Polite, mannered drifter Martin Taylor (Sting) charms his way into the home of Thomas Bates (Denholm Elliott), an outwardly upright publisher of religious text, his simple-minded, devout wife Norma (Joan Plowright) and their catatonic daughter Patricia (Suzanna Hamilton), whom he claims to know. Martin is allowed to stay in the home for a couple of days, cooks, cleans, "cares" for the daughter and tries to help the couple through their marital problems, but he's also the catalyst that forces some dark secrets out of the family closet.
Sting's character will either annoy or fascinate you as he exists solely as an enigma, representing angel or demon, or possibly both. Originally a play, this film never quite escapes the stage, but that only feeds into the claustrophobia of the stuffy household and guilt-ridden, lonely characters who inhabit it, and, all in all, it's an intriguing allegory on the nature of good and evil that has a lot to offer, including potent religious imagery, a knockout nightmare/fantasy sequence and a good score (plus songs by The Police) all driven home by excellent performances by the three leads and assured direction by Richard Loncraine.
Dennis Potter's script was previously filmed in 1976 for BBC (that version also starred the great Denholm Elliott).
