Our take
Acerbic diary excerpts provide the narration for this taut psychological thriller, but don’t be fooled: as Notes on a Scandal teases, single schoolteacher Barbara (Judi Dench) might not be filling these pages with the truth — at least, not intentionally. There are early tells that she might not be as reliable a narrator as we expect, given her reputation as a no-nonsense battleaxe: for one, her characteristic surliness dissolves alarmingly quickly upon meeting Sheba (Cate Blanchett), an idealistic young art teacher. Notes on a Scandal doesn’t overplay this hand, though: until its explosive climax, the psychological drama is mostly read between the lines, as we watch Barbara enthusiastically pursue a “friendship” with her younger colleague.
What makes Notes doubly gripping is that Barbara isn’t the only one hiding dark secrets: as she soon discovers, the married Sheba has begun a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student. That disturbing revelation gives Barbara an upper hand, a means of manipulating Sheba into validating her delusions about their relationship. What follows is a gripping twin character study, one that plays out in the heightened realm of a melodrama as their sordid secrets become entwined. Darkly camp and spanning just 92 perfectly paced minutes, this is an intense immersion into two very ugly psyches.
What it won
Oscars
4 noms
Berlin
1 nom
Golden Globes
3 noms
Nat. Board of Review
1 nom
The story
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.
Elsewhere
"In England, it seems, actresses have nothing to fear from age. They can simply wait for writers to create fresh work for them."
— David Denby
"Notes on a Scandal is another squirm-und-drang movie: too creepy-sad to be a comedy, too intense to watch quietly, without letting out frequent whoops."
— David Edelstein
After discovering her younger colleague has entered into a sexual relationship with a student, a middle-aged high school teacher uses the sordid secret to her own advantage.
It goes without saying that these are very tricky roles to play, but Blanchett and Dench are more than up to the challenge, imbuing their monster-like characters with surprising nuance. Despite Blanchett’s role being the more salacious of the two, it’s Dench’s vindictive schemer who emerges as the most psychologically juicy. With her twisty performance as a sociopath who is, at turns, desperately sympathetic and deeply repellent, the legendary Dame manages to eclipse her brilliant co-star and steal the film.
You’ll never be able to see Judi Dench the same again.
The details
Who picked it
Farah Cheded is a UK-based curator at A Good Movie to Watch and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved freelance critic whose work has been published at outlets including The Playlist, Paste Magazine, and Film School Rejects. She lives in fear of the day she runs out of 'Columbo' episodes to watch.
