Film Review: Atonement

Director: Joe Wright

Certain films deeply affect you in ways you don't expect, especially when they catch you off-guard completely which was the case for me when watching Atonement. The opening moments passed by with me unsure whether this is a film I will become emotionally attached to but before I could re-consider this the film was ending and I had been totally engrossed. McAvoy is superb as the wrongly accused Robbie Turner whose love with Cecilia is interrupted. Even Keira Knightley who I am not a fan of at all is impressive.

Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) and Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley)

*spoilers ahead*

Robbie Turner is the son of the servant who works at the impressive family home of the Tallis family. Briony Tallis has a child crush on Robbie and misconstrues certain moments between him and Cecilia to believe that Robbie is actually a psychopath. When her teenage cousin Lola is raped in the woods, she makes up a story saying that she saw Robbie doing it to the family and the police so that he is sent to prison. The love story between Robbie and Cecilia continues as he is sent to war as a replacement for finishing his sentence despite them just wanting to be together.

Cecilia in the Green Dress

The ending is absolutely devastating when it is revealed as you honestly believe that Briony finally apologises and that they end up being together. Having seen it happen before we cut to an old Briony admitting she made up the ending due to her being too coward to apologise, it was heart-breaking to see the actual ending. It was an excellent method of story-telling that completely pulls the rug from beneath your feet. It is not without flaw as the story does become a bit muddled in the middle section of the film, not quite sure where it is going at times before the finale which just stops it being a knockout 4 out of 4.

3.5/4 heart-breaking story matched by stellar performances from the cast