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The Cement Garden
The Cement Garden
7.4
/10
805 Ratings

THE CEMENT GARDEN

Directed by Andrew Birkin
France, United Kingdom, 1993
Drama

Synopsis

When Jack’s parents die, he and his sister Julie are worried that their young siblings will be taken into care. As the pressures of keeping the family together grow, Jack finds the sexual frustrations of teenage life and his growing attraction for his sister impinging on their complicated lives.

Synopsis

When Jack’s parents die, he and his sister Julie are worried that their young siblings will be taken into care. As the pressures of keeping the family together grow, Jack finds the sexual frustrations of teenage life and his growing attraction for his sister impinging on their complicated lives.

Our take

Charlotte Gainsbourg fleshes out Ian McEwan’s bread-and-butter themes of British repression and wayward teenage desire in this award-winning adaptation. Having sung about “lemon incest” with her provocateur papa, here she stars opposite her real-life cousin as his onscreen sister—and crush!