Hope Gap

"One of the first scenes of 'Hope Gap' indicates what will happen next. Edward (Bill Nighy) arrives from work, quickly greets his wife Grace (Annette Bening) and goes to make tea. Soon after, a dynamic that marks that relationship begins: on one side, Edward seems cornered, shy, clumsy; on the other, Grace becomes inquisitive, questioning, explosive, emotional. It is from this clash that the plot of the feature film, inspired by the life of its director and screenwriter, William Nicholson ('In the Light of Fire'), is born. Here, the character inspired by Nicholson is played by the young Josh O'Connor ('The Kingdom of God'), needing to balance between the quarrel of his parents. The absolute highlight is for the cast. Bill Nighy ('About Time'), Annette Bening ('American Beauty') and O'Connor were put to a great challenge, but managed to reward the viewer. The boy manages to accurately interpret this young man in the line of fire, suffering in silence and having to support his parents. Bening is striking with her strong personality and emotions on the surface. But who completely steals the attention is Nighy. He has the most complicated role in the movie: it is this man, with responsibilities, who is absolutely cornered by life. He can't look his wife in the eyes out of shame for what he did (and will be revealed later) and, unfortunately, he can't react. He doesn't love her anymore, but he also can't find ways to be loved. It is a powerful dilemma that Nighy puts on the screen while the screenwriter manages to blend the harshness of this life without love with the poetry found in the smallest human relationships."