On Chesil Beach is a 2017 British drama film directed by Dominic Cooke. It is written and adapted by Ian McEwan from his novella of the same name. It stars Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle as a young newlywed couple on their wedding night in early 1960s England.
Just-married Florence Ponting (Ronan) and Edward Mayhew (Howle) are deeply in love, but are also sexually inexperienced, which saddles their first night together with pressure and awkwardness. The couple’s attempt at intimacy is interspersed with flashbacks to how Edward and Florence met, in addition to their contrasting upbringings (while Edward is a historian from a working class background, Florence is a classical violinist who comes from a wealthy family). Over the course of the film, the couple’s fateful night together ends up changing their lives forever.
On Chesil Beach contains examples of:
- The '60s: The film is set in 1962 England, just before the Swinging Sixties and the Sexual Revolution would upend the culture.
- Bittersweet Ending: At the end, after Edward and Florence have their marriage annulled, the film flashes to the 1970s where Edward is working at a record store. He encounters Florence’s young daughter one day, but does not tell her about his history with her mother. He is obviously still emotional about Florence. The film then fast forwards to 2007, and an elderly Edward attends Florence’s final concert performance with her quartet. The identity of Florence's husband is revealed to be Charles, the male member in her quartet. After the performance, Florence and Edward happen to meet one another’s gaze and they both shed tears.
- British Stuffiness: Edward and Florence’s story plays out in England in an era when repressive attitudes toward sex and sexuality were still prevalent.
- Chekhov's Gun / Foreshadowing: Florence saying the Ennismore Quartet will one day play on the stage of Wigmore Hall, and her performance will be for Edward.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Florence and Edward go to their marriage bed as virgins, which would have been more common in that period. As sex was still a taboo subject then, the couple do not have the language to express their intimacy issues to each other honestly.
- Falling-in-Love Montage: The couple horsing around on the cricket field to the tune of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1.
- First Love: The film shows how Edward and Florence met and their experiences of young love.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Edward’s more hotheaded side is shown in a flashback where he beats up a man who makes an anti-Semitic remark at his Jewish friend. Geoffrey, Florence’s father, loses his temper at her when he realizes she has been watching his tennis match with Edward. Geoffrey’s outburst hints at past Parental Abuse and possible molestation as one of the reasons for Florence’s aversion to sex.
- Horrible Honeymoon: The movie revolves around a young couple whose relationship is tested to its limit by their terrible honeymoon at Chesil Beach. Edward and Florence are both virgins when they marry in 1962; due to the time period neither of them know much about how sex works, especially Florence, as it wouldn't be considered 'proper'. It's also subtly hinted Florence may have been sexually abused by her domineering father. After an awkward dinner they attempt to consummate their marriage, but it doesn't go well, with Florence even running out of the room. Florence is so distraught she suggests a Sexless Marriage but Edward isn't willing to accept this. They can't resolve the matter and so end up getting an annulment just days after the wedding.
- How We Got Here: The films begins on the couple’s first night as husband and wife, then cuts between their present timeline and scenes of how they met and fell in love.
- Idealized Sex: Very much averted. Edward and Florence’s fumbled attempts at intimacy are shown in excruciating detail.
- Lousy Lovers Are Losers: When Edward and Florence try to consummate their marriage, the attempt is thwarted when Edward finishes too soon. He later blames her for it, accusing her of being a frigid and bad lover, not knowing that she struggled with intimacy because of the abuse she suffered in the past.
- Marry for Love: Florence and Edward marry despite hailing from different backgrounds, with Florence having the more posh upbringing. Later, when the couple is having an argument, Edward accuses Florence of thinking he married her for money, since her father is giving Edward a job at his business.
- The Mentally Disturbed: Edward’s mother suffers from a brain injury that occurred in a freak accident.
- Mood Whiplash: The film can go through different tonal shifts—from romance to comedic farce to tearjerker territory.
- Opposites Attract: Edward is from a rural, working class background. He is also a fan of rock & roll music, which classical violinist Florence is not as enthusiastic about.
- Paralyzing Fear of Sexuality: Florence.
- Pet the Dog: When Edward realizes the child buying a record at his store is Florence’s daughter, he allows her to take the record for free.
- Poor Communication Kills: The film follows a newlywed couple in 1962 England who come to blows on their wedding night over their different approaches to intimacy. The couple’s exchanges are plagued by misunderstandings. When Florence tells Edward she still loves him but is uncomfortable at the idea of having sex with him, Edward takes this as a rejection of him as a man.
- Sex Miseducation Class: Lampshaded as Florence seeks to educate herself by reading a book about sex. Although the book is informative for her, it is the only frame of reference she has since she’s inexperienced.
- Uptown Girl
