Hampstead Parent Guide

Emily (Diane Keaton) feels adrift in her own life. The widowed American lives in London, volunteering at a charity shop and lunching with her wealthy neighbors. But her late, unlamented husband left her in debt, and although her lecherous accountant insists that they can “help each other”, Emily just might have to sell her beloved flat.

Frankly, I have a hard time being sympathetic to anyone whose financial problems are so easily solved. The flat is gorgeous and situated across the street from Hampstead Heath, making it enormously valuable. Selling it and scaling back is the obvious solution. And the fact that it would separate her from her odious “friends” can only be considered a plus. Not only is the leader of the pack, Fiona (Lesley Manville), manipulative, she’s also pressuring Emily to get involved in a campaign to encourage real estate development on the heath. The catch is that the land is occupied by a squatter. And Fiona has fallen in love with him.

Donald (Brendan Gleeson) is a big, bluff Irishman, who has been living rough in a DIY shack on Hampstead Heath for years. After spending his life running from emotional complications, Donald retreated to the silence of the woods where he now spends his time reading books in Highgate Cemetery, fishing for dinner in the river, and growing his own vegetables. Sadly, his idyllic existence is rooted in valuable land and the developer will do anything to evict him. But neither Donald nor the “well-connected wolves in silk suits” have counted on Emily’s fighting spirit and determination…

Hampstead is a quiet, gentle story. There’s no hurry here, no explosive action scenes, not even a breathless moment of frenzied passion. This is the tale of two mature adults, each with their own baggage, who slowly fall in love with one another and try to figure out how to knit together two very different lives.

Given the movie’s sedate storyline, this is unlikely to be a hit with younger audiences, although negative content issues are far less frequent than in most chick flicks. This is a movie for adults who want to watch a relationship blossom amid breathtaking British backdrops. This film is a love letter to London, with shots of Hampstead Heath, quaint streets, and the British Museum that will have audiences scrolling through airline apps to buy tickets across the pond. Frankly, although I enjoyed the quiet love story, I really lost my heart to the landscapes. Time to find my passport and plan my next trip to England’s “green and pleasant land”.