Miss Julie

Miss Julie is a 2014 period drama film written and directed by Liv Ullmann, based on the 1888 play of the same name by August Strindberg and starring Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell and Samantha Morton. Set in Ireland in this adaptation, it had its world premiere in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. It was a co-production of Norway, United Kingdom, Ireland, and France. The film is set in 1890, in County Fermanagh (in what is now Northern Ireland) during the course of a single Midsummer Night. Miss Julie, the daughter of an Anglo-Irish landlord, attempts to seduce her father's peasant valet, John. The affair – overshadowed by power and class – quickly goes to some dark places. Plot The movie starts with a young Miss Julie aimlessly wandering in the empty confines of her family's manor house. We hear her calling to her absent mother and walking by a babbling brook where she sees one of her dolls stuck in a tree. She lets out a snicker at the sight of the abandoned doll, and leaves the brook. We jump to Midsummer Night 1890, where the same manor is deserted, save for three individuals; Kathleen the cook (Samantha Morton), John the valet (Colin Farrell) and Miss Julie (Jessica Chastain), the Baron's daughter. Kathleen and John immediately gossip about the lady of the house, specifically how she forced John to dance with her. Kathleen and John are engaged and John doesn't fail to take pleasure in Kathleen's jealous reaction.