Cert 15 100mins Stars 3

This stuffy and stagey drama set in the privileged world of literary publishing isn’t much of a page turner despite some great performances.

A six time Oscar nominee for films including 1987’s thriller, Fatal Attraction, Glenn Close is a boiling pot of resentment as the wife of a successful novelist who in 1992 is invited to snowy Stockholm to accept the Nobel prize for literature.

Brit actor Jonathan Pryce plays her weak-hearted, ill-tempered narcissistic husband and they’re accompanied by Max Irons as their surly adult as they move from luxurious cars to cafe bars and hotel suites.

Based on the novel by Meg Wolitzer, we’re given an uncomfortably voyeuristic insight into their marriage as they squabble over the value of their differing contributions to his career.

Christian Slater plays the only honest character around, and as a muck-raking biographer with a keen nose for a potentially career-ending scoop, we’re not supposed to like him as much as I did.