In spite of its Lifetime Network title, this film's story was deep, novel'esque, and progressively engrossing, unmasking some of the consequences of mid-20th century morality. The cast ensemble is excellent as their characters' intertwine and orbit about a central character who actually doesn't have much screen time.A cinema "hobby" is identifying scenes that are among the best or most unique of their kind - the ill wind that blows in "A Very Long Engagement" (highly staged though it has the appearance of serendipitous perfection) or cinema's most intense close-up of the look of Love during a love scene in "Dangerous Beauty" (Catherine McCormack). In "Bride Flight," it's the sequence (near the end) on the airport tarmac and the steps of the DC-3 airliner, and without a word of dialogue. Fine filmmaking of a Dutch production in New Zealand - and a lovely surprise. Probably this film would rate higher if it had more English dialogue segments. Nevertheless, a really good film.

When I first saw this movie, I didn't come in with any expectations other than what a title like "Bride Flight" elicits. Which in as many words probably equates to Love Story On or around a plane. Which is true enough, I was actually surprised how short the time they spent on the plane actually was. Early on the inclusion of some actual footage of the time period explains purposely the concept of the movie, a small exodus of brides-to-be to new Zealand in a race to break a previous flight record. This movie takes that premise and turns it into so much more, the characters are so fleshed out. They each have their own past and views about what they want for the future, a future that we get to see at the beginning of the movie and intermittently throughout. I don't want to ruin the movie by going into detail about all the plot twists and turns you'll just have to go see it, but you won't be disappointed when you realize not everything is as it seems in the past or present.

Remember the old lady in Atonement? What if she led her life without regrets? What if she laid it all on the line before it was too late, before her sister died, before she grew old? Like the Oscar winning film, Bride Flight is about elders (we get three here) reflecting on their past when they reconvene at a funeral. The central elder, Ada, had a choice to make in her youth to either follow Frank (an Adonis of men, perhaps too good to be true, every woman's fantasy) or follow her husband Derk (essentially a Jerk, but represents stability, religion, and order). Ada chose to go with Derk, but in the third act of the movie she had an opportunity to undo her mistake. Where Atonement was about living with regret and sadness, Bride Flight is about living with regret, and then doing something about it. Ada runs off with Frank and puts it all on the line. This film should not go underneath the radar because it's not only a case study of human potential, but also a true cinematic feat.

Brideflight is a well-rounded romantic drama follows the lives of Ada, Esther, Marjorie, and Frank as they find a new home in an unknown place. The film's namesake is an actual flight that took mostly soon-to-be brides from Holland to their fiancées who awaited them in New Zealand in 1953. While some were trying to leave something behind, they all meet up with challenges in their new home that shape their lives for better and for worse. It's a great film that is sometimes bittersweet and sad, other times very hopeful. It beautifully plays out a love affair while intertwining the lives of the four main characters, who each find their own way of coping with change.