“A perfect storm of talent collides to create one of cinema’s great doomed love dramas.”
When the young Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) meets the older Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina) at drama school in the 50s, they begin a relationship born out of mutual attraction and a hunger for literary success. But as Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing away from Halliwell, his one-time collaborator becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous self-destructive rage… Directed by Stephen Frears, with a brilliantly Orton-esque screenplay from Alan Bennett, and a supporting cast that includes Vannessa Redgrave, Julie Walters, Frances Barber and Wallace Shawn, this depiction of the true-life story of Orton and Halliwell is one of the genuinely Great Lost Gems of British cinema.
