Directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Donnie Brasco; Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) and starring Lily James (Cinderella; War & Peace; Baby Driver; Downton Abbey (tv series)), Matthew Goode (Match Point, Imagine Me and You, Brideshead Revisited, Leap Year, The Imitation Game), Jessica Brown Findlay (Albatross; Winter's Tale; This Beautiful Fantastic, Downton Abbey (tv series)), Michiel Huisman (Game of Thrones (tv series); The Age of Adaline; World War Z; The Young Victoria), Tom Courtenay (Doctor Zhivago; The Dresser; 45 Years; Quartet; The Golden Compass) and Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey; Pride & Prejudice; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; Calendar Girls).
Set in London and in Guernsey during the aftermath of WWII, the drama is centred on two women: firstly, Juliet Ashton (Lily James) is an author whose publisher Sidney Stark (Matthew Goode) is trying to encourage her to focus on a book tour to promote her book on Anne Bronte. She is distracted by correspondence from the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and their experiences in Nazi-occupied Guernsey, and her fascination and inquisitive nature brings her on a trip to the island. There she learns why the society is so-called, but the members including Eben Ramsey (Tom Courtenay) and Dawsey Adams (Michiel Huisman), but primarily Amelia Maugery (Penelope Wilton), are against her publishing a story about them.
As Lily digs deeper, she is drawn to the story of young Kit who is being brought up by Dawsey, and Kit's mother Elizabeth McKenna (Jessica Brown Findlay), the second woman central to the story. Bit by bit, she slowly unravels the secrets the island and its people have to offer. They have a profound influence over Lily too, with her fiancé in the background, helping with her research.
A melancholy British drama of human interest and friendship set in the backdrop of the aftermath of World War II in the Channel Islands. The cinematography is wonderful, with details of life back then portrayed on the big screen with props, the architecture of the houses, furniture and ornaments, etc. Near the beginning, the use of rowboats to bring passengers ashore in Guernsey was also interesting as a proper passenger ferry harbour had not yet been constructed.
