On Chesil Beach

Adapted by Ian McEwan from his bestselling novel, this sensitive love story focuses on a newlywed couple whose honeymoon ends in disaster.

 

It's the early 1960s, before the sexual revolution re-dealt the cards. Florence (Saoirse Ronan) and Edward (Billy Howle), despite being from drastically different backgrounds and virgins in every sense of the word, are in love and are newly married. They spend their Dorset honeymoon preoccupied and terrified by the upcoming consummation of their marriage, and we are invited to look back on their idyllic courtship as events lead to a shattering conclusion.

 

A beautifully precise and searching film fascinated by sex and the societal pressures that can come with physical intimacy, On Chesil Beach is quietly heartbreaking - and a definite awards contender.