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The Wife 15 rating

Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce are the spouses with a secret in a tight, taut drama of ego and legacy.

Drama 2018 100 mins

Director: Björn Runge

CC

Overview

A Nobel Prize is the fuse to detonate a marriage in this scalding drama with a luminous cast. Glenn Close is Joan, the stoic wife of revered author Joe (Jonathan Pryce). He gets the glory, she keeps house, family and reputation together. The inequality shifts as they head to Stockholm where they are pestered by a biographer (Christian Slater) with a conspiracy theory that disturbs them both.

While it's yet to win a Nobel, The Wife has earned its star multiple awards and Close is a leading contender for an Oscar. In her hands, Joan is a superbly complex, layered woman able to manage the dissonance between love and life. The interplay with Pryce is powerful and convincing, thanks also to the skills of screenwriter Jane Anderson. She helped adapt the magnificent Olive Kitteridge miniseries for HBO, and here brings Meg Wolitzer's novel to the screen with all its acrid flame ablaze.

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