Film: On Chesil Beach at the IFI (audio described and captioned screening)

Based on Ian McEwan’s novel. In 1962 England, a young couple find their idyllic romance colliding with issues of sexual freedom and societal pressure, leading to an awkward and fateful wedding night.

Ian McEwan’s celebrated novella of newlyweds Florence (Saoirse Ronan) and Edward (Billy Howle) is sensitively brought to the screen by director Dominic Cooke. The film opens in 1962 on the day of their wedding; staying in a Dorset hotel on the titular beach, they nervously circle the inevitable intimacy that the day demands. Both are clearly inexperienced, their hesitancy undercut by revealing notes of shame and frustration.

With the impending consummation as a framing device, the film flashes back to flesh out who they are and how they met, McEwan’s screenplay adding satisfying layers of complexity.

There will be Open Captioned screenings at 16.00 on Friday, May 25th and 18.15 on Tuesday, May 29th.

Audio Description will be available on select screenings, please contact the IFI for clarification. Telephone 01 679 5744 or email boxoffice@irishfilm.ie.