Playing an atypically quiet character for the most part, Maggie Smith is excellent in this film, and she deservedly won the BAFTA award for Best Actress for her role. As for the film itself, it is also powered by some fine acting from Marie Kean, and the motivations are interesting for each and every character - the film is a study of why different persons do what they do and what they expect in return. Sadly the snail's pacing is a bit slow for the material to have vigor, and some techniques used do not come off well, such as the melding of flashbacks and double narration with two characters each saying their thoughts. The gloom and anger in the film tend to verge on the excessive, but yet these sad emotions bring extra power to the story, and there really is not much of a story - in terms of events - to work with, but the film manages to do a satisfactory job. However, to call Smith satisfactory would not be justice at all. She is simply wonderful, in one of her last great performances, and the film is worth seeing for her work in it alone.
Review of The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
