Separate Lies Photo

Separate Lies

Starring: Linda Bassett, Rupert Everett, John Neville, Hermione Norris, Emily Watson

Directed by: Julian Fellowes

RS: 3.5of 4 Stars

2005 Fox Searchlight Pictures Drama

Gosford Park screenwriter Julian Fellowes makes a splendid debut as a director with this mesmerizing look at sex, lies and infidelity among the British upper crust. A husband (Tom Wilkinson) peers through a restaurant window and sees his wife (Emily Watson) kissing a man (Rupert Everett). We think we know everything until Fellowes pulls the rug out. When tragedy strikes, all three sides of this erotic triangle get tangled in a web of stinging duplicity and unexpected emotion. Watson and Everett, both superb, bring ferocity and feeling to their roles. But the one you won't forget is Wilkinson (In the Bedroom) in a towering performance of grace and grit that deserves to put him on Oscar's shortlist. Good show.