This story contains descriptions of sexual assault.

Saoirse Ronan is widely regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation. At the age of 25, she already had four Oscar nominations. But her career began with a beautiful but harrowing British historical drama. That was in 2007 atonementwhich also featured Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Benedict Cumberbatch in key roles.

Ronan, then 12 years old, plays the role of Briony Tallis, a very imaginative young girl who wants to be a writer. But her imagination runs wild when she witnesses her sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) starting a relationship with the family gardener, Robbie (James McAvoy). This leads to a terrible accusation that ruins the lives of all three.

Atonement tells a shocking story

The plot of atonement revolves around a horrific act of sexual violence. The year is 1935 and there was hardly any help for rape victims at the time. At a family gathering on a luxurious estate, Briony witnesses her cousin Lola (Juno Temple) being raped in the dark by a man whose face she cannot see. Briony is convinced that the gardener Robbie must be the perpetrator, because over the course of the day she witnesses three things that she cannot explain.

First, she saw Robbie seemingly forcing Cecilia to take off her clothes and climb into a well. In reality (the audience sees this, but Briony does not), Cecilia took off her clothes and defiantly climbed into the well to save a piece of a vase that Robbie had broken. From Briony’s perspective, however, she was witnessing an act of abuse and this disturbed her.

Second, Briony opened a message from Robbie to Cecilia and saw that it contained obscene words and descriptions of sex. Robbie had not intended to put that particular draft in the envelope, as he had rewritten the letter many times. Although Briony should not have opened the letter, she concluded from what it said that Robbie was a “sex maniac.”

Eventually, Briony found her sister and Robbie having sex in the library one night. It was completely consensual, But it remains unclear what Briony believed happened.

When Lola cannot name her rapist, Briony is sure it is Robbie, even though she has not seen the attacker’s face. In fact, it is a family friend, Paul Marshall (Benedict Cumberbatch), who lived on the estate and constantly behaved sinisterly around Lola.

Briony shows Robbie’s letter to her mother and informs the police of her suspicions. A police officer questions Briony and asks her if she saw Robbie rape Lola with her own eyes. Briony says she did, even though that’s not true, and that’s the lie that dooms them all.

The whole Tallis family believes Briony immediately, and that is because Robbie is of a lower class than them. Although he had worked for the family for a long time and was considered a kind of friend, he was still “just” the gardener, the son of the housekeeper. And because Briony is of a higher class, her word is enough to have Robbie arrested. The thought that it could have been someone from their own class who committed the crime does not occur to the family. Marshall gets away with his violent attack completely unpunished.

Cecilia protests Robbie’s innocence, but she is the only one who does so, and is therefore ignored. The lovers are separated, and then the action jumps to World War II. Robbie has been released from prison on the condition that he join the army, where he faces death and danger on a daily basis. He has also been able to resume his relationship with Cecilia.

Briony – played by Romola Garai as a young adult – has realised she was wrong about Robbie. She also witnesses a wedding between Marshall and Lola and realises that Marshall groomed and raped her cousin. Eventually she approaches Robbie and Cecilia and tells them she was wrong. but no one will forgive her.

Then everything changes in a surprising twist. The audience suddenly sees Briony as an old woman (Vanessa Redgrave), a famous author giving an interview. It turns out that she invented the incident where she approached Cecilia and Robbie. She never did, because both died in World War II. Robbie died in Dunkirk and Cecilia died when a bomb hit the London Underground station where she was taking shelter. Briony had tried to make up for her mistake by writing Robbie and Cecilia’s story and giving them a happy ending instead.

It is entirely up to the audience whether Briony really regrets her mistakes or not. Some believe she simply made a terrible mistake and should have been forgiven, while others see her as the villain of the story. Even though the rape would have happened whether she was there or not, and even though Robbie probably would have fought in World War II either way, Briony still bears responsibility for her lie.

Saoirse Ronan created the Briony Complex

When portraying the younger Briony, Ronan walked a fine line. Not only is Briony confused that Robbie is starting a relationship with her sister – she may also be jealous because she has a childish crush on Robbie. The audience may question whether she really and truly believed that Robbie was the rapist, or whether she wanted to punish him (albeit subconsciously) for choosing her sister over her? Eventually, she lies and tells the police officer that she definitely saw Robbie’s face, thereby condemning him.

Ronan also plays Briony as someone who is prone to reckless and cold behavior. In a flashback, Briony and Robbie are standing by a pond and Briony asks Robbie if he would save her if she fell in. Robbie replies yes, of course he would – so Briony throws herself into the pond. Robbie pulls her out and is furious. But Ronan plays Briony as if she doesn’t really understand why it was bad to put her own life and that of someone else in danger. There is something about her that sees people as mere toys – or characters in a story.

This is highlighted very well by the first and last shots of the film. The first shot is of the dollhouse in Briony’s nursery, where Briony’s toys are neatly lined up. The last shot is of the house where Briony imagined Cecilia and Robbie during the happy ending they never got. This house is also essentially a dollhouse, with Robbie and Cecilia as dolls.

This is one thing that could make the audience less sympathetic to Briony in the end. While she believes she is doing a good service by rewriting the story of her sister and her lover so that they get a happy ending, it is ultimately still a selfish act. Briony wants atonement, especially as she nears the end of her life, and writing stories is the only way for her to achieve it.

Ronan is the highlight of the entire film

When atonement When the film first came out, the marketing focused mainly on the two romantic leads, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. Saoirse Ronan is the smallest person on the poster. But this film was the one that made her a star, although it is not as well remembered as some of her other successes such as Ladybug or Little Women.

Although Romola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave do an excellent job of portraying the adult and mature version of Briony, The soul of the character belongs to Saoirse Ronan. She delivers a really complex performance that makes it impossible to tell what Briony is thinking. For example, when she stares out the window after Robbie’s arrest, it’s hard to tell if her expression is one of stoic determination or if guilt is creeping in.

It is an absolutely confident performance from someone at his young age. Remember, Ronan was only 12 years old when atonement began filming, and yet she completely dominated the screen. It’s no wonder she became such a big star.