I’ve always been slightly scared of old women. There. I’ve said it. This fear probably stems from being aggressively verbally abused on a regular basis by the mad old bag that lived on the street where I grew up. She used to sit on the corner shouting at all passers by like Satan’s right hand woman. Not nice. Needless to say, Richard Eyre’s new film, Notes On A Scandal, has done little to allay these fears.

Based on Zoe Heller’s book of the same name, and with Patrick Marber (Closer) on screenplay duties, Notes On A Scandal tells the story of Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett) an art teacher who indulges in a bit of extra curricular activity with one of her fifteen year old pupils.

The affair goes unnoticed until Sheba’s colleague and confidante, lonely spinster Barbara (Judi Dench), discovers their secret. Instead of reporting her to the school as protocol dictates, Barbara decides that it is best to keep the secret between them as long as the affair is bought to an end. Sheba agrees, and relieved by Barbera’s compassion and loyalty offers her friendship in return. This is all well and good for a while, but before long their relationship descends into blackmail, and without giving too much away, eventually their ‘friendship’ dissolves with disastrous consequences.

On the whole the performances are pretty strong. Judi Dench is genuinely disturbing as the desperate, and deranged Barbara. You can’t help but think if she played M in the same way that Bond would never step out of line. Bill Nighy turns in a good performance as Sheba’s husband, as does newcomer Andrew Simpson as the object of her affections. In fact, my only real issue is with Blanchett. I felt the same way about her performance in Notes… as I did about her role in Babel. Unconvincing. I can’t really put my finger on why, but for me parts of her portrayal of Sheba just didn’t really seem to ring true.

That being said, it’s still an enjoyable film with elements of both thriller and black comedy, Dench’s Oscar nomination is well deserved, and Philip Glass’ score builds tension in all the right places. All in all, well worth a look.

Check out the trailer here

Release Dates for different countries are here