December Bride Synopsis & Summary

This 19th century period drama set in Northern Ireland tells the story of Sarah (Saskia Reeves), a young woman born into poor circumstances in a devoutly Presbyterian family. Sarah and her mother Martha (Brenda Bruce) are hired to work as housekeepers by a widowed farmer, Mr. Echlin (Geoffrey Golden), who raises potatoes and sheep with his two sons, Frank (Ciaran Hinds) and Hamilton (Donal McCann). When Mr. Echlin dies in a boating accident, Martha leaves the farm and returns to her cottage, but Sarah stays behind, opting to work for Frank and Hamilton on her own terms, and takes both brothers as lovers. In time, Sarah becomes pregnant, but, despite the local scandal, she refuses to name the father and opts to raise the child on her own so that her family name will live on. Director Thaddeus O'Sullivan won the Silver Rosa Camuna Award at the 1990 Bergamo (Italy) Film Festival. - Mark Deming, All Movie Guide