ATONEMENT

  ATONEMENT IS A FILM ABOUT A MAN WHO IS WRONGLY ACCUSED OF RAPE, ON THE EVIDENCE OF A YOUNG GIRL, WHO MADE A MISTAKE AND REFUSES TO ADMIT IT.

Find your way using this MORAL COMPASS to help steer a true course through life. Or revisit our LANDING PAGE 

US Vs UK - In the United Kingdom, Colonel Childers would be more likely to be convicted of murder, based on the flawed testimony of several witnesses, and a total lack of exonerating evidence. In the case of the British Bulldog, in exactly the same way, the State saw to it that the evidence needed to defend, was never provided to the defence. In the UK, the state controls the crime scene and Legal Aid does not (did not) extend to obtaining independent forensic medical evidence. Barrister Julian Dale, and Solicitor Timothy Stirmey confirmed that to the defendant. Later, barristers in England went on strike because Legal Aid fees were so low, they were unable to defend their clients. The King (or Queen) as Head of State, is responsible for ensuring that their subjects are treated fairly, with a government that provides an effective administration. We think this true story will show it to be anything but the case in a Britain that is seriously in debt, hence, looking to save money by denying those accused of serious crimes, with a viable defence. That is aside from the corruption in local government, and collusion by Wealden and Sussex police, working with the CPS to rig the deck.

Atonement is a 2007 romantic war tragedy film directed by Joe Wright and starring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, and Vanessa Redgrave. It is based on the 2001 novel by Ian McEwan. The film chronicles a crime and its consequences over six decades, beginning in the 1930s. It was produced for StudioCanal and filmed in England. Distributed in most of the world by Universal Studios, it was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on 7 September 2007 and in North America exactly three months later on 7 December 2007.

Atonement opened both the 2007 Vancouver International Film Festival and the 64th Venice International Film Festival. Wright, at age 35, was the youngest director ever to open the Venice event. The film was a commercial success and earned a worldwide gross of approximately $129 million against a budget of $30 million. Critics praised its acting, Wright's direction, Hampton's screenplay, Marianelli's score, emotional depth, the cinematography, editing, visuals, and the film's incorporation of historic events.

Among numerous accolades, Atonement won Best Original Score at the 80th Academy Awards and was nominated in six other categories including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (for Ronan), Best Adapted Screenplay. It also garnered fourteen nominations at the 61st British Academy Film Awards, winning both Best Film and Production Design; and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama.

PLOT

In 1935 England, 13-year-old Briony Tallis, the youngest daughter of the wealthy Tallis family, spies on her older sister, Cecilia, and the housekeeper's son, Robbie Turner, from a window. During Cecilia's and Robbie's argument by the garden fountain, Robbie accidentally breaks a vase. Cecilia removes her dress, climbing into the fountain to retrieve one of the broken pieces. Briony observes them from nearby, being infatuated with Robbie, and misinterprets the relationship between them.

Robbie writes Cecilia a note in apology. In one draft, he graphically describes his attraction to her, and unintentionally places this draft in the envelope, which he has Briony deliver to Cecilia. She reads it before giving it to her sister. Later, Briony describes the note to her 15-year-old cousin Lola, who calls Robbie a "sex maniac". Meanwhile, Paul Marshall, a visiting friend of Briony and Cecilia's older brother Leon, introduces himself to the visiting cousins, including Lola.

Before dinner, Robbie apologises to Cecilia for the obscene letter, but she confesses her love for him. They secretly have sex in the library, which Briony witnesses and mistakenly thinks her sister is being raped. During dinner, Lola's twin brothers are missing, and the household organises search parties around the grounds. In the dark, Briony comes across Lola being raped by a man who flees. Despite not seeing him clearly, Briony insists it was Robbie; a confused and traumatised Lola does not dissent. After locating the twins, Robbie is arrested for the rape despite Cecilia's pleas of his innocence. Lola and Briony's testimony, along with her turning over the explicit letter, convinces everyone but Cecilia of his guilt.

Four years later, during the Second World War, Robbie is drafted from prison. Joining the army, he fights in the Battle of France. Separated from his unit, Robbie makes his way on foot to Dunkirk, thinking back to six months earlier when he met Cecilia, now a nurse. Gravely ill from an infected wound and experiencing hallucinations, he awaits evacuation.

Briony, now 18, joined Cecilia's old nursing unit at St Thomas' Hospital in London rather than go to the University of Cambridge. She writes to her sister, but Cecilia cannot forgive her for causing Robbie's arrest and conviction. Learning that Paul Marshall is about to marry Lola, Briony attends the wedding, and realises it was he – and not Robbie – who had assaulted Lola. Briony visits Cecilia to ask forgiveness and suggests correcting her testimony, to which Cecilia says she would be an "unreliable witness". Briony is surprised to find Robbie staying with her sister while on leave, and apologises for her deceit, but Robbie is enraged that she has not accepted responsibility for her actions. Cecilia calms him down, and he instructs Briony how to get his conviction overturned. Briony agrees. When Cecilia suggests that she implicate a former worker on the Tallis estate instead, Briony objects, but is reminded that Lola was now married and cannot testify against her husband.

Decades later Briony, an elderly and successful novelist, gives an interview about Atonement. The autobiographical novel is her latest and last book, as she is dying from vascular dementia. She reveals that the portion of the book where Robbie and Cecilia are living together and Briony begs their forgiveness is fictitious. In reality she was never able to atone for her mistake, and Cecilia and Robbie never reunited; Robbie died of septicaemia from his infected wound at Dunkirk, and Cecilia drowned months later during an underground flood in the Balham tube station bombing during the Blitz. She wrote her novel with its happy ending to give the two, in fiction, the happiness they never had on her account. The last scene shows an imagined Cecilia and Robbie together in the house by the sea, which they once intended to visit when they were reunited.


CAST

- James McAvoy

- Kiera Knightly

PRODUCTION

.......


CRITICS AND BOX OFFICE

.....

MOVIE INFO

An Innocent Man 1989

Atonement 2007

Carrington VC (Court Martial) 1954

Django Unchained 2012

Double Jeopardy 1999

Enemy of the State 1998

Fatal Attraction 1987

John Wick 2014

Gladiator 2000

Mr Bates Vs The Post Office (Horizon) 2024

Rambo First Blood 1982

Rules of Engagement 2000

Sisu 2023

The Bonfire of the Vanities 1990

The Crown, Netflix 2013 - 2023

The Fugitive 1993

Yes (Prime) Minister 1980 - 1988

REFERENCE

https://www.

Please use our MORAL COMPASS to navigate this story, or revisit our LANDING PAGE 

This website is Copyright © 2026 Injustice Alliance.

The views, performance reviews and opinions of the Trust are protected by Articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The names of some of the supporting characters have been changed to protect their identity. Other characters in this work of fiction, retain their original names, where historical facts are quoted essentially and accurately, with reference to key documents tendered as supporting evidence.

Copyright is asserted as per sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. The truth is stranger than fiction.