Lady Chatterley’s Lover: Netflix release date, cast with Emma Corrin and Jack O’Connell, is it true to book?

Netflix movie Lady Chatterley’s Lover is an adaptation of the 20th century romantic novel by author D. H. Lawrence. The novel became notorious following its publication because of its focus on the relationship between a working-class man and an upper-class woman and its vividly described sex scenes.

With films like the Fifty Shades trilogy and TV shows such as Bridgerton hitting streaming services in recent years, it’s easy to forget that less than 100 years ago, publishers would not even print certain four letter words. This is what to expect from Netflix’s latest steamy romance film:

What is Lady Chatterley’s Lover about?

The film stars The Crown actress Emma Corrin as Connie Reid, aka Lady Chatterley, an unhappily married early 20th century aristocrat whose husband has been paralysed from the waist down following an injury sustained in the First World War. Looking for excitement in her staid domestic life, Reid begins an affair with her gamekeeper Oliver Mellors, played by SAS Rogue Heroes star Jack O’Connell.

The affair had first been the idea of Reid’s husband Clifford, played by Matthew Duckett - though he had hoped that his wife would have a discreet relationship with someone at a similar station in life to herself, and only for the purposes of continuing the family line.

As her relationship with Mellors continues, Reid realises that she has fallen more deeply in love than she ever thought possible. The couple meet in secret, sharing torrid sexual encounters across the grounds of Reid’s grand estate. She decides to turn her back on the traditions of her day that confined women into unhappy marriages. As she throws caution to the wind and casts her lot in with Mellors, Reid is cast out of aristocratic society.

Who is in the cast of Lady Chatterley’s Lover?

• Emma Corrin as Connie Reid
• Jack O’Connell as Oliver Mellors
• Matthew Duckett as Clifford Chatterley
• Joely Richardson as Mrs. Bolton
• Faye Marsay as Hilda
• Ella Hunt as Mrs. Flint
• Anthony Brophy as Sir Malcolm Reid
• Rachel Andrews as Lily Weeden
• Eugene O’Hare as Michaelis
• Jonah Russell as Mr. Linley
• Nicholas Bishop as Ned
• Alistair Findlay as Sir Geoffrey Chatterley
• Sandra Huggett as Mrs. Betts
• Ellie Piercy as Mrs. Wheedon

Is Lady Chatterley’s Lover close to the book?

The film was adapted for the screen by David Magee, who also adapted Finding Neverland and Life of Pi. Magee sticks closely to the plot of the original 1928 novel, which was banned in several countries of its sexual nature. Like the book, this latest film adaptation also features plenty of sex. Although, unlike the book, Reid is much more in control in the film - she often instigates sex herself and knows what she wants.

The film does reduce some themes which Lawrence spent much time on in his novel  - the author’s criticism of industrialisation is all but written out of the movie  A secondary plot in which Clifford exploits workers at his father’s coal mine is also stripped back for the film, with Reid and Mellors’ relationship very much the focus. The film’s ending also diverges slightly from the novel - while the book ends on an ambiguous note, the movie has a clearer resolution.

When is the Lady Chatterley’s Lover release date?

Lady Chatterley’s Lover was released on Netflix on Friday 2 December - the film is just over 2 hours long.