The Beguiled at BFI Southbank

Doing what she does the best, Nicole Kidman is back in b*tch mode in the trailer for Sofia Coppola’s new film, The Beguiled. She’s playing a very Christian schoolmarm at the head of a bevy of corset-clad females.

The scene is Civil War-ravaged America, ­but Miss Martha Farnsworth is busy fighting her own crusade – to preserve the innocence of the six charges under her watchful supervision. Enemy number one is the sinfully attractive John McBurney (Colin Farrell) – a Union deserter who drags himself and his injured leg into Miss Farnsworth’s front garden.

McBurney adds rakish good looks to a list of offences weighing heavily against him. Christian duty remains the stronger pull, however, so the ladies take the soldier in. Before long it’s their bosoms he’s being welcomed into, as Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning tussle for the affections of the charming Irishman. Things look set to spiral into a predictable but gripping nosedive of love, lust and unleashed sexual frustration.

Read our Cannes Film Festival review here.

The Beguiled delivers the healthy dose of period melodrama we’ve all been craving. It’s just one of a series of films old and new showing at the BFI Southbank this July.