The dry reserve of the British is the driving force behind Separate Lies, the directorial debut of screenwriter Fellowes. Working from a novel by Nigel Balchin, Fellowes, who wrote Robert Altman's class-conflict drama Gosford Park, examines both the obligations of marriage and of wealth, using a single inciting incident as his jumping-off point.
Successful corporate lawyer James Manning (Wilkinson) and his wife Anne (Watson) have a lovely flat in London and a sprawling countryside estate, but that doesn't make up for their stale marriage, which is more about politeness than passion. Into their routine comes the brooding Bill Bule (Everett), a recently divorced son of wealth who's just come back from a stint in New York. Bill and Anne become friends, which is easy since James is always staying late at work and Bill appears to have nothing to do with his time.
The turning point comes as the husband of the Mannings' maid is killed in a hit-and-run accident, one which appears to be Bill's fault. James takes it upon himself to get to the truth, and in so doing opens up a can of worms that challenges both his marriage and his status in the community. To say more than that would ruin the well-timed revelations that Fellowes doles out, changing the story from the mystery it first appears to be into something more akin to a tense domestic drama.
Like his characters, Fellowes acts with the utmost reserve, making a movie about infidelity that lacks a single sex scene, and dropping revelations in a casual, unhurried way that does more to take the audience by surprise than conventional shock moments ever could. The performances are all beautifully calibrated, especially Everett's. He plays a great mix of menacing and seductive as a cad with a strange but acute sense of morality.
The movie loses its way in the last 15 minutes or so, letting the story go on after the main threads have all been tied up. It does, however, lead to a satisfying ending that points again to the English bottling of emotions and closes a smart thematic arc. Fellowes nicely explores the complex relationships both among the wealthy and between the wealthy and their servants, and the last part of the film loses that unifying force to become something a little more melodramatic. Lose the final plot twist, and Separate Lies is a tidy and wholly effective drama.