The House of Mirth

Terence Davies’s 2000 adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel (which I haven’t read) of the same name gets a welcome cinema re-release as part of the BFI’s season, Love. Sex. Religion. Death. The Complete Films Of Terence Davies running from 20 October to 30 November 2025.

Set in high society turn of the century New York Gillian Anderson plays Lily Bart. Bart is part of the set though one or two steps away from the top of society. That is represented by a number of people and power players. Namely Augustus Trenor (Dan Akroyd) and Sim Rosedale (Anthony LaPaglia) the former old establishment family and money the latter ‘new’ money a looking to make his mark. Interspersed there are various couples and individuals looking for their place on the rungs.

It’s a world where money counts and class doesn’t and Bart for all her charm, wit and intelligence doesn’t have the judgement to juggle the various situations that arise. A good income, courtesy of her aunt, isn’t enough.

And the fact that she is reluctant to marry further alienates her from the group. She spurns her one true love Lawrence Seldon (Eric Stoltz) and through a series of disastrous decisions and miscalculations her reputation slips.

It’s a remarkable performance from Anderson who is in almost every scene as she weaves through a complicated hierarchy with its own rules and precedents. What comes across is Lily’s ambition but not ready for the ruthless manipulations of the set. Her naivete is palpable early on in her financial dealings with Trenor, and later on at a society dinner she is cut, and told explicitly and publicly not to attend the post dinner drinks.

Davies’s direction and writing holds the viewer’s attention, both through the sumptuous sets and the skill of the actors working with the highly stylised script. The large cast to a person are excellent. However Akroyd and LaPaglia do strike out as two sides of the same coin. Akroyd a heartless operator while LaPaglia manages to elicit some sympathy as a person who courts the inner sanctum , is clever enough not to let it overwhelm him.

The House Of Mirth returns to cinemas in the UK & Ireland on 24 October 2025.