Winter Guest (1997)
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64% of critics liked it
(25 reviews) -
69% of users liked it
(3,626 ratings)
Adapted from a stage play by Sharman McDonald, this film marks the directorial debut of British character actor Alan Rickman. Set against a bleak winter landscape of rural Scotland, the story centers around the recently widowed Frances (Emma Thompson) and a visit from her mother, Elspeth (Phyllida… More Adapted from a stage play by Sharman McDonald, this film marks the directorial debut of British character actor Alan Rickman. Set against a bleak winter landscape of rural Scotland, the story centers around the recently widowed Frances (Emma Thompson) and a visit from her mother, Elspeth (Phyllida Law, Thompson's real-life mother). Elspeth seeks to console Frances, but Frances resists. The mother and daughter have a prickly relationship. While they thrust and parry emotionally, Frances' son Alex (Gary Hollywood) longs for the tomboy Nita (Arlene Cockburn). Two young boys, Tom (Sean Biggerstaff) and Sam (Douglas Murphy), are in the neighborhood looking for adventure. Two older women, Chloe (Sandra Voe) and Lily (Sheila Reed), go to funerals of strangers. The epidosic film eventually ties together all these characters in a surprising way, but the core of the drama is the evolution of the difficult mother-daughter relationship. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Directed By
- Alan Rickman
- Written By
- Alan Rickman
- Genres
- Art House & International, Drama
R,
- In Theaters
- Dec 24, 1997 Wide
- Studio
- Fine Line Features
Critic Reviews
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Prairie Miller, Long Island Press
Moving as flawlessly and gracefully across the movie screen as the snow on its mute, chilly Scottish landscape, the film inspires amazement and awe as the work of novice director, Alan Rickman.
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Prairie Miller, WBAI Web Radio
Moving as flawlessly and gracefully across the movie screen as the snow on its mute, chilly Scottish landscape, the film inspires amazement and awe as the work of novice director, Alan Rickman.
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Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International
Well-made but dreary mother-daughter conflict
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Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com
The film's modest goals are met, and the austere technical aspects of the production further preserve the film's reserve.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Phyllida Law
as Elspeth
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Emma Thompson
as Frances
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Gary Hollywood
as Alex
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Arlene Cockburn
as Nita
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Sheila Reid
as Lily
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Sandra Voe
as Chloe
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Douglas Murphy
as Sam
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Sean Biggerstaff
as Tom
- Tom Watson
