Enchanted April

Enchanted April (1991) is a British drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Mike Newell and starring Josie Lawrence, Miranda Richardson, Polly Walker, and Joan Plowright.

Two worn-out London wives — impulsive Lottie and reserved Rose — spot a newspaper ad for a medieval Italian castle and decide, on a whim, to rent it for a month. They rope in two strangers to split the cost: Caroline, a dazzling socialite running from admirers, and the elderly Mrs Fisher, who travels with a trunk full of Victorian certainties. The four arrive expecting rest. What unfolds is harder to name.

Newell made a film less about romance than about what happens when people who've forgotten themselves finally get a quiet room and a view of the sea. It's warm without being sentimental, and that's the hardest trick to pull off. Stream Enchanted April (1991) online on iFILM.