The Hours
By Kit Macdonald
An all-star cast of Hollywood leading ladies lights up Stephen Daldry's 2002 drama, which is set in three very different epochs of the 20th century. The three lead women are connected through time by Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway, with Nicole Kidman starring as Woolf herself as she wrestles with her mental illness while writing the book. Julianne Moore is Laura Brown, a housewife in 1950s LA questioning her life choices in the stifling culture of the postwar US. Meryl Streep, meanwhile, is Clarissa Vaughan, a present-day editor in New York living out a modern version of Mrs Dalloway's story.
Philip Glass's striking score and Daldry's sensitive direction help weave a sombre and reflective piece of cinematic magic. All three lead performances are exceptional, and Kidman won an Academy Award for her exquisitely rendered transformation into Woolf.