The Hours

The Hours is a 2002 American psychological drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman. Supporting roles are played by Ed Harris, John C. Reilly, Stephen Dillane, Jeff Daniels, Miranda Richardson, Allison Janney, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, and Eileen Atkins. The screenplay by David Hare is based on Michael Cunningham's 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. The film was theatrically released in Los Angeles and New York City on Christmas Day 2002, and was given a limited release in the United States two days later on December 27 before expanding in January 2003. Critical reaction to the film was positive, with nine Academy Award nominations for The Hours including Best Picture, and a win for Nicole Kidman for Best Actress. The film and novel were adapted into an opera with the same name in 2022. Premise Three lives are connected by Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel Mrs Dalloway. In 2001, Clarissa Vaughan (Streep), a New Yorker prepares an award party for her AIDS-stricken long-time friend and poet, Richard (Harris). In 1951, Laura Brown (Moore) is a pregnant California housewife with a young son, currently in an unhappy marriage. In 1920s England, Woolf (Kidman) battles with depression while struggling to finish the work. Plot