I'm not surprised that mostly male critics panned this movie. Some of them were kind enough to call it well made trash. One reviewer said it had nothing in common with Doris Lessing's story and that reviewer clearly had not read the story in a very long time.

The movie exactly captures the feel of the novella. The beachy, cozy environment, the exclusiveness of these two families, the deep friendship between the women ...it's all in the novella. The sex is in the novella too, just not graphic, but it's clearly there.

This movie is a mood piece just like the novella. A glimpse into a very specific group of people. A bit of a "what if" in my opinion.

The novella has an equally ambivalent ending. I think it's a bit more downbeat than the movie, but still worth a read. She is one of the great feminist writers of the twentieth century. And it's a highly readable story. It's just all so cozy and seductive.