Review of On Chesil Beach (2018) by Tim M — 03 Nov 2018

On Chesil Beach is a 2017 British drama film directed by Dominic Cooke (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Ian McEwan, who adapted his own 2007 Booker Prize-nominated novella of the same name. It stars Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle and tells the story of virgin newlyweds, Florence and Edward, and their first disastrous attempt at having sex. The initial experience and their differing responses to the failure have lifelong consequences for both.

I watched this film with my wife and she loved it. It's beautifully scored, it's hard not to like Ronan in anything, and the story is one that invokes thought. I didn't care for it as much. It's slow paced, drags for almost the entire second act, and like many movies of this era could have been much better trimmed to 85 minutes. One thing we both agreed on was the ending. You'll see it coming from a mile away, but it still will turn on the water works. If you want to see a romantic movie that will make you think about things lost and that could have been this is great. Wife: 9.2; Husband: 6.5 AVERAGE: 7.9.