As with some other characters (your Sherlock Holmes, your Robin Hood), it would appear that every generation gets their Lady Chatterley, with adaptations of DH Lawrence's 1932 novel Lady Chatterley's Lover happening every few years. The latest is a Netflix effort starring Emma Corrin (who between The Crown and My Policeman you would think had had enough of complicated relationships on screen) and Jack O'Connell. The trailer is now online…
Marrying Sir Clifford Chatterley (Matthew Duckett), Connie’s (Corrin) life of wealth and privilege seems set as she takes the title of Lady Chatterley. Yet this idealistic union gradually becomes an incarceration when Clifford returns from the First World War with injuries that have left him unable to walk.
When she meets and falls for Oliver Mellors (O'Connell), the gamekeeper on the Chatterley family estate, their secret trysts lead her to a sensual, sexual awakening. But as their affair becomes the subject of local gossip, Connie faces a life-altering decision: follow her heart or return to her husband and endure what Edwardian society expects of her.
Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre is the director here, with David Magee on adaptation duty. The film will land in UK cinemas from the 25th of this month before it arrives on Netflix on 2 December.
Want to get the most from Empire? Sign up for Empire Membership!
Get exclusive content, new member-only rewards, access to the latest issue of the magazine plus our back-issue archive, and much more.