It’s not too often that a movie nominated for an Academy Award is not only strikingly relevant and well-done but also has the emotional sticking power of a Hallmark feature. This time around, one film covered those bases and still had time for tea.

Each awards season I try to see at least one of the Best Picture nominees, even though the ones I pick never win the little golden man at the end of the night. Last year I went for a balance between analyses of governmental power and stories of individuals triumphing over adversity: “Lincoln,” “Life of Pi” and “Les Miserables.” This year my list was cut down to just one film: “Philomena.”

The underdog of the lot, “Philomena” is based on the book “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee” by Martin Sixsmith, which is the true story of an extraordinary woman who never loses her faith in miracles.

It wasn’t expected to win and it met that expectation gracefully, but if there’s any prize to be given for the one story that didn’t shock audiences into submission or guilt and somehow managed to make expletives seem tasteful when uttered in the title character’s lilting Irish brogue (the actress, Judi Dench, is actually English, but the accent sounded right to me).

At the theater, my sister and I kept our eyes trained on the door to get an idea of the general audience: besides the two of us, my mom, and another pair of teenage girls, everyone there was older and accompanied by a significant other. This made sense, as the target audience was older women who have first-hand experience with raising children and possibly even with dealing with the tragic loss of a child. Despite this age gap, “Philomena” didn’t seem too foreign or nostalgic to translate easily to the younger generation.

Steve Coogan’s character, the shamed political journalist Martin Sixsmith, provides a cynical and disgruntled shadow to Dench’s provincial Catholic woman who has more layers than a blue-ribbon winning Vidalia at the county fair. Together they unearth the past and try to come to terms with what they find there. I’ll try not to spoil the plot, but be prepared for refreshingly cliché-defying characters and an “I end where I begin” conclusion that is especially satisfying because it isn’t a Hallmark ending but it still brings that rush of humanity that keeps you in good spirits for the rest of the day.

“Philomena” is still playing locally and is now out on DVD as well.