Atonement

5 stars. I cried more during this movie than during my breakup. I will hate Briony Tallis forever. You're telling me you saw the guy who assaulted your cousin but framed another dude, just because the assaulter was someone royal? You're taking the piss. Just because you were a kid does not give you the right to pin such a heinous crime on an innocent man. Did you finally realise that you should be honest from the beginning when you couldn't tell your first name to your lover and only said it after he died? Even after 4 years, you still haven't stopped doing things that you'll regret eventually. Freaking crazy acting by everyone. James McAvoy and Keira Knightley's chemistry was amazing. Young Saoirse Ronan did a fantastic job, one of the best kid performances ever. Incredible cinematography, that beach one-take was out of this world, paused the movie just to appreciate it. That scene represents the horrors of war extremely well. Beautiful locations, especially the ones where Robbie reads his letters to Cecilia. I feel like water symbolised a lot of things in this movie. At the beginning, we get to learn that Robbie and Cecilia are in love once she gets out of the water, which is the start of their story (for the audience), and their story ends (again for the audience) as Cecilia drowns. Again, in Briony's novel, she gives them their deserved happy ending. During the epilogue, we get to see Robbie and Cecilia enjoying life by the beach. Cecilia is covered in water in two of those scenes, the one at the start and during her death. Only during the final scene, she isn't wet. Briony is probably trying to change the role of water from its depressing reality and make it a more pleasing part of their imaginary story. Amazing movie, I will love it forever but won't rewatch it unless I forget about the ending some how. 5 stars.