The Forgiven

This dark psychological drama stars Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain as David and Jo, a couple whose marriage is already under strain when their car hits and kills a young boy when driving to a friend's celebration in Morocco. While David agrees to return to the boy's home village for the burial, Jo remains at the increasingly debauched party and indulges in adulterous behaviour destined to further widen the cracks in her and David's relationship. Directed by John Michael McDonagh (The Guard, Calvary) and based on the bestselling 2012 novel by Lawrence Osborne, the film flits between tragedy, vengeance yarn and morality tale with an occasionally uneven tone, as if trying to weave two or three disparate stories into one. Where it scores big, however, is in the calibre of the performances: Fiennes's grim, stony-faced arrogance is neatly juxtaposed by Chastain's empty-eyed ennui with a side order of unhinged panic, while Matt Smith excels as their rakish party host.