During a hot and sultry 1935 summer an embryonic relationship between rich Cambridge graduate Celia (Knightly) and the housekeeper's son Robbie (McEvoy) is left in tatters when Celia's precocious sister falsely accuses James of molesting another young girl. The accusation, based on the misperceptions and childish hurts of a fevered imagination, leads to James's arrest and imprisonment. As the movie progresses, from an English manor house to the war-ravaged wastes of northern France and to blitzed-out London, each character must try and come to terms with the consequences of a capricious childish act. Beautifully filmed and well acted, "Atonement" is a haunting story of tragic love and redemption that has all the lineaments of an enduring classic.