Great Expectations

Right now you can watch Great Expectations in Australia on Artiflix, and in the US on fuboTV and HBO Max Amazon Channel — and the chemistry between the leads carries every scene. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. John Mills is the anchor, and the chemistry with the rest of the cast carries every scene. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Artiflix.

Whatever else is competing for your attention this week, Great Expectations is worth clearing space for. Great Expectations treats its central relationship as something worth taking seriously. In this Dickens adaptation, orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker. John Mills and Valerie Hobson lead a cast whose chemistry carries the emotional beats. Great Expectations came out in 1946. The relationship at the centre of Great Expectations develops at a pace that feels earned rather than rushed for plot reasons. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Romance fans and drama viewers alike will find something to love in Great Expectations. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. Short enough to finish in one sitting, substantial enough to feel satisfying. The chemistry John Mills brings to it is the engine that drives everything. A rarer quality than it sounds — earning the romantic beats rather than assuming them.