The Deep Blue Sea (2011)

Directed by: Terence Davies

In post-war London, Hester (Rachel Weisz) is unhappily married to Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale), a much older man in thrall to his mother.  She falls for Freddie (Tom Hiddleston), a glamorous Battle of Britain fighter-pilot, but the romance is soon as faded as the one-room apartment they move into.  As Freddie turns increasingly hostile, and William tries to get her back, Hester attempts suicide, but is unsuccessful in every respect.

This adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s play is a curiosity: a relatively un-cinematic movie that is totally compelling to watch.  Partly this is due to the cinematography of Florian Hoffmeister, who paints London in rich, bruised, surreal tones – but mostly it is the great performances that the cast deliver.  Rachel Weisz, present in every scene, glows with her love for Freddie, and is utterly credible as a woman who knows this love is doomed but can do nothing about it.  Simon Russell Beale endows the hapless Sir William with a dignity that a lesser film would have omitted, and Hiddleston is highly effective as the washed up former hero.