The Hours (2002)

The Hours is a lyrical, emotionally intense drama that interweaves three lives across different eras, all linked by Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway. You’ll follow: Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) in 1923 England as she wrestles with creativity, illness and identity while beginning her book; Laura Brown (Julianne Moore), a 1951 pregnant housewife in Los Angeles who feels trapped by domestic expectations; and Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep), a modern New York editor planning a party for a beloved friend dying of AIDS. Their stories—one writing the novel, one reading it, one living it—unfold over a single day and echo each other in mood and choice. Watching the film is a contemplative experience: the pace is deliberate, the performances intimate and haunting, and the score and cinematography heighten a sense of quiet urgency and melancholy. Themes of depression, mortality, sexuality, duty and the desire for meaning are explored with nuance, often in small gestures and conversations rather than melodrama. Moments of tenderness and despair sit side by side, culminating in a resonant, emotionally powerful conclusion. If you see The Hours, expect to be moved and provoked—taken through a meditative portrait of how literature shapes lives and how different women confront similar existential questions. The film rewards attention and reflection; it lingers in the mind long after the credits roll.

Actors: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore

Director: Stephen Daldry

Runtime: 110 min

Genres: Drama, Romance

7.2 /10 80 /100 7.5 /10 7.6 /10