"The Hours" is a 2002 drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and adapted from Michael Cunningham's 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. The movie stars Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Julianne Moore in lead roles, along with Ed Harris, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, and Jeff Daniels in supporting roles.
The film tells the story of three different women living in three different eras, whose lives are connected by Virginia Woolf's novel "Mrs. Dalloway." In the 1920s, Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) is struggling with depression and writer's block while writing her novel "Mrs. Dalloway." In the 1950s, housewife Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is reading Woolf's novel and contemplating suicide while trying to please her husband and young son. In present-day New York City, Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) is planning a party for her dying friend and former lover, Richard (Ed Harris), who nicknamed her "Mrs. Dalloway" years ago.
As the film progresses, the lives of these three women are revealed in a series of intercutting vignettes, revealing their personal struggles, their relationships with others, and their attempts to find meaning and happiness in their lives. Virginia Woolf's story unfolds as she experiences moments of mental illness and hallucinations while attempting to write her novel. Laura Brown's story unfolds as she struggles with the monotony of housework and raising a child, while longing for a more passionate life. Clarissa Vaughan's story follows her as she reconnects with Richard, and reflects on her own past choices and relationships.
The film's climax occurs when the stories of the three women converge, as Clarissa Vaughan meets Laura Brown, who is now an elderly woman. The two women share a moment of understanding, as Clarissa realizes the value of the choices Laura made in her life, which mirror those of Woolf's character Mrs. Dalloway. The film ends with a poignant scene in which all three women are shown in their respective timelines, united by their shared experiences of longing for something more in life.
