Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
Set in puritanical Boston in the mid 1600s, the story of seamstress Hester Prynne, who is outcast after she becomes pregnant by a respected reverend. She refuses to divulge the name of the father, is "convicted" of adultery and forced to wear a scarlet "A" until an Indian attack unites the Puritans and leads to a reevaluation of their laws and morals.
This heavily revised adaptation of Hawthorne's classic novel is widely regarded as a misfire, notorious for its gratuitous additions (including an invented ending with an Indian attack) and tonal inconsistencies that undermine the source material. Demi Moore's performance is flat and Gary Oldman is largely wasted. The cinematography has some period atmosphere but nothing exceptional. The ending diverges so radically from Hawthorne—and so poorly—that it stands as one of the more baffling conclusions in literary adaptation history. The film offers little novelty, retreading familiar costume drama territory while stripping the story of its moral complexity.