W.E.

W.E. (stylised W./E.) is a 2011 historical romantic drama film written and directed by Madonna and starring Abbie Cornish, Andrea Riseborough, Oscar Isaac, Richard Coyle, and James D'Arcy. The screenplay was co-written by Alek Keshishian, who previously worked with Madonna on her 1991 documentary Truth or Dare and two of her music videos. Although the film was panned by critics and was a box office bomb, it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design. This marked Isaac's and Cornish's second role together, the first being Sucker Punch. The film tells the story of two women separated by over six decades. In 1998, lonely New Yorker Wally Winthrop is obsessed with Edward VIII's abdication of the British throne so he could marry American Wallis Simpson. But Wally's research, including several visits to Sotheby's auction of the Windsor estate, reveals that the couple's life together was not as perfect as she thought. Traveling back and forth in time, W.E. intertwines Wally's journey of discovery in New York with the story of Wallis and Edward from the early days of their romance to the unraveling of their lives over the following decades. Plot Wallis "Wally" Winthrop is a young American housewife living in New York City in 1998. Although she is neglected, abused, and left sexually frustrated by William, her workaholic psychiatrist husband, she is comforted by the love story of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. Wally travels to the Sotheby's auction of the Windsor estate, which showcases items used by Wallis and Edward in their lifetime and evokes their relationship. In 1930, Edward throws a party at his new home at Fort Belvedere in Windsor Great Park and meets Wallis through Lady Furness (his mistress). They are attracted to each other (despite Wallis' marriage to Ernest Simpson), and become lovers while Lady Furness is abroad. At Sotheby's Wally is interrupted by a guard, Evgeni, who is interested in her.