It's 1944 and Jack Bradley, Rollo Weeks, is on his way to his grandmother's for his eighth birthday. After putting him on the train, his mother Emily, is killed when a Spitfire crashes. Eight years later, celebrating his 16th birthday, a beautiful stranger arrives. She looks just like his mother, and she wears an identical string of pearls. The emotional shockwaves that hit the family, dislodge some long hidden indiscretions. Jack and his relatives are changed forever.
Director Nutley and his long time cinematographer Yens Fischer create a lush period piece that's been compared to Merchant Ivory films. Helena Bergstrom gives a superb performance in her dual roles as Emily, and the stranger Nancy. But she's hampered by a predictable storyline. I found the central mystery extremely frustrating, taking much too long to unravel, and became entangled in its many subplots. What could have been a powerful story of redemption is reduced to a formula coming of age film.
