What a refreshing break from all the mindless noise of much of modern cinema this little-seen film is! You actually get to hear people TALK - perhaps too much, for some tastes, but when the dialogue is so expertly written (by Harold Pinter), why complain? The time-in-reverse gimmick puts an interesting spin on the usual love-triangle tale, plus it turns the movie into a great mathematical exercise (at each point you can calculate how many years Kingsley and Hodge have been married, at what stage the Irons-Hodge affair is, how old the kids are, etc.). In its frank and adult handling of marital infidelity and extra-marital affairs, "Betrayal" can be compared to a Claude Chabrol film. The direction is simple and naturalistic, never overshadowing the characters, who are excellently played by a fantastic trio of actors. However, if you're expecting a mind-blowing "revelation" at the end of the picture, you will not get it; the end is only the beginning of the story, after all. *** out of 4.
Review of Betrayal
