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An Education

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Rent An Education on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Though the latter part of the film may not appeal to all, An Education is a charming coming-of-age tale powered by the strength of relative newcomer Carey Mulligan's standout performance.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Lone Scherfig

Peter Sarsgaard

Carey Mulligan

Alfred Molina

Dominic Cooper

Rosamund Pike

More Like This

Related movie news.

An innocent, a scoundrel, a great film, and a star is born

Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard in "An Education."

“An Education” tells the story of a 16-year-old girl who is the target of a sophisticated seduction by a 35-year-old man. This happens in 1961, when 16-year-old girls were a great deal less knowing than they are now. Yet the movie isn’t shabby or painful, but romantic and wonderfully entertaining.

It depends on a British actress named Carey Mulligan , who in her first major feature role is being compared by everyone with Audrey Hepburn . When you see her, you can’t think of anyone else to compare her with. She makes the role luminous when it could have been sad or awkward. She has such lightness and grace, you’re pretty sure this is the birth of a star.

All very well and good, you’re thinking, but how is this film a romance? Oh, it’s not so much a romance between the teenager and the middle-aged man. That only advances to the level of an infatuation. It’s a romance between the girl, named Jenny, and the possibilities within her, the future before her, and the joy of being alive. Yes, she sheds a few tears. But she gets better than she gives, and in hindsight, this has been a valuable experience for her.

But wait? Doesn’t this girl have parents? She certainly does. Jack and Marjorie ( Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour ) are proper, traditional middle-class parents in the London suburb of Twickenham, and there’s nothing but love in the home. They aren’t wealthy or worldly, but they wish the best for their girl and are bursting with pride that she’s won a scholarship to Oxford. Then she springs David ( Peter Sarsgaard ) on them.

This is a smooth operator. He sees her standing at a bus stop in the rain, holding her cello case. He offers her a lift in his sports car. He engages her in conversation about classical music. He “happens” to run into her again, and they have a nice chat. He wonders if she might enjoy…

You see how it goes. He opens a door she eagerly wants to enter, to concerts, plays, restaurants, double dates with his fascinating friends, talk about the great world when the boys at school have nothing to say. At some point, it must become clear to her that he intends to sleep with her if he can, but by now she’s thinking that he very possibly can.

I forgot to tell you about her parents. They dote and protect, but are very naive. David is good-looking, well-dressed, well-spoken and very, very polite. He has “taken an interest” in Jenny because, why? He is impressed by this young woman’s mind and enjoys sharing his advantages. He offers implicit guarantees of her safety, and they’re so proud of her, they believe a wealthy older man would be interested for purely platonic motives. They’re innocents. Jenny will be safe with him for a weekend in Paris — because he has an aunt who lives there and will be her chaperone?

Paris! The city embodies Jenny’s wildest dreams! And to see it with a worldly dreamboat like David, instead of going there on the boat-train with a grotty, pimply 17-year-old! Is she cynically taking advantage of David for her own motives? Well, yes. Now close your eyes and remember your teens and tell me you don’t forgive her at least a little.

Part of the genius of “An Education” is that it unfolds this relationship at a deliberate pace. Sarsgaard plays an attractive, intelligent companion. He is careful to keep a distance. Must be a good trout fisherman. To some degree, he’s truthful: He enormously enjoys this smart, pretty girl. He loves walking along the Seine with her. He knows things about the world that she eagerly welcomes.

Yes, he’s also a rotter, a bounder, a cad, a dirty rotten scoundrel. But you can’t get far in any of those trades if you’re not also a charmer. To some degree, Jenny welcomes being deceived. The screenplay by Nick Hornby (“ About a Boy ” and “ High Fidelity “) is based on a memoir by a real person, the British journalist Lynn Barber. It became well-known in the U.K. that when she was 16, she had a two-year affair with a man named Simon in his late 30s.

There are many scene-by-scene parallels between book and movie, and much closely adapted dialogue. We know that Lynn Barber is smart and that she was pretty when she was 16. But her affair wasn’t such a great experience, at least not in its second year. What transforms it in “An Education” is Mulligan, who has that rare gift of enlisting us on her side and making us like her. She’s so lovable that whatever happens must be somehow for Jenny’s benefit. She glows.

So young women, let this movie offer useful advice. When a man seems too good to be true, he probably isn’t — good, or true. We all make mistakes when we’re growing up. Sometimes we learn from them. If we’re lucky, we can even learn during them. And you must certainly see Paris. Do not count on meeting the aunt.

Barber writes: “What did I get from Simon? An education — the thing my parents always wanted me to have… I learned about expensive restaurants and luxury hotels and foreign travel, I learned about antiques and Bergman films and classical music. But actually there was a much bigger bonus than that. My experience with Simon entirely cured my craving for sophistication. By the time I got to Oxford, I wanted nothing more than to meet kind, decent, straightforward boys my own age, no matter if they were gauche or virgins. I would marry one eventually and stay married all my life and for that, I suppose, I have Simon to thank.”

Lynn Barber’s full account: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jun/07/lynn-barber-virginity-relationships

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

Cara Seymour as Marjorie
Emma Thompson as Headmistress
Carey Mulligan as Jenny
Peter Sarsgaard as David
Alfred Molina as Jack

Directed by

Lone Scherfig
Nick Hornby

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An Education

A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.
In the early 1960's, sixteen-year-old Jenny Mellor (Carey Mulligan) lives with her parents in the London suburb of Twickenham. On her father Jack's (Alfred Molina's) wishes, everything that Jenny does is in the sole pursuit of being accepted into Oxford, as he wants her to have a better life than him. Jenny is bright, pretty, hard working, but also naturally gifted. The only problems her father may perceive in her life is her issue with learning Latin, and her dating a boy named Graham (Matthew Beard), who is nice, but socially awkward. Jenny's life changes after she meets David Goldman (Peter Sarsgaard), a man over twice her age. David goes out of his way to show Jenny and her family that his interest in her is not improper and that he wants solely to expose her to cultural activities which she enjoys. Jenny quickly gets accustomed to the life to which David and his constant companions, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Helen (Rosamund Pike), have shown her, and Jenny and David's relationship does move on to becoming a romantic one. However, Jenny slowly learns more about David, and by association, Danny and Helen, and specifically how they make their money. Jenny has to decide if what she learns about them and leading such a life is worth forgoing her plans of higher education at Oxford. — Huggo
Jenny (Mulligan) is a bright young girl on the cusp of 17 who finds herself in a whirlwind romance with the much older David (Sarsgaard). Once she sees the lifestyle David can provide, one she never imagined might so easily be hers, she is hooked. Thoughts of prep school and one day attending Oxford fly out the window.
London, 1960s. Jenny is a bright, pretty teen with the world at her feet. There's no shortage of potential boyfriends. Along comes Peter, a man significantly older than her, who sweeps her off her feet with his wealth, possessions and knowledge. — grantss
In 1961 London, Jenny Mellor (Carey Mulligan) is a 16-year-old schoolgirl on track to get accepted to Oxford University. Her studies are controlled by her strict father, Jack (Alfred Molina). Her parents (Mother Marjorie (Cara Seymour)) are conservative & want the best for her. They trust Jenny completely & give her the freedom to live her life the way she wants. But her parents are very disapproving of all the class boys that Jenny brings to her home. Jenny's dad likes people who know what they want to be doing in life. He appreciates Jenny for her focus on getting into Oxford & hence automatically disapproves of any young man who comes into their home & says that they aren't sure of what they want to be doing next in life. He calls them "teddy boy". After youth orchestra rehearsals, Jenny waits at a bus stop on the street in heavy rain when David Goldman (Peter Sarsgaard), an older man stops his Bristol 405 and tells her that he is a music lover and is worried about her cello getting wet, and he convinces Jenny to put her cello in his car while she walks alongside. As the rain becomes heavier, Jenny asks David if she can sit inside the car. The two talk about music and, before being dropped off, Jenny confides that she is looking forward to attending university and being able to live a life of culture, doing things such as going to art galleries and watching French films. The following week, David has flowers delivered to Jenny's house, wishing her luck at her youth orchestra's concert. Later, she sees him in town and approaches him. David asks Jenny if she is free to go and see a concert and have supper with him and his friends. She happily agrees and thanks him. On the night of the concert, Jack disapproves of Jenny going, but when David comes by to pick up Jenny, he easily charms Jack into letting him take Jenny and bring her home later than her normal curfew. David introduces Jenny to his equally charming friends, including a lady by the name of Helen (Rosamund Pike) who ends up becoming a mentor to Jenny in the grown-up group of David's. Jenny is smitten by the high lifestyle of effortless elegance of Helen & wants to emulate her. Danny (Dominic Cooper) is Helen's "boyfriend" & by the looks of it is enormously wealthy. Danny & David are friends with each other. David, Helen and Danny seem to hang out together for too often. Finding she is also interested in art, they invite Jenny to an art auction. David picks up Jenny at school and they go to the auction, winning a bid for a painting by Edward Burne-Jones and going to Danny's place afterwards. Jenny starts spending a lot of time with this group & her grades start slipping at school. David even manages to convince Jenny's parents to send her away on a weekend trip with him on the pretext of a chance meeting with a famous author Clive Lewis (one of Jenny's favorites who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia) who is currently visiting Oxford. That night David acts as gentleman with Jenny & doesn't force her into sleeping with him, although there is fondling. Jenny then shows a signed copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to her parents (in fact signed by David, as they had never met Lewis). Impressed by David's connections and charisma, Jack and Marjorie approve of their romantic relationship. Later, Jenny discovers that David is a con man who makes money through a variety of shady practices. She is initially shocked but silences her misgivings in the face of David's persuasive charm. Soon, David takes Jenny to Paris as a 17th birthday gift. Jenny's parents invite Graham (Matthew Beard), a boy Jenny knows from Youth Orchestra to Jenny's birthday party, but David arrives, and Graham goes home. David takes Jenny to Paris and that night David and Jenny have sex for the first time. In Paris, the two go sight-seeing, take photos, and go dancing, and Jenny loses her virginity to David. Back in London, Jenny gives her favorite teacher, Miss Stubbs (Olivia Williams), Chanel perfume as a gift from her trip, but Miss Stubbs refuses the gift, telling Jenny that she knows where it came from and is both concerned and disapproving of her relationship with David. They argue and have a falling-out. Later that night, David proposes marriage. After talking with her parents, Jenny accepts the proposal, but the news causes an argument with her headmistress Miss Walters (Emma Thompson), and she decides to drop out of school and not pursue a place at university. When David proposes marriage, Jenny accepts and leaves school. All of Jenny's teachers plead with her to continue on her journey to Oxford, but Jenny is exulted with the attention she is getting & accepts David's offer. Her parents aren't the least bit bothered & in fact her dad seems happy that now Jenny will be well looked after & there is no need for her to go to oxford after all. She one night, while David is treating Jenny's family to dinner, Jenny happens to check David's mail & discovers David is already married. Shocked, Jenny tells David to take her and her parents back home. Jenny tearfully argues with David, telling him she gave up her education to be with him. David says he will get a divorce and agrees that he will tell her parents the truth with her, but after she goes inside her house, he drives off and is never seen again. Jenny despairs, and goes to see Danny and Helen, blaming them for not telling her the truth early on. She also blames her parents for encouraging her to throw her life away with an older man. Jenny goes to see David's wife Sarah (Sally Hawkins), who tells her that David is a serial adulterer, and has a son. Later that night, Jack apologizes to Jenny, admitting that he messed up and that he believed David could give her the life she wanted. Jack points out that although David wasn't who he said he was, Jenny had also deceived her parents about David's nature by playing along with some of David's lies to her parents. When Jenny is then refused re-admission to her old school to repeat her last year and take her exams, she goes to Miss Stubbs, apologizing and asking for her help. Miss Stubbs eagerly agrees, and Jenny resumes her studies and is accepted at Oxford the following year. In a closing voiceover, Jenny shares a story about dating boys her age and starting over with fresh eyes, despite her experience with David.