You either love or hate Neil LaBute. If you’ve seen enough of his movies like I have, you’ll realize his stories challenge the social norm, like Lakeview Terrace where a black police officer wages a racist vendetta against his interracial neighbours or LaBute’s more well-known film In the Company of Men where a misogynist executive toys with the emotions of a female subordinate. So of course LaBute’s the perfect man to take on the task of adapting Possession, A.S. Byatt’s novel that explores the sexual mores of the Victorian era though to make the film more marketable, LaBute has chosen (and rightly so) to give the mystery/treasure hunt aspect of the story a more prominent role in the adaptation. Academic scholars Roland and Maud trace a secret illicit relationship between two Victorian poets Randolph Ash and Christabel LaMotte through letters and their literary works, and in the process the scholars stumble upon a dark secret that had eventually destroyed that relationship. LaBute and his editor do a good job moving seamlessly between the two time periods. In one particular scene, his DVD commentary reveals a neat theatre trick that was used to shift between periods. 

Byatt’s evocative romantic poetry has been distilled into subtext: knowing glances and pregnant pauses fully realized thanks to a talented cast made up of hugely underrated British and American actors. Jennifer Ehle is best known to US audiences as Elizabeth Bennett in Colin Firth’s Pride and Prejudice series. She fills the screen with her large presence and were it not for the equally talented Jeremy Northam, she would have stolen every scene. The dialogue is punctuated with dry witty moments, especially the lines given to Toby Stephens, Tom Hollander, and Trevor Eve (the three T’s!). And then there’s Aaron Eckhart. It’s a role early in his career and it’s my favourite one of all. His Roland is endearing in its academic geekiness and a lot less stuffy than the character in the book. Gwyneth Paltrow’s performance reminds me of a more uptight Pepper Potts, the straight man to Roland’s brash “American” personality.

Rating: A hugely underrated movie with great performances, a great script, and wonderful direction. Though not entirely true to the original book, it is true to its essence and its passion.