The Hours
With the exception of the opening and final scenes, which depict Virginia Woolf's (Nicole Kidman) 1941 suicide by drowning in the River Ouse, the action takes place within the span of a single day in three different years, and alternates among them throughout the film. In 1923, renowned author Woolf has begun writing the book Mrs. Dalloway in her home in the town of Richmond in suburban London. In 1951, troubled Los Angeles housewife Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) tries to find escape from her dreary existence by reading the same book. In 2001, New Yorker Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) is the embodiment of the title character of Woolf's work as she spends the day preparing for a party she is hosting in honor of her friend Richard, a poet and author living with AIDS who is to receive an award for career achievement.
Virginia, who has experienced several nervous breakdowns and suffers from recurring bouts of severe depression, feels trapped in her home. Intimidated by her servants, Nelly and Lottie, and constantly monitored by her husband Leonard, who operates the Hogarth Press at home in order to be in close proximity to her at all times, Woolf both welcomes and dreads an afternoon visit from her sister Vanessa and her children. After their departure, Virginia flees to the railway station where she is awaiting a train to central London when Leonard arrives to bring her home.
Pregnant with her second child, Laura spends her days in her tract home with her timid, clinging young son Richie. She married her husband, Dan, soon after World War II and on the surface they are living the American Dream; she is nevertheless deeply unhappy. She and Richie prepare a birthday cake for Dan's birthday, but the end result is a disaster. Her neighbor Kitty unexpectedly drops in to ask her if she can feed her dog while she's in the hospital undergoing a medical procedure. Kitty is trying to remain upbeat, but Laura senses her fear and boldly kisses her on the lips, a gesture Kitty appreciates, although she ignores any hidden meaning it may have had. With renewed determination, Laura bakes another cake, this time successfully, cleans the kitchen, and then takes Richie to stay with Mrs. Latch while she supposedly runs some errands before dinner. Instead she checks into a luxury hotel, where she intends to commit suicide. Before taking the pills she has brought with her, she begins to read Mrs. Dalloway and drifts off to sleep. Awakening from a dream in which the hotel room was flooded, she has a change of heart, picks up Richie, and returns home, where the family celebrates Dan's birthday.
Clarissa, stressed in particular about the celebration dinner she's planning for her close friend Richard, particularly by his increasingly debilitating illness, is a bundle of nerves as she tries to accomplish all she needs to do before Richard's award ceremony. The two were romantic during their college days, but he has spent the better part of his life engaging in gay relationships, including one with Louis Waters, who left him years ago but is returning to Manhattan from his home in San Francisco for the festivities. Clarissa herself is a lesbian who has been living with Sally Lester for 10 years, and the mother of university student Julia, both of whom are trying to help her prepare. Eventually we discover Richard is in fact young Richie Brown, Laura's son. When Clarissa arrives at his apartment to help him dress for the ceremony, she finds him in a manic state. Perched on the window ledge, he confesses he has struggled to stay alive for Clarissa's sake but, no longer willing to live with his illness, he throws himself out a window. Later that night Laura, having been notified of her son's suicide by Clarissa, arrives at her apartment. Laura reveals her decision to abandon her family after the birth of her daughter was one she needed to make in order to maintain her sanity.
