On Chesil Beach

It is the summer of 1962 and England is still a year away from the start of Beatlemania, the sexual revolution and the Swinging Sixties. Florence Ponting, born into a prosperous, conservative home presided over by her overbearing father and mother, falls in love with Edward Mayhew whose chaotic but loving upbringing by a schoolteacher father and brain-damaged artist mother stands in stark contrast. On their wedding night, they find themselves in a dull, formal honeymoon hotel on the Dorset coast. As they dine, their conversation becomes stilted as they both anticipate consummating their marriage, a prospect Edward welcomes and Florence inexplicably dreads. Distressed by Edward’s awkward advances, Florence dashes out of the hotel with Edward in pursuit. On a remote part of Chesil Beach, the couple’s profound differences are revealed. The unspoken tensions between them erode their bond of trust leading one to make a startling decision that has lifelong consequences for them both.

Rating

R

Release Year

2018

Duration

01:49

Genres

Drama, Romance

Director

Dominic Cooke

Cast

Saoirse Ronan, Emily Watson, Anne-Marie Duff