If you savor the flavor of psychological twists and turns  then Atonement will appeal. If you worship at the altar of English films set in gorgeous English manors among the upper middle class set between the years 1935-1940 then this film's for you. Joe Wright is the English-born director who brings this novel to life. Christopher Hampton wrote the screenplay adapted from the novel Atonement by Ian McEwan. The cast is capable and strong.

Hitler is flexing his war muscles in France and the British are pulled there to fight for freedom. The only thing I knew about this film going in was the Oscar and best picture buzz surrounding it. I did not know that the backdrop of the film was the early World War II years just after the battle of Dunkirk, when the British troops appear shipwrecked off France, shooting horses for food while awaiting sea transport back to English shore. The movie spends a great deal of time on this part of British history.

The first half of the movie begins in the summer of 1930 on the grounds of an English manor. It is also a time of waning English puritanical mores. However, it is still a time when lower and upper classes are the two groups that can fornicate at will without causing raised eyebrows — except when seen through the eyes of a teen.

The films opens with 13-year-old Briony Tallis, played brilliantly by Saoirse Ronan, typing the last words of her play “The Trials of Arabella.” She excitedly runs off to show her mother the bound play which encourages her budding talent. Briony tries to enlist the help of her cute red-haired female cousin and her twin brothers to rehearse and put on this play. They start but quickly lose interest in rehearsals and would rather swim to stave off the summer heat. Briony must then look around the manor for mischief to keep her sanity and creativity in check. While the action of the film itself covers only the years 1935-1940, it concludes with an homage to the aging Briony's successful career.

Before she can get her play off the ground, the household is immediately upset by a returning brother and company. This propels the action into the next stage that will move from the manor to the battlefield. Briony’s restless soul is the engine. True to her character and reporter’s eye she thinks that she has seen her sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) in a compromising position. Briony and Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) meet in the meadow accidentally where he gives her the wrong note to deliver to her sister. The note has the word “cunt” in it. This is the last straw for Briony, who is looking for something now to ruin their love and lust for each other.