Hope Gap (2019)
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The story
Grace and Edward have been married for 29 years in a seaside home in Seaford, Sussex. Their relationship is strained by Grace's demanding nature and Edward's passive withdrawal. When their adult son, Jamie, visits for the weekend, Edward confesses his plan to leave Grace for another woman. The following day, Edward officially announces his departure, leaving Grace blindsided and devastated. As the couple separates, Grace is forced to confront her reality and navigate the emotional fallout of the split while her son is caught in the middle of their conflict.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Grace and Edward have been married for 29 years in a seaside home in Seaford, Sussex. Their relationship is strained by Grace's demanding nature and Edward's passivity. During a weekend visit from their son, Jamie, Edward reveals he is in love with another woman and plans to leave. After Edward departs, Grace falls into a cycle of denial and depression, eventually confronting the woman Edward left her for. She contemplates suicide but is stopped by the thought of her son's trauma. She eventually finds purpose volunteering at a crisis hotline. The film ends with a final meeting where Grace tells Edward she is 'getting there' and gives him a poetry anthology, while the final scene shows Jamie on the cliffs as Grace's voiceover defines 'Hope Gap' as the space between hope and reality.
- First release year
- 2019
- Runtime (minutes)
- 100
- Production countries
- United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- William Nicholson
- Writers
- William Nicholson · writer
- Cast and characters
- Annette Bening · Grace; Bill Nighy · Edward; Josh O'Connor · Jamie; Aiysha Hart · Jess; Ryan McKen · Dev; Steven Pacey · Solicitor; Nicholas Burns · Gary; Sally Rogers · Angela
- Genres
- drama
- Themes
- divorce; grief; resilience
- Tone and mood
- somber; reflective
- Setting
- Seaford, Sussex, near the chalk cliffs of Hope Gap.
- Premise and plot tags
- domestic drama; adaptation
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Retreat from Moscow (1999 play)
- Reception
- The film received mixed or average reviews from critics.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 58 · scale: 100 · review count: 24
- Production trivia
- The film was released in the United States in March 2020.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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