Anne-Marie Duff’s “heartbreaking” British drama has found a new streaming home on BBC iPlayer.
On Chesil Beach, which was adapted from the Ian McEwen novella of the same name, stars Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle as Florence and Edward, a young couple in the 1960s who go their separate ways after a disastrous wedding night brings up trauma. However, their lives will continue to be connected even years afterwards.
The synopsis adds: “Out on the beach on their fateful wedding day, one of them makes a major decision that will utterly change both of their lives forever.
“On Chesil Beach is a powerful, insightful drama about two people, both defined by their upbringing, bound by the social mores of another era.”
The screenplay was also written by McEwen, while it marks the feature film directorial debut for Dominic Cooke, who is known for his work with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Lionsgate
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Duff plays Edward’s mother Marjorie, while Adrian Scarborough stars as Edward’s father Lionel. The cast also includes Emily Watson in the role of Florence’s mother Violet and Samuel West as her father Geoffrey.
The film was praised for its emotional storyline, with Variety calling it “a repressed passion play, funny, delicate and heartbreaking”, while the LA Times described it as “a completely heartbreaking story brought to exquisite life via immaculate writing, directing and acting”.
Other reviews were mixed, however, with the film gaining a 67% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Lionsgate
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Sydney Morning Herald wrote: “These two really do love each other, but Florence cannot abide the physical realm. The director gives us a clear indication of why, and then ignores the elephant he has made sure we see.”
Meanwhile, the Irish Times concluded: “On Chesil Beach remains a solid exercise in applied sadness. Few will be entirely unmoved. Few will be wholly satisfied.”
On Chesil Beach is now streaming on BBC iPlayer.
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Rachel Finn is a freelance sub-editor at Digital Spy.