Summer isn't the time when we'd expect a bunch of Sundance favorites to arrive but it seems like we're getting three or four of them a day all of the sudden. The latest is the American remake of Susanne Bier's Oscar-nominated After the Wedding, which takes the complex drama and gives it a gender-flipping twist. And you know what? It's actually for the better.
This version of After the Wedding stars Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Billy Crudup, with Williams in the role previously-played to tremendous acclaim by Mads Mikkelsen. Williams stars as Isabel, a social worker from Kalkata who flies to New York to meet Theresa (Moore), the wealthy benefactor willing to fund her cause if she stays in town for her daughter's wedding. But Theresa has a hidden motive that involves her husband (Crudup), and a dangerous secret from the past.
By changing the focus to female, writer/director Bart Freundlich gives an already complicated story of intersecting relationships a timely, feminist spin, with maternal instinct right at the heart of it. I went in thinking this would be a waste of my time, but came out thinking this is one case where the remake is on par with the original
Check it out for yourself when After the Wedding opens on August 9th.
