Essential Art House: Brief Encounter [Criterion Collection]

Middle-class love provides the premise of this bittersweet romantic drama that is based on "Still Life," a story by Noel Coward. Set in England during WW II, the tale begins when middle-aged, married housewife Laura Jesson bumps into Dr. Alec Harvey at the train station one day. She gets a bit of cinder in her eye and he gallantly removes it. A warm conversation at a local tea shop ensues before they depart on different trains. Pretty soon they have a regular date at the shop and as they talk they cannot help but become closer, until the awesome possible consequences of their actions hit home and drive them apart.