Directed by: Richard Eyre
Staring: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Andrew Simpson and Philip Davis
In this sharp psychological thriller, Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett give fierce, memorable performances as two schoolteachers locked in a battle of wits.
It is the story of Barbara Covett (Dench), a hard-nosed spinster schoolteacher, and her poisonous friendship with fellow teacher Sheba Hart (Blanchett). Barbara’s lonely life is shaken up by Sheba’s overtures of friendship, but it becomes increasingly clear that her take on the friendship is uncomfortably intense, if not borderline delusional. Things reach a fever pitch when Barbara happens upon Sheba dallying in the art room with a 15-year-old student, and uses the indiscretion to draw Sheba closer to her, and put her in her debt. But when Barbara’s demands on Sheba become too high, things soon unravel, setting off a chain of events that will leave viewers chewing their nails to the quick, but unable to tear their eyes away.