Director Joe Wright (“Pride & Prejudice”) re-teams with Keira Knightly to do powerful justice to Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel about lovers from opposite sides of class lines drawn through a family’s lush estate in 1935 England. 
Precocious 13-year-old Briony (Saoirse Ronan) fancies herself a playwright, and her pampered desire for drama runs astray when she misinterprets her older sister’s (Keira Knightly) amorous involvement with Robbie (James McAvoy), the scholarly son of the family’s servant (Brenda Blethyn).
What starts out with the sunny promise of unbridled romance takes a 180 degree turn at the hand of young Briony whose own infatuation with Robbie causes her to act with unthinkable cruelty when a bizarre set of circumstances allow.
Outstanding performances from its pitch-perfect cast are set in stone with the aid of Knightly and McAvoy who each display a depth of emotion and restraint that is hypnotic.
“Atonement” is an example of an elegant and raw period melodrama that harmonizes every dissonant tone of bad intention that separates two ideal lovers, while sustaining its damning theme of offhand injustice.
Rated R. 123 mins.
