watch for the actors

Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), the new art teacher, meets Barbara Covette (Judi Dench), the history teacher; they soon become friends. Barbara is lonely with her cat while Sheba has a husband (Bill Nighy), a son with Down Syndrome, Ben (Max Lewis) and a teenage daughter, Polly (Juno Temple).
One night, Barbara discovers Sheba's relation with 15-year-old student Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson). Barbara will also embark on an inappropriate relationship with Sheba.

I can not for the life of me, figure out *why* Sheba would be interested in Steven. There is no magnetism between them, and Simpson's character evidently has no appeal, no charisma...

Despite this, those were great performances by Dench and Blanchett, although at times it seemed that they overacted.
Nighy is an excellent actor, whom I've never seen before. (I'll have to find out what else he played in.)

The plot itself was way too basic and dull to be interesting - however I watched for the actors' not for the story. The ending was predictable, too much so for a 'thriller'. (I consider this more a drama than a thriller.)

Worth watching only for the actors' performances.
(I watched for the Dench-Blanchett match, and a match it was!)
8 stars for the actors.


8/10