The trailer has been released for Lesley Manville’s brand-new British drama film Midwinter Break, in which The Crown and Mrs Harris Goes to Paris actor stars alongside Game of Thrones’ Ciarán Hinds.
Things start off nicely enough, as a couple go on a trip to Amsterdam to take in the gorgeous sights of the city. But it looks like there’s trouble beneath the surface, and it’s not just because our lead characters are drifting apart…
The beautiful scenic shots begin to be replaced by shots of war, bloodied hospital beds, lots of religious imagery and a model house on fire. Plus, there’s mention of a dark past and debt to pay.
It’s all quite mysterious, but distributor Protagonist Pictures’ CEO Dave Bishop insists that the focus will be on the “emotionally intricate exploration of universal relationship dynamics” (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Producer Guy Heeley echoed that sentiment, calling it a “powerful and affecting story with its quietly devastating reveal”.
Universal
Related: UK film release dates
The feature film directorial debut of Olivier-winning theatre helmer Polly Findlay and written by We Live in Time’s Nick Payne, Midwinter Break is an adaptation of Bernard MacLaverty’s novel of the same name.
Although there aren’t reviews of the film yet, the book has received plenty of acclaim and landed on the year-end best-of lists for multiple publications, including The Guardian, The Times, and the Herald Scotland.
Fellow novelist Colm Tóibín gave it a glowing review, writing: “Midwinter Break is a work of extraordinary emotional precision and sympathy, about coming to terms – to an honest reckoning – with love and the loss of love, with memory and pain… this is a novel of great ambition by an artist at the height of his powers.”
Universal
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Manville’s got a few interesting projects in the pipeline, including the well-reviewed crime thriller Winter of the Crow, which was recently snapped up for a UK release.
She’ll also be starring alongside Poldark’s Aidan Turner in Les Liaisons Dangereuses on the stage, and it’s been confirmed for a cinema release too.
Midwinter Break is heading to cinemas soon.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he’s covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I’m a Fish.