The glittering yet treacherous world of New York high society in the 1890s comes to brilliant life in the heartbreaking story of Lily Bart (Gillian Anderson, TV’s “The X-Files”), a renowned beauty of exquisite charm who seeks a wealthy husband but, in a series of tragic events, winds up disgraced and discarded.Adapted from Edith Wharton’s novel, and directed by Terence Davies (Distant Voices, Still Lives), THE HOUSE OF MIRTH is an intelligent, dramatic sensation, which features an outstanding supporting all-star cast including Laura Linney (You Can Count on Me), Eric Stoltz (Pulp Fiction), Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters) and Anthony LaPaglia (Sweet and Lowdown).
Like the Edith Wharton novel that inspired it, Terence Davies’ “The House of Mirth” conceals rage beneath measured surface appearances. This is one of the saddest stories ever told about the traps that society sets for women. Perhaps its characters fear that if they ever really spoke their thoughts, their whole house of cards, or mirth, would tumble down. And so they speak in code, and people’s lives are disposed of with trivial asides and brittle wit. – Roger Ebert