Sandy announces; “what? - he responds - I have no choice but to sell”.

Then the two fight. “Watch out for time, it could creep into your life in a sneaky way” Donal says. “You know your family. Better late than never” Sandy invites.

Glenrothan, the movie’s cast

Brian Cox is known for the role of Logan Roy in the TV series Succession: recently he also acted in the movie The Score, and in the past in Adaptation and Troy. Alan Cumming appeared in Drive Back Home and will appear in Avengers: Doomsday in the role of Nightcrawler.

Alexandra Shipp worked in X-Men: Apocalypse as Storm, and in The Good Half and Violent Ends. Also present is Shirley Henderson, known for roles in Harry Potter and Trainspotting. The direction is by Cox himself, who directed an episode of Oz.

Glenrothan, the critics’ reviews and the movie’s release date

The movie debuted at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival 2025, where Cox appeared in a kilt. The reviews were negative: for Variety “it’s a shame that the movie itself is more like a bottom-shelf cocktail: easy to drink, highly forgettable, bland. Worse still, it won’t even give you a bit of a buzz”.

For Collider “at times it’s cloying, but more often irritating for its presentation of a story already seen too many times, and moreover poorly made”.

For IndieWire it’s “a waste of a talented cast, including Brian Cox, who also serves as director”. The movie comes out in the United States on April 17, 2026.