Notes on a Scandal

December. 25,2006      R
Rating:
7.4
Subscription
Rent / Buy
Subscription
Trailer Synopsis Cast

A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.

Judi Dench as  Barbara Covett
Cate Blanchett as  Sheba Hart
Bill Nighy as  Richard Hart
Andrew Simpson as  Steven Connolly
Phil Davis as  Brian Bangs
Michael Maloney as  Sandy Pabblem
Juno Temple as  Polly Hart
Joanna Scanlan as  Sue Hodge
Julia McKenzie as  Marjorie
Shaun Parkes as  Bill Rumer

Similar titles

Three and Out
Prime Video
Three and Out
A London tube driver considers pursuing a third fatal accident to collect a huge payout.
Three and Out 2008
Happy Endings
Prime Video
Happy Endings
Filmmaker Nicky offers to track down the son that Mamie gave up for adoption nearly two decades before. Meanwhile, Mamie's stepbrother (and the father of her child), Charley, along with his boyfriend, Gil, try to find out what became of the sperm Gil donated to a lesbian couple. Finally, singer Jude becomes entangled in a love triangle with androgynous drummer Otis and his conservative father.
Happy Endings 2005
Gigantic
Freevee
Gigantic
Young mattress salesman Brian decides to adopt a baby from China but is distracted when he forms a relationship with quirky, wealthy Harriet whom he meets at his mattress store. As their relationship flourishes, unbeknownst to them, a hitman is trying to kill Brian.
Gigantic 2008
One Night with the King
Prime Video
One Night with the King
This amazing biblical drama chronicles the brave and historic legend of Hadassah, a Jewish orphan with exceptional beauty who rises to become Queen Esther of Persia and saves Persian Jews from genocide. By revealing her heritage to the king, Esther thwarts the evil prime minister's plan to annihilate all Jews in the Persian Empire. The annual festival of Purim is inspired by her heroism.
One Night with the King 2006
Wah-Wah
Prime Video
Wah-Wah
Set at the end of the 1960s, as Swaziland is about to receive independence from United Kingdom, the film follows the young Ralph Compton, at 12, through his parents' traumatic separation, till he's 14.
Wah-Wah 2006
Brink!
Brink!
Andy "Brink" Brinker and his in-line skating crew--Peter, Jordy, and Gabriella--who call themselves "Soul-Skaters" (which means they skate for the fun of it, and not for the money), clash with a group of sponsored skaters, Team X-Bladz--led by Val--with whom they attend high school in southern California. When Brink discovers his family is in financial trouble, he goes against the wishes of his parents and his friends and joins Team X-Bladz. Brink tries to lead a double life but will be able to pull it off?
Brink! 1998
Sex and Breakfast
Prime Video
Sex and Breakfast
Two young couples using anonymous sex as a catalyst to fix their troubled relationships must rethink what makes a connection work.
Sex and Breakfast 2007
Speak
Paramount+
Speak
Freshman high-school student Melinda has refused to speak ever since she called the cops on a popular summer party. With her old friends snubbing her for being a rat, and her parents too busy to notice her troubles, she folds into herself, trying to hide her secret: that star senior Andy raped her at the party. But Melinda does manage to find solace in her art class headed by Mr. Freeman.
Speak 2004
The Loss of Sexual Innocence
The Loss of Sexual Innocence
The story of the sexual development of a filmmaker through three stages of his life.
The Loss of Sexual Innocence 1999
Aftermath
AMC+
Aftermath
A fatal plane crash changes the lives of Roman and Jake forever. Roman loses his wife and daughter in the accident, while Jake loses his mind—as he happens to be the air traffic controller who failed to avert the nightmare. Rage and revenge engulfs Roman and Jake finds himself swamped with guilt and regret.
Aftermath 2017

You May Also Like

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Prime Video
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flits in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer. Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2008
Babel
Prime Video
Babel
In Babel, a tragic incident involving an American couple in Morocco sparks a chain of events for four families in different countries throughout the world.
Babel 2006
The Departed
Max
The Departed
To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.
The Departed 2006
Déjà Vu
Prime Video
Déjà Vu
Called in to recover evidence in the aftermath of a horrific explosion on a New Orleans ferry, Federal agent Doug Carlin gets pulled away from the scene and taken to a top-secret government lab that uses a time-shifting surveillance device to help prevent crime.
Déjà Vu 2006
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Prime Video
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born in the stench of 18th century Paris, develops a superior olfactory sense, which he uses to create the world's finest perfumes. However, his work takes a dark turn as he tries to preserve scents in the search for the ultimate perfume.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer 2007
Moonrise Kingdom
Prime Video
Moonrise Kingdom
Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore – and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than anyone can handle.
Moonrise Kingdom 2012
Blue Jasmine
Prime Video
Blue Jasmine
After experiencing a traumatic misfortune, Jasmine French, a wealthy woman from New York, moves to San Francisco to live with her foster sister Ginger and the firm purpose of getting a new life, but she will be haunted by anxiety and memories of the past.
Blue Jasmine 2013
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Prime Video
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
When Queen Elizabeth's reign is threatened by ruthless familial betrayal and Spain's invading army, she and her shrewd adviser must act to safeguard the lives of her people.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age 2007
The Last King of Scotland
Prime Video
The Last King of Scotland
Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his formal education, so he decides to try his luck in Uganda, and arrives during the downfall of President Obote. General Idi Amin comes to power and asks Garrigan to become his personal doctor.
The Last King of Scotland 2006
5 to 7
AMC+
5 to 7
A young writer begins an affair with an older woman from France whose open marriage to a diplomat dictates that they can meet only between the hours of 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
5 to 7 2014

Reviews

BootDigest
2006/12/25

Such a frustrating disappointment

... more
Stometer
2006/12/26

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

... more
Listonixio
2006/12/27

Fresh and Exciting

... more
Guillelmina
2006/12/28

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

... more
kimcristina
2006/12/29

Barbara played splendidly,as a young initiator , lovely.

... more
moonspinner55
2006/12/30

Friendless, bitter history teacher at a bustling British high school is at first appalled by--and then strangely drawn to--a new arrival: the lovely, earthy young art teacher who wants everyone to fall in love with her. The flirtatious nature of this ethereal newcomer draws a strapping 15-year-old student into the picture, a sticky situation of which the spinster becomes well aware, eventually using the turn of events to her advantage. For the better part of an hour, director Richard Eyre hypnotically weaves an intriguing web of mismatched lives intersecting within secret complicity and, ultimately, tragedy. Working from Zoe Heller's novel "What Was She Thinking: Notes on a Scandal", screenwriter Patrick Marber creates an absorbing whirlpool of emotional characters and private feelings, while Judi Dench's elderly Barbara alternately seethes and smiles like a Cheshire cat. Both Dench and Cate Blanchett are amazing, however Eyre allows a few of the supporting players too much slack, and the melodrama which takes over in the final third becomes overwrought as a result. Still quite good, with a dangerously dreamy ambiance sweeping its dueling divas up in a cloud of conflict and little gold stars. *** from ****

... more
brchthethird
2006/12/31

Even though the setup is rather formulaic, NOTES ON A SCANDAL is a well-executed story about secrets and manipulative relationships, while also slipping in some commentary on gender and class. Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett star as high school teachers who become friends when the former finds about the latter's illicit relationship with a student. However, Judi Dench's character has motives of her own that are gradually revealed as the film progresses. For all of the film's trappings as this "friend becomes a stalker" type of story, Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett's performances anchor it in reality and give it a classy feeling that a lot of other similar films lack. I must say that I completely bought Judi Dench as an aging schoolteacher. Cate Blanchett also did a nice job in a role that I haven't really seen her play before, and a degree of vulnerability that she didn't really show in something like LORD OF THE RINGS. Seeing as her character gets caught doing something rather stupid, it would be easy to just dismiss her character as unlikeable from the get-go, but the way the plot develops actually makes her quite sympathetic (at least compared to Judi Dench's character). If there's anything I can find fault with, it's that the plot really doesn't aspire to be anything other than a melodramatic thriller. Thankfully, the performances and overall execution of the material, along with the direction and cinematography lend it some much-needed credibility. I also loved Philip Glass' score. Overall, NOTES ON A SCANDAL is quite predictable, but it sets itself apart by its pedigree in front of, and behind, the camera.

... more
left-of-center
2007/01/01

"Notes on a Scandal" is one of my all-time favorite films. In my mind, it's perfection. Directed by Richard Eyre, and adapted by Patrick Marber from the novel by Zoe Heller, it's a film that I can never get enough of. It's as sensational and (pun intended) scandalous as a soap opera but is written with great intelligence and nuance, as well as features first-class acting. This London-set story of a lonely, bitter high-school history teacher, Barbara Covett (Judi Dench), and her twisted friendship with the school's fragile yet deviant new art teacher, Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), has all sorts of layers to plumb.It was nominated for four Oscars, after its 2006 release, and one of them was for Marber's Adapted Screenplay. It was very well-deserved and he probably should've won. Eyre directs the film well, striking a balance between a minimalism that shows his theatre roots and a subtle gift for keeping the pacing alive. Yet, the true foundation of the film is the script. "Notes on a Scandal" is not only wildly entertaining and gripping but full of classic dialogue. Marber is, after all, the same man who gave us the line "Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off, but it's better if you do" from his play/film "Closer." So, there's not only zingers here, mostly through Dench's impeccably delivered, acerbic voiceovers, that will make you howl but evocative lines that will make you think. For example: "It takes courage to recognize the real from the convenient." It's quite rare to see a story that is not only woman-centered but so unsentimental and brutally honest in its depiction of said women. In this, Marber sticks faithfully to Heller's novel. Barbara and Sheba are both fleshed out in three-dimensional ways, given sympathetic qualities at the same time that their unlikable, appalling, or absurd traits aren't glossed over. Some reviewers seem to have taken issue with Sheba, in particular, and why we aren't given a clear answer as to why this bright, attractive, happily married woman would sleep with her 15-year-old student, Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson). But, I think that's the essential point. It's all too complicated to sum up so neatly and logically.Blanchett, who was Oscar-nominated for her performance, does a fantastic job at playing Sheba's ambiguity and complexity. She is full of yearning, vulnerability, and confusion, while also keeping us guessing, as well. Sheba has to be as much of a mystery as she is a bleeding heart and Blanchett nails this balance very well. Bill Nighy shines in his smaller role as Sheba's husband and Simpson brings a roguish, boyish charm that makes him dangerously appealing.And then there's Dench. The Great Dame received an Oscar nod for this role and many would agree that she should have won (no offense Helen Mirren). She does so much with Barbara. First off, she's utterly hilarious, dishing out dry English wit like nobody's business. Second off, she's appropriately unsettling and horrifying, not holding back from the character's creepy, controlling nature. Yet, she is also deeply empathetic. The more the film progresses, the more you forget Barbara is such a "monster". The loneliness and need that Dench grounds her in is superb.Now, Philip Glass was also Oscar-nominated for his Original Score, which I have to mention, as it seems to be quite polarizing. I personally loved it. A bit over-the-top? Yes. But, it adds to the juiciness of the movie. It kept me on the edge of my seat, in certain moments, especially during a climactic showdown between Barbara and Sheba. It helped make the film seem like an actual psychological thriller, not just a drama."Notes on a Scandal" is a movie you truly experience. One minute you're laughing, the next you're gasping, and the next you're feeling deeply for two people who you might otherwise simply judge.

... more