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->'''Kitty''': Oh. You're reading a book.
->'''Laura Brown''': Yeah.
->'''Kitty''': What's this one about?
->'''Laura Brown''': Oh, it's about this woman who's incredibly -- well, she's a hostess and she's incredibly confident, and she's going to give a party. And, maybe because she's confident, everyone thinks she's fine... but she isn't.

A 1998 novel by Michael Cunningham, ''The Hours'' won the UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize the following year and was made into a film in 2002. The film version, directed by Stephen Daldry, starred Creator/NicoleKidman in an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward-winning role, and also featured Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/JulianneMoore and Creator/EdHarris in the cast.

Although they are nearly eighty years apart, three different women are connected to each other by the Creator/VirginiaWoolf classic ''Literature/MrsDalloway''. In 1923, the author herself battles depression and her inner demons just as she begins to write her novel. In 1949, housewife Laura Brown finds comfort in her everyday life through the same novel. In 1999 (2001 in the film), Clarissa Vaughn embodies Mrs. Dalloway herself as she prepares a party for her friend Richard, a poet dying of AIDS.

Not to be confused with the talk show ''Series/TheHourCBC'', or the BBC drama series [[Series/TheHour of the same name]].

A co-production of Creator/{{Paramount}} and Creator/{{Miramax}}, it is now distributed worldwide by the former after it purchased a minority stake in the latter in 2020.

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!!This novel and film feature examples of:

* AmicableExes: Almost all of Clarissa's. Sally snarks that Clarissa putting her next to her exes every party she gave must be meaningful.
* BeautyInversion: Nicole Kidman wearing a fake nose and receding hairline as Virginia Woolf. The film was disqualified for best makeup at the Oscars because CGI was used to cover up the seam where the nose attached to Kidman's face.
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Clarissa is blonde, Virginia's a brunette and Laura has reddish brown hair.
* BookEnds: The story opens and closes with Virginia Woolf's suicide in 1941.
* ButchLesbian: Sally, who dresses and acts more masculine than her lover Clarissa.
* CastFullOfGay: Almost every woman in the entire film is attracted to women, and almost all of Clarissa's friends seem to be gay or bisexual.
* CoolAunt: Virginia to her sister's children, especially in the novel.
* DrivenToSuicide: Not just Virginia, [[spoiler:but Ritchie as well]]. [[spoiler:Laura]] attempts suicide, but fails.
* FlowerMotifs: Flowers show up quite a few times in each timeline, specifically yellow roses.
* HappyMarriageCharade: Laura has a lovely husband but she only pretends to be happily married.
* {{Housewife}}: Laura. However, she's unhappy with her life. [[spoiler: She eventually leaves her husband and kids, moves to Canada and starts working at a library]]
* IncompatibleOrientation: Laura and her husband, due to her being a closeted lesbian.
* LawOfInverseFertility: Kitty envies Laura's pregnancy while she cannot have children despite it being all that she wants.
* LipstickLesbian: Laura and her lover. Clarissa as well. All of them wear makeup and dress femininely.
* LiteraryAllusionTitle: To ''Mrs. Dalloway''. The Hours was its original working title.
* LoveTriangle: Clarissa was in love with Richard in college (and still is to an extent). But he eventually left her for Louis Waters.
* MatchCut: Used frequently as a transition device between the three periods of time.
* MeaningfulEcho: Virginia states the line "Mrs. Dalloway decided to buy the flowers herself". Laura reads it out loud, and Clarissa tells it to Sally in regards to getting flowers for Richard.
** "I don't think two people could have been happier than we've been." It's the final line in Virginia's suicide note to her husband, and [[spoiler: Richard's]] last words to [[spoiler: Clarissa]] before jumping to [[spoiler: his]] death.
* MeaningfulName: Several of the characters (who aren't historical figures) have names relating to the novel ''Mrs. Dalloway''. Clarissa is named after the protagonist, Richard is named after Richard Dalloway, Clarissa's partner Sally is named after Sally Seton who had a relationship with Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa's daughter Julia is named after Julia Stephen, Virginia Woolf's mother.
* MissingMom: [[spoiler: Laura for Richard and his sister.]]
%%* OscarBait
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: By the end of both the novel and the film, [[spoiler: Laura]] notes that both of her children have died, and it's unclear if her daughter (killed in a car accident according to the novel) ever had children.
* StartsWithASuicide: The story starts with Virginia's suicide.
* StepfordSmiler: Pretty much all the three main characters and the poor Kitty as well.
* SymbolicSereneSubmersion: [[spoiler: Virginia Woolf]]'s death scene at the end of the film. The camera focuses on different parts of her body--the ring on her hand, her shoe slipping off--as her lifeless body is carried along with the current.
* TitleDrop: Twice. Once by Richard and at the end by Virginia Woolf.
* WriteWhoYouKnow: In-universe, Richard based all of the characters in his novel off the people in his life.
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