The Cement Garden

A suburban gloss on Lord of the Flies, this beautifully lensed adaptation of Ian McEwan's chilling novel about adolescent raging hormones and alienation stars Andrew Robertson and Charlotte Gainsbourg (Jane Eyre) as Jack and Julie, siblings who assume the role of parental units when their parents die. Jack, whose onanistic habit is the central feature of his world, finds himself sexually drawn to his sister, while Julie assumes the now vacant role of mother to the younger children. A twisted tale to be sure, with symbolic pretensions that sometimes overload the film, writer/director Andrew Birkin's long-languishing film (it was made in 1992) is still a powerful portrait of teen psychology, and is strongly recommended for more adventurous collections. (R. Pitman)