Glenn Close is back on our screens, amidst rave reviews and although I do not often go to the movies (preferring to snuggle under the blankets and watch Showmax) this is one movie I will certainly be making the trip to my local movie house to watch. I also have a set of tickets and the book by the same name to giveaway, valued at R 370!

The Wife is an electrifying drama – an adaptation by Jane Anderson of Meg Wolitzer’s 2003 book of the same name – and explores how female sacrifice is often the price for male success and stars the six-time Oscar nominated Glenn Close as Joan Castleman, the wife and supporter of husband Joe (Jonathan Pryce), a charismatic and successful writer.

The Wife opens as the couple first receives the news that Joe has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. As her husband prepares to accept the prize, Joan – the perfect alpha wife – begins to realise what she has lost while fanning the flames of her husband’s literary career.

Through flashbacks, the film illustrates the ambition that Joan had as a college student – with younger Joan played by Close’s real-life daughter, Annie Starke – and how her own writing career, once seen as very promising, ended so she could support her husband and raise a family.

But as the pair head to Sweden to accept the prize, tensions begin to boil and the woman who has spent years in her husband’s shadow is ready to step into the light. Complicating an already tense situation further is an aggressive biographer, who has followed them all the way to Stockholm, and who is intent on chronicling Joe’s life.

“The story is fine, but the movie features a terrific performance by Jonathan Pryce and a flat-out brilliant one from Glenn Close, who dials up a slow burn for the ages,” says Arizona Republic’s Bill Goodykoontz. THE WIFE, director Björn Runge’s first English-language feature film where he encapsulates the infamous saying that behind every great man, there’s usually a greater woman.

Berlin Silver Bear winner Runge explains how he got involved in the project: “I read the script and recognised the great dialogue, strong characters and an interesting wholeness. In addition, I saw it as an excellent opportunity for Glenn Close to do great work and to truly showcase her talents. To be a part of all of this made it a very easy decision for me.”

Close is excellent as the charming, enigmatically discreet and supportive wife of a world-famous author. She is unnervingly subtle, unreadably calm, and simmering with self-control – a perfect study in marital pain, deceit and the politics of prestige.

Excellent filming, a clever script, uncluttered editing, and an Oscar nomination-worthy performance by Close gives this film a clear voice for the demographic it addresses. In particular, it will pack a punch for women who feel that they have been overlooked by their male counterparts, or indeed those who have sacrificed their career or ambition to look after others.

The Wife hits the big screen today, Friday 24th August and is showing at Ster Kinekor and Nu Metro Cinemas around the country, as well as a few independent movie houses such as Movies@Monte and The Labia on Orange in Cape Town.

Find out more about the movie on their Facebook page here…

To stand a chance to win a set of double tickets, as well as the book, let me know which one of Glenn’s movies is your ultimate fave!