As I’ve aged, James Wilby has evolved and changed with me. The actor I didn’t “get” and didn’t really appreciate the first time I watched Maurice in high school became, in a slow evolution, a performer who fascinated me twenty years later. He intrigued me. I wanted to see more. Friends, I’m going to see more.

I didn’t come to A Handful of Dust for James Wilby. Friends, Rupert Graves brought me here. I’d watch Rupert Graves read the phone book.

You could have knocked me over with a feather, though, when I discovered that Rupert Graves was, in fact, only one member of a deep and talented ensemble. 

Frustratingly, though, Graves actually had probably the least to do as John… aside from sharing the screen with the immortal Dame Judi Dench. While Graves is certainly his delightful self in this role, I spent most of the movie thinking about (and missing) Alec Scudder in Maurice. There are certainly glimmers of that portrayal here, but the character as written fades as the story reaches its conclusion. 

A look over Letterboxd reviews finds many people struggling with these characters. Everyone is struggling. These are all “terrible” people. Who can we really sympathize with? 

A Handful of Dust is a film that does no favors for its talented ensemble as it tells the story of Tony (Wilby) and Brenda’s (Kristin Scott Thomas) marriage ending. These portrayals dive into the characters and show them “warts and all”. We sit with these characters in all their painful humanity.

Admittedly, I haven’t read the Evelyn Waugh source material, so I can’t speak to authorial intent. However, I found myself swallowed up in the realism of identifying and sympathizing with everyone… and no one. Each of these characters, especially Brenda and Tony, gets to shine. They have their soulful moments where it’s painfully clear that something between this young couple just isn’t working. 

Even without knowing the source material, this story felt intimately familiar, especially in how it honed in on Scott Thomas’ poignant performance. She’s searching, grasping for the slightest bit of emotion in this rigid world. It’s clear that John (Graves) is giving her something that she long missed in her marriage. Remember, though, the source material dates back to the 1930s. Fans of 1930s melodrama like Stella Dallas and Imitation of Life will feel the similarities. No spoilers, but a wayward woman is always punished.  

Wilby, meanwhile, continues to show himself as an actor who’s at his best in the quiet moments. Even if the script is struggling to say something, his eyes show everything he won’t say. 

This, really, is at the root of my struggles with the film’s second half. At this point in the story, Tony shifts into the driver’s seat.  Wilby, though, faces an uphill battle in two late sequences that feel almost comedic. While there are some memorable supporting turns late in the film (Sir Alec Guinness), the final act feels like a completely different movie. 

I felt most at home with A Handful of Dust when it stayed in the “drawing room”. There’s a beautiful domestic drama here that’s painfully aware of its frustrating realism.  I wanted to sit with Tony and Brenda as they figured out who they were and learned what they wanted. It feels like a sacrilege to say, but I didn’t need the many colorful and comedic supporting turns. These performers (like Guinness) are legends and are a delight to have on screen. However, they also pull focus and distract from the characters at the heart of a painful story. At its heart, this is a story of three people: Tony, Brenda and John. 

A Handful of Dust is available to stream on Prime Video.