The Bitter End
Synopsis
“You have no idea how hard it is to live out a great romance…”
American socialite Wallis Simpson's life took a dramatic turn when she met King Edward VIII. Their love affair and the King's priority to marry "the woman I love" led to his abdication, causing one of the biggest crises in British monarchy and Simpson becoming the most talked-about woman in the world.
Simpson's influence upon fashion and style was globally significant. Known for her elegant and daring fashion choices, she captivated a generation and was often imitated by women throughout the world. Indeed, in finding her own purpose, she reflected “I’m not a beautiful woman. I’m nothing to look at, so the only thing I can do is dress better than anyone else”.
After the Duke of Windsor’s death in 1972 the press withdrew from their vitriolic attacks with “Hands off OUR King!” - assuming Simpson’s (Joan Collins) ‘quiet’ life in a Parisian Chateau under the ‘protection’ of three trusted people.
But this generous, gregarious, and inquisitive woman is in deepest loneliness - susceptible to those she cherishes.
Enter: Jean-Claude, Baron de Montalbon (Laurent Lafitte), her devoted friend and colourful chaperone; and Louis, her handsome and fiercely loyal Bahamian butler (Buom Tihngang) - two crucial allies.
Enter: Maître Suzanne Blum (Isabella Rossellini), Paris’s most celebrated lawyer – Simpson’s confidante. Hired as protector, Blum turns predator. Her professional mask hides an obsession. Staff are dismissed. Friends are ostracized. Treasures disappear to auction. This is a game of entrapment and Blum plays the hunter, deploying her devious devotion to gaslighting and control.
Simpson and her allies fight back to outwit Blum in an increasingly menacing game of high-stakes chess. Can they wrestle back control?
Freedom from those, that hunt and harm, is what matters.
Director
Mike Newell
Cast
Isabella Rossellini & Joan Collins