Manchester by the Sea A Screenplay

Kenneth Lonergan’s Academy Award and BAFTA–winning screenplay for the acclaimed film Manchester by the Sea is a staggering achievement, an emotionally devastating meditation on grief and “a drama of surpassing beauty” (Wall Street Journal).

Lee Chandler is a brooding, irritable loner who works as a handyman in Boston. One damp winter day he gets a call summoning him to his hometown, Manchester-by-the-Sea, the fishing village where his working-class family has lived for generations. His brother’s heart has given out suddenly, and he’s been named guardian to his riotous 16-year-old nephew. His return re-opens an unspeakable tragedy, as he is forced to confront a past that separated him from his wife, Randi, and the community where he was born and raised.

A sweeping story of loss and new beginnings, Manchester by the Sea “illuminates with quiet, unyielding grace how you and I and our neighbors get by, and sometimes how we don’t” (Boston Globe).


Rounding out the volume is a trenchant and incisive introduction by Kenneth Lonergan on writing for film.

Kenneth Lonergan is a playwright, screenwriter, and director. His work for film includes writing and directing You Can Count on Me, Margaret, and Manchester by the Sea, and cowriting Gangs of New York. He earned the Academy Award and the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay for Manchester by the Sea and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for You Can Count on Me and Gangs of New York, among other accolades. In 2019, Lonergan was awarded the inaugural PEN/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award. His plays include This is Our Youth (available from Overlook), The Waverly Gallery, and Lobby Hero.