Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

On Chesil Beach Blu-ray Movie Review

Sexual dysfunction.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 6, 2018

In love, sex is an extension of love. It's as much about the emotional intimacy that comes of it as it is the physical pleasure that drives it. Certainly they can be mutually exclusive in some, perhaps even many, cases, but in healthy marriages they tend to go hand-in-hand. On Chesil Beach, directed by Dominic Cooke and adapted for the screen by Ian McEwan, based on his own novel, tells the story of a young couple, happily and deeply in love, and their struggles with intimacy on their wedding day. The film can be tonally dour as mildly comical hang-ups in the bedroom become stressful strains and potential breaking points for the couple only hours removed from exchanging vows. The film explores the relationship and the sexual component from both sides, his awkwardness and her resistance, through a series of flashbacks that intercut their wedding day and lead to a potentially devastating stumble right out of the gate.

So close, yet so far.

"Marry her," Edward's (Billy Howle) father tells him after watching his son's girlfriend Florence (Saoirse Ronan) work wonders with his brain damaged wife. The words bring a smile to Edward's face and a bounce to his step. She's a great catch and marriage would seem like the ideal next step, but it's not until his wedding night that he learns he doesn't know everything about his bride. The film follows the couple in their hotel room, after the wedding ceremony, beginning as they sit down to dinner and, afterwards, Edward believes, ready to engage in a consummation of marriage and the first of many intimate experiences with the woman he loves. He's awkward, and understandably so. He lacks practice and has never been with another woman, at least not to this degree of intimacy. He stumbles when unzipping her dress and grows irritated with himself, and his bride, as various advances are stalled for some reason or another, which quickly transition from first-time jitters to a deeper, more problematic interference. As the couple attempts to make love, the film flashes backwards to review their courtship and explore the reasons behind Florence's reluctance to have sex with her husband.

The film takes the issues of intimacy very seriously, eliminating opportunities for much humor where humor might exist and instead revealing a character depth and backstory in every fumbled attempt. The leads meticulously construct their characters and move beyond the act's physical components and bring a thorough understanding of their individual, and at times collective, wants and needs with every effort to make the transition from happy in love to the act of coitus. Each brings different baggage and expectations to the bedroom. Edward expects that his wife is just as eager to perform as is he, and while he doesn't wish to pressure her, he rightly knows that with a marriage and on a wedding night there are certain expectations to sexually perform, to give and receive, to mutually pleasure one another in a physical manner. He's understandably nervous and understandably excited. She, on the other hand, fears the moment. Her knowledge of sex comes from a book and her own dark past. The descriptions in the book are anatomically graphic, blunt but correct. She associates the act with physical and emotional pain. To her credit, she attempts to learn through that book in hopes of overcoming her fears and learning to pleasure her husband and, maybe, discover the joys of sex for herself. But she also fails to reveal her history with her husband, and when he's caught off guard by her resistance, combined with his mounting frustrations and growing desires, there's bound to be a breaking point; the only question is how far will each go in pursuit of what they want, or what they do not want, before the harsh reality of the wedding night is made apparent to both parties.

Both Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle are terrific in the film. Both engage their characters internally and externally. They both want the same thing. He desperately wants to make love to his wife. She desperately wants to please him. He has no hang-ups. Nerves, sure, but no reservations about becoming intimate with his wife. Howle plays the part very well, capturing an essence of excited spirit and politeness in the anticipation that grows with every passing minute. He does his best to make the experience pleasurable for her while angling to set things in motion as quickly as possible. His stumbles frustrate him, but small setbacks will soon appear as humorous asides in the greater picture when Florence revels not simply her reservations but her absolute refusal to engage. Tensions build up and eventually bubble over from both sides. His eagerness and her terror clash in every scene. The give and take is brilliant in both physical and emotional contexts. Edward's arc is fairly steady until righteous anger overtakes him. Florence's reservations boil until the act literally terrifies her and sets in motion what might very well be the beginning of the end of a relationship built on love and trust but that is suddenly absent the latter in an effort to consummate the former.

On Chesil Beach Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Digital just can't beat film's texturing, and On Chesil Beach's Blu-ray thrives with its source excellence. Grain is a constant. Its presentation is light and complimentary, accentuating the image and aiding in the film's textural richness. Character presentations are firm, with good, intimate skin textures the norm. Clothing textures are sure and environments are clear. Grass is well defined, particularly well manicured grass at a cricket match in chapter eight. Colors are terrific. Lush countryside greens, gorgeous and well saturated clothing colors, naturally creamy skin textures, and refined black levels in a few nighttime shots all contribute to a wonderfully revealing and perfectly balanced color presentation across the entire spectrum. The image suffers from no discernible snafus, either print- or encode-based, beyond a barely noticeable stray strand bottom-left at the 66 minute mark. Three cheers for a perfectly healthy and fully enjoyable film-based image.

On Chesil Beach Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

On Chesil Beach's Blu-ray soundtrack is largely unassuming. Instrumentals are detailed and nicely spaced along the front. Music plays a critical part in shaping the movie's narrative and the characters that inhabit it, and whether deep strings, light piano strokes, Jazz club beats, or even crunchy music spilling out of a radio struggling to tune into a station, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers each to exacting specifications. Light natural ambience -- chirping birds in chapter nine, for example, and again during a tennis match in chapter 14 -- enters the stage in complimentary fashion. Surrounds are not engaged with any extensive usage, and neither is the low end beyond supporting some the deepest musical cues. Dialogue is the primary sonic component, and it presents and performs without difficulty in all areas of concern: clarity, positioning, and prioritization.

On Chesil Beach Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

On Chesil Beach contains deleted scenes and a featurette. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. The release ships with the rare Universal non-embossed slipcover.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 6:05): Scenes include Wigmore Party, Nosy Sister, Edward Lusts, Geoffrey Interrupts the Fun, Lionel Breaks Down, Waiters Give Edward Bad News, and Watching the Family.
• The Story Behind On Chesil Beach (1080p, 9:09): An examination of story and characters, the film's thematic construction, and performances.

On Chesil Beach Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

On Chesil Beach is an engaging but bleak film about a marriage seemingly doomed to failure from the very beginning. It's very well acted and frequently haunting in the darkness that builds around two characters who are very much in love but unable to consummate that love. It's a wedding night nightmare scenario that is brought to chilling, but engaging, life. Universal's Blu-ray delivers flawless 1080p video, a 5.1 soundtrack that is tasked with little of note, and a couple of extras. Highly recommended.