Edwardian England. A precocious girl from a poor background with aspirations to being a novelist finds herself swept to fame and fortune when her tasteless romances hit the best seller lists. Her life changes in unexpected ways when she encounters an aristocratic brother and sister, both of whom have cultural ambitions, and both of whom fall in love with her.
Production
Sets so lurid they border on camp—intentionally so.
Acting
Romola Garai commits fully to Angel's exhausting narcissism.
Direction
Ozon weaponizes Douglas Sirk homage into something stranger.
Director
François Ozon
Romola Garai
Angel
Sam Neill
Théo
Michael Fassbender
Esmé
Lucy Russell
Nora Howe-Nevinson
Charlotte Rampling
Hermione
Jacqueline Tong
Mother Deverell
Janine Duvitski
Aunt Lottie
Christopher Benjamin
Lord Norley
Jemma Powell
Angelica
Simon Woods
Clive Fennelly
Tom Georgeson
Marvell
Una Stubbs
Miss Dawson
Rosanna Lavelle
Lady Irania
Geoffrey Streatfeild
Sebastian
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on a 1957 novel by Elizabeth Taylor (not that one), which Ozon discovered in a secondhand shop.
The film's divisive reception—polarized between 'masterpiece' and 'unwatchable'—mirrors Angel's own relationship to critical opinion.
US
