Brief Encounter

Age rating: PG – Adultery theme, suicide references

All tickets £5

A fleeting encounter between two strangers sparks one of the most heart-wrenching and tragic love stories in cinema history in David Lean’s Brief Encounter (1945), adapted from Noël Coward’s play Still Life.

Laura Jesson, a middle-class housewife, has her routine train station visit interrupted when Dr. Alec Harvey comes to her aid, removing a piece of grit from her eye at the station’s teashop. Both in their 40s, married with children, and seemingly content, they each find themselves yearning for something more – something they believe the other can provide.

What begins as an innocent, casual meeting quickly blossoms into an intense emotional connection, and the pair soon realise their relationship is growing beyond their control. In this perfect union of story, direction, and performance, David Lean captures the delicate complexity of forbidden love, exploring its fragile beauty and inevitable sorrow.

Age rating: PG – Contains adultery theme and suicide references
Duration: 87m (1 hour 27 mins)