Joan (Glenn Close) and Joe Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) get an early morning call. Joe has won The Nobel Prize for Literature. They head off to Stockholm with their adult son David (Max Irons). David is a bitter struggling writer himself. He seeks Joe's approval but gets little more than criticisms. Biographer Nathanial Bone (Christian Slater) is intent on pursuing the sleazier elements like Joe's infidelities and he uncovers Joan's own early writing. In flashbacks, David may be much closer to Joe than he thinks. Younger Joseph is a second rate college professor and Joan is his star pupil. Joseph would struggle to publish his first story while Joan delivers amazing writing assignments. She would support him in every which way.

The acting is all exceptional except for David's outburst. I feel like it's melodramatic to raise the tension but it becomes so melodramatic that it rings false. In one sense, he hasn't earned it. His mother has earned it and that's why her scenes are powerful. David's character has other issues. I'd eliminate Bone and give the investigation to David. His writing allows him into the story. The moment where he blows up and leaves the limo is the moment I thought he should get help from his mother. With her helping him, he could eventually figure it out. I would hope that his moment of discovery would be more compelling and more nuanced than his melodrama. The other issue is the flashbacks. They reveal too much so that when Bone makes his accusation, there is some repeating. The audience is constantly discovering the same plot points twice. I can see a much tighter and a much more compelling sequence of events with this story. On the other hand, I cannot imagine seeing more compelling acting from the two veterans.