I'm giving it 2 and a half cause geniunely don't know what to give it...2 and a half seems like a nice round number....this movie is a BBC period drama so as usual thought it would be high quality and well acted....how wrong I was...it was totall mel... (read more) I'm giving it 2 and a half cause geniunely don't know what to give it...2 and a half seems like a nice round number....this movie is a BBC period drama so as usual thought it would be high quality and well acted....how wrong I was...it was totall mellodrama and it felt as though I was actually watching the rehersals rather than the finished product. It was also just about as random as a film can get in content and plot...by the end I wondered why it was made as there was no actual outcome from the story...I did snort and laugh quite frequently though and I'm extremely glad that Bill Nighy's character wasn't my dad cause I would have thrown myself off of something in my early teens to get away from his pessimistic speeches....Go and see it, it's strangely nuts and very puzzling....

A period thriller set in the idyllic summer of 1939 before the outbreak of World War Two, Stephen Poliakoff's return to the big screen is a treat not to be missed. Admittedly when subjected to rational logic afterwards, the conspiracy might seem negl... (read more) A period thriller set in the idyllic summer of 1939 before the outbreak of World War Two, Stephen Poliakoff's return to the big screen is a treat not to be missed. Admittedly when subjected to rational logic afterwards, the conspiracy might seem negligible compared to the intensity of the threat built up, but it is Anne's journey to realisation that is the important thread. Poliakoff demonstrates an amazing ability to wring menace from absolutely anything, helped and hindered by Adrian Johnston's often overblown score. In his hands, seemingly ordinary scenes like a beautiful cornfield, a ruined abbey, a children's choir, even a man on a bike take on a level of threat that keeps the audience of the edge of their seats.
Poliakoff's real success however is his cast: from old hands like Nighy and Christie to newcomers Redmayne and Temple, the actors deliver warmly engaging performances that turn on a hair's breadth from honesty to insincerity as Anne unravels more of the conspiracy. Notice should be also be given to Richard Cordery's alarmingly sinister vet and the creepiest child actor since The Shining, but the film as a whole belongs to Romala Garai's Anne. A rising British star having recently saved the BBC's Emma from sinking without trace, Garai delivers a spirited and winning performance, demonstrating a dedication and intensity that should see her set for years to come.

just because of the tennebt lol

This was a bit disappointing - & it was not cinematic enough... but was really a good two-part TV drama on the big screen. Afterwards, as I began to think about the plot and the characters' actions, it began to seem more and more sloppy and far fetch... (read more) This was a bit disappointing - & it was not cinematic enough... but was really a good two-part TV drama on the big screen. Afterwards, as I began to think about the plot and the characters' actions, it began to seem more and more sloppy and far fetched, so despite an excellent performance by the main cast, and some good drama and some thrills... it does not satisfy.

This certainly wasn't a thriller, and the politics were almost absent. It was, firmly and clearly, a Poliakoff piece: big houses, English toffs, family secrets, revelations... children and old people, old photos... yep, more of the same. Has the great P run totally out of inspiration for something new, and doesn't he have the ability to do anything with the good ideas he does have any more?

he's a genre all his own, and the number of good pieces is starting to be outnumbered.

What happened to the ending?
Did the writers run out of creativity, and decide to just wrap it up and go home...
I suggest leaving the cinema 2 minutes before the end of the movie.