Brief Encounter

"A story of the most precious moments in a woman's life!"

1945 1h 26m EN

🙌

7.7

BANGER

★7.7TMDB · 736

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.

“A story of the most precious moments in a woman's life!”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

HBO Max Amazon ChannelSubscription

FlixFlingSubscription

Cast

Celia Johnson
Laura Jesson
Trevor Howard
Dr. Alec Harvey
Stanley Holloway
Albert Godby
Joyce Carey
Myrtle Bagot
Cyril Raymond
Fred Jesson
Everley Gregg
Dolly Messiter
Marjorie Mars
Mary Norton
Margaret Barton
Tea Room Assistant Beryl Walters

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: David Lean
Writers: Noël Coward
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

81 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by David Lean, shot by Robert Krasker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jack Harris shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard and Stanley Holloway carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A story of the most precious moments in a woman's life!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0037558 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

David Lean directs. Robert Krasker behind the camera. Jack Harris cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $1.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
381 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by David Lean, shot by Robert Krasker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Jack Harris shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard and Stanley Holloway carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "A story of the most precious moments in a woman's life!".
8IMDB entry: tt0037558 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 18 themes, including "infidelity", "farewell", "husband wife relationship", "narration".
10Released under 17 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Krasker
Editing: Jack Harris
Runtime: 86 min · 1h 26m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,200,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Brief Encounter (1945)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

David Lean

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-03-28
★ 7/10
Based on Noël Coward's play "Still Life" this is a super adaptation from David Lean as Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard meet in a railway station café and 90 minutes later we have been on a roller-coaster of emotions, all delicately and subtly discussed, as these two eminently middle class English people challenge their long established "civilised" values and conventions of behaviour. It's style is it's simplicity - the script is poignant and charming; if a little dated now. Stanley Holloway provides an occasional breath of air during this quite intense drama, and who can ever forget that Rachmaninoff is a huge star of this, too?
badelf2026-02-12
★ 8/10
Brief Encounter (1945) Directed by David Lean David Lean's Brief Encounter tells the story of two married people (Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard) who meet by chance at a railway station and fall into a brief, impossible love affair. The acting is incredible, both leads conveying volumes through restraint and glances. Lean's direction is assured, understanding exactly how to frame repressed emotion and stolen moments. The cinematography is phenomenal. The lighting and shadows really raised the experience of the film several notches, turning ordinary railway stations and tea rooms into spaces of longing and moral anguish. Every frame is composed with care, the visual language doing as much work as the dialogue. Too bad the screenplay doesn't age well into current culture. What felt like profound moral conflict in 1945, the agony of choosing duty over desire, now reads as needlessly repressed, the tragedy of two people unable to claim what they want because propriety demands sacrifice. We've moved past the idea that adultery of the heart requires this level of self-flagellation, that wanting something beyond your marriage means you must suffer eternally for the transgression of feeling. Still, as a technical achievement and a document of its time, Brief Encounter remains worth watching. Just don't expect the emotional stakes to land the way Lean intended.