Julianne Moore is deeply affecting in this intimate film about a lonely, middle-aged woman and her search for love and self-acceptance.

Gloria Bell is an American remake of Chilean director Sebastian Lelio’s 2013 film, Gloria.

The film rests almost entirely on Moore’s incredible performance.

She plays the titular Gloria: A divorced woman with two adult children who lives on her own in a tiny flat; works in an insurance company; and trawls nightclubs looking for sex and companionship at night.

It is an ordinary life, yet Moore’s portrayal of Gloria gives her an incredible strength and power.

Gloria’s son Peter, played by Michael Cera, has recently had a baby and his wife has seemingly left them to embark on a spiritual journey.

Meanwhile, Gloria’s daughter Anne (Caren Pistorius) is a yoga teacher who is dating a big wave surfer and wants to move to Europe to be with him.

Although Gloria is somewhat enmeshed in their lives, and I think desperate to engage further, she is an outsider. Their lives are not her own.

She returns to her apartment alone, singing 1980s pop anthems at the top of her voice, and is perhaps most comfortable in her own surrounds and routine.

When a hairless Devon Rex cat breaks into her apartment, Gloria throws it outside.

In an echo of her internal journey, she finally accepts this ugly intruder, or “Egyptian mummy cat” as she calls it, by the film’s end.

Curiously, Gloria is closest to her mother Hillary (Holland Taylor), who takes it upon herself to provide life advice, whether desired or not.

Lelio’s film is incredibly conscious of the loneliness of separation and the particular challenges faced by women who suddenly find themselves without a secure financial future or retirement plan at a late stage in their career.

It’s a theme broken apart in conversations with Gloria’s mother and work colleagues.

Moore is captivating as moonlighting Gloria, who seeks company on dance floors, bars and clubs after dark.

One night she meets the shy Arnold (a brilliant John Turturro) who, girdled post lap-band surgery, asks of Gloria: “Are you always this happy?”

She flashes him a brilliant smile and we watch as their romance unfolds.

Progress is stilted as Arnold remains tethered to his daughters and ex-wife, and excruciatingly flees to be at their side whenever they call.

It’s not new territory, but Gloria’s revenge is brilliantly meted out.

This is a wonderful story about women staying true to themselves and finding joy and meaning in their own company.