M aking a bid for awards credibility – somewhat tentatively – is this absorbing, detailed melodrama, adapted by screenwriter Bryce Kass from Shannon Pufahl’s 50s-set 2019 novel. Kass begins with a narrative feint: after some dutiful lovemaking with husband Lee (Will Poulter), young bride Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) spies Lee’s studly drifter brother Julius (Jacob Elordi) sprawling shirtless on a station wagon outside, the playing cards in his pocket signifying trouble. Things aren’t as hetero as they appear, however: Muriel is drawn to Julius for what he represents rather than who he is, cueing an atypical love triangle where the protagonists are mostly prised apart, and where the optimal outcome may well be for all concerned to pursue their own paths.

Pufahl’s intention, boosted here by

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