On Chesil Beach (2017)

Based on the novel by Ian McEwan, this film tells the story of a young couple who perhaps got married a little too soon without making sure they were properly suited to each other beforehand.

The film centres around newly married couple Edward (Billy Howle) and Florence (Saoirse Ronan) - and when I say newly married, I mean they are on their honeymoon, having just come from the wedding.

They sit in their hotel room over dinner, discussing their courtship and marriage. As they do so, we are shown flashbacks - in fact, most of the film consists of flashbacks, with only very short moments actually taking place in their hotel room, as they slowly embark on their first night together as husband and wife.

Edward (Billy Howle).

Florence comes from a very well-to-do family, with father Geoffrey (Samuel West) in a very comfortable career, and mother Violet (Emily Watson) free to stay at home. She also has a younger sister, Ruth (Bebe Cave). When she met Edward, she had just earned a first-class degree in music from Oxford University, and had started playing first violin in a string quartet with a few of her classmates.

Edward on the other hand comes from a slightly less favourable position. His father Lionel (Adrian Scarborough) is a school headmaster, and his mother Marjorie (Anne-Marie Duff) - who has suffered from a brain injury - live in a small cottage with Edward - who earned his degree, also a first-class, from a local university that wasn’t Oxford or Cambridge. Edward has younger twin sisters Harriet and Anne (Mia and Anna Burgess).

I can’t say a lot about the plot, because I don’t want to spoil the film for you. It is well worth a watch - at least once - and make sure you have tissues handy, the film has plenty of twists and unexpected turns that will have you in tears (if you cry watching films, that is, which I seem to find myself doing more and more).

Florence (Saoirse Ronan).

The screenplay, written by Ian McEwan and based on his novel, is very well written, and brilliantly constructed. I haven’t yet had the good fortune to read the book, though I think I want to now, having seen the film. Everything about the screenplay - every single little part of it - is so clever. All the characters are full, three-dimensional characters with their own backstory and plenty of internal and external conflicts, none more so than the young couple themselves.

Dan Jones’s music is very clever as well. The entire soundtrack is played exclusively by a string quartet, mirroring the lives of the characters - Florence in particular, of course - and in each instance in which it is used, perfectly suited to the emotional core of the scene or moment.

Violet (Emily Watson).

The cinematography, by Sean Babbitt, is spectacular. The use of light and dark, and the contrast thereof, is great, and the framing of the shots perfect in almost every instance. This is helped along somewhat by the natural scenery - Chesil Beach in Dorset, where the couple go for their honeymoon, for one - but even the scenes that take place inside are shot beautifully.

It is in the performances of the cast where this film particularly shines, however. The two leads in particular are fantastic in their roles, bringing drama and pathos to every single line, every blink of an eyelid, every turn of a head. The other clear standout performance of the film is Anne-Marie Duff as Edward’s mother.

Director Dominic Cooke has made a stunning and beautiful film here, one that I definitely intend to watch again as soon as I am able. I encourage you to do the same if you have yet to see it, just remember the aforementioned tissues, and you won’t be disappointed.

9 out of 10.