In 1935, 13-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) and her family live a life of wealth and privilege in their enormous mansion. On the warmest day of the year, the country estate takes on an unsettling hothouse atmosphere, stoking Briony's vivid imagination. Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), the educated son of the family's housekeeper, carries a torch for Briony's headstrong older sister Cecilia (Kiera Knightley). Cecilia, he hopes, has comparable feelings; all it will take is one spark for this relationship to combust. When it does, Briony - who has a crush on Robbie - is compelled to interfere, going so far as accusing Robbie of a crime he did not commit. Cecilia and Robbie declare their love for each other, but he is arrested - and with Briony bearing false witness, the course of three lives is changed forever. Briony continues to seek forgiveness for her childhood misdeed. Through a terrible and courageous act of imagination, she finds the path to her uncertain atonement, and to an understanding of the power of enduring love.

Production Status: Released

Logline: Spanning several decades, a drama about a fledgling writer, Briony Tallis, who, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.

Genres: Drama, Romance, Adaptation and War

Running Time: 2 hrs. 2 min.

Release Date: December 7th, 2007 (limited)

MPAA Rating: R for disturbing war images, language and some sexuality.

Distributors: Focus Features, Universal Pictures International

Production Co.: Working Title Films, Kudos Film & Television, Relativity Media, StudioCanal

U.S. Box Office: $13,001,062

Filming Locations: London, England, United Kingdom

Produced in: United States