What’s this? Another superhero movie? Booooring. No! It’s actually a very moving story about Charles Dickens and his mistress.
The Great Expectations dude? Yes, that ‘dude’.
And he had a mistress? Turns out that way yes. He fell in love with a young actress called Nelly Ternan who was 18 when they met.
And how old was he? Erm, 45.
Gross. Yeah. He was married, too. With kids.
Bit racy for the 1800’s, no? Yep, it caused a bit of a scandal at the time. He lost quite a few friends over it.
What a douche. Didn’t think the old chap had it in him. Who’s in the film then? Ralph Fiennes as Dickens, (he directed it, too) Kristin Scott Thomas as Nelly’s mother and Felicity Jones – who you might remember from Albatross – as Nelly.
And what are the grown-up critics saying about it? 'Expressing much while often saying little, Jones proves once again to be a mesmerising screen presence, a performer behind whose face you can see the most complex and subtle thought processes at work. Accordingly, Fiennes keeps his direction restrained, concentrating on small moments rather than grand gestures to powerful effect.' – Mark Kermode in The Observer
And what are we saying? It’s a really beautiful piece of film. Poor old Nelly, and poor old Mrs Dickens. Old Charles didn’t exactly handle the whole situation in what we’d call a delicate way, which makes for heart-rending viewing. Either way, the use of flashbacks to tell the story works really well at giving a voice to Nelly, plus Felicity Jones genuinely is brilliant.
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.