Sometimes love just isn’t enough.
A Village Affair is a deep and riveting story about love and lust.
Dutiful wife and mother of three Alice Jordan, played by Sophie Ward, comes to a small village for a much needed change. Suffering with postpartum depression after the birth of her third child, Alice has lost the heat in her marriage, her passion for painting, and even herself. The move proves to change her in ways she never expected.
A few days after the move, Alice and her husband Martin are introduced to some of the locals in their new town, including a very flirtatious woman named Clodagh Unwin.
At first, it seems Clodagh can’t get enough of Martin. He certainly does not protest her company. The relationship between Clodagh and Alice is, initially, turbulent at best.
As the story continues, Clodagh weaves herself deeply into the home and lives of Alice and Martin. The children take to her instantly as she splurges love, attention, and even balloons on them. Things take a tremendous toll on the relationship between Clodagh and Alice when Clodagh comes out to her and confesses her affections for her.
Unable to stay away from each other, the two embark on a heated lesbian love affair. They become nearly inseparable. Though they are quite affectionate with each other, sometimes even publicly, Martin is oblivious.
As the passion continues, things are suddenly complicated when Martin’s brother, Anthony, comes to visit. He has an unrequited love for Alice. Hurt and angered by her rejections, he quickly figures out the true nature of the situation.
At a village festival, out in public, Anthony tells Martin of Alice’s infidelity. As if word didn’t spread quickly enough in a small town, Anthony has a large audience when he announces the truth.
The results of that interaction are devastating, and not only for Alice and Martin.
This movie perfectly portrays the aftershocks and broad range of people affected by infidelity. Children, in-laws, townsfolk, and friends: there is not one person who is not affected by this. Rarely do we see such a deep and emotional exhibition of the effects of an affair like we do for those around Alice and Martin. Both of their families suffer tremendously. Their friendships, both old and new, are suddenly changed.
Now with her entire life turned upside down, Alice must make a decision that is difficult at best.
This is the perfect movie for those grey, rainy, cuddle under a blanket and drink some tea days. The characters are warm and genuine. You find yourself connected to them quickly. Throughout the movie, you see how tangled and complicated life and relationships can be. Just as woven and sticky as a spider’s web, so is the web of people and events in A Village Affair.
Anything but cliché, A Village Affair causes us to look and think deeper about the nature and depth of our relationships with those around us.