%%
%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1647296315088699000
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
%%
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/briefencounter2.png]]
%%
A 1945 British drama film directed by Creator/DavidLean, adapted by Creator/NoelCoward from his 1936 one-act play ''Still Life'' and starring Celia Johnson and Creator/TrevorHoward.

Laura (Johnson) is a suburban housewife in a rather dull marriage; one day, while waiting in the refreshment room of a train station, a doctor called Alec (Howard) helps her remove some grit from her eye. He is also married, but over time the two of them strike up a friendship, which blossoms into something more. But this being middle-class suburban Britain in the 1940s, they cannot possibly be together; Alec is called away for medical work in South Africa, and the two lovers are parted. The story is told InMediasRes from Laura's point of view after the pair separate as she travels home.

A 1974 MadeForTVMovie adaptation starring Creator/SophiaLoren and Creator/RichardBurton aired on ''Series/HallmarkHallOfFame'' in the U.S.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* AdaptationExpansion: The screenplay was adapted from Noël Coward's 1936 one-act (half-hour) stage play ''Still Life''. It was expanded from five short scenes in a train station to include action in other settings.
* AdaptationTitleChange: ''Brief Encounter'' was adapted from ''Still Life''.
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: While reciprocated, they are both married and they both know it would only end badly.
* CaughtInTheRain: Laura gets caught in the rain on her way to Alec friend's apartment which prompts a modest HangingOurClothesToDry situation in front of the fireplace.
* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Laura lights one up after she has to beat a hasty retreat from the apartment Alec's using, after the owner shows up.
* CreatorCameo: That's Coward's voice as the train station announcer.
* DidNotGetTheGirl: Laura and Alec don't get each other, but they both have partners they love.
* DrivenToSuicide: Laura goes to jump onto the train tracks when she ends her relationship with Alec but doesn't.
* DutchAngle: The camera tips into a sharp Dutch Angle when Laura gets the idea to throw herself onto the train tracks. When the moment passes and she doesn't do it, the camera angle straightens up again.
* ForegoneConclusion: Alec and Laura separate at the end so the rest of the story is about their romance and how.
* HappilyMarried: Both Laura and Alec.
* HaveAGayOldTime: The word "gay" is used at several occasion.
* HeldGaze: Many.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: The stationmaster and the refreshment room manageress, who have their own flirtation going throughout the film.
* HomeEarlySurprise: Alec's friend returns home early because he felt a cold coming. It foils Alec and Laura's plan of a romantic evening in front of the fireplace. In her rush on the way out to the back, Laura forgets her scarf which tips Alec's friend off about her presence and causes a fallout between the two friends.
* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: The opening title card identifies the movie as "Noel Coward's 'Brief Encounter'".
* InMediasRes: The story starts out near the end with Laura and Alec separating, and the rest is Laura recounting their time together.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto.
* MeetCute: Alec helps Laura remove from grit from her eye at the train station.
* MomentKiller: Dolly Messiter is this trope personified--she interrupts Laura and Alec at the worst possible time.
* MotorMouth: Dolly, who just ''will not'' shut up. In one scene the camera shows a tight closeup of Dolly's lips flapping away while Laura thinks "I wish you'd stop talking."
* {{Mouthscreen}}: There's a close up on Dolly Messiter's mouth as she talks to Laura on the train.
* ObsessiveCompulsiveBarkeeping: The saleslady at the refreshment room cleans glasses in her first scene with Mr. Godby.
* OldFashionedRowboatDate: Laura and Alec didn't intend for it to become romantic, but it eventually does.
* OnceMoreWithClarity: We see Laura and Alec's last encounter [[InMediasRes in the opening scene]] but it's not until the end of the movie when the scene is shown again that we grasp the full ramifications and tragedy of that scene.
* OrganGrinder: Laura encounters one in the streets.
* RomanticFalseLead: Laura and Alec decide that they are this for each other and go back to their respective partners.
* SecondPersonNarration: A rare film example of this trope: Laura's narration is an imaginary monologue directed to her husband, whom she addresses as "you."
* SleepingSingle: Maybe that's why Laura is so open to the attention of another man.
* SpoilerTitle: The movie title leaves no room for hope.
* TrainStationGoodbye: How Alec and Laura separate, though nobody does any running (at least not the last time they separate).
* YoureCuteWhenYoureAngry:
-->'''Albert:''' "You look wonderful when you're angry... just like an avenging angel.
----