Breathtaking

A tense psychological thriller, Breathtaking marks a return to the UK for British actress Joanne Whalley after several years in Hollywood working in films such as Willow and A Texas Funeral. In a strong, complex role, Whalley stars as Caroline Henshaw, an ambitious and arrogant doctor whose new job as lecturer in a mental unit unit leads her to Sandra, a suicidal prostitute - and stirs up hidden memories of Caroline's own painful past. She also comes into the orbit of Sandra's husband, a dangerous sadist who begins to stalk her, then goes a step too far.

The supporting cast includes a cross-section of British talent. Lorraine Pilkington, recently seen in Human Traffic and The Boxer, plays the self-destructive Sandra; her violent husband is Jamie Foreman, who made a forceful impression in Nil By Mouth and can currently be seen in Sundance hit Saving Grace. UK film and TV regulars Neil Dudgeon and Cal Macaninch feature as the other men in Caroline's life.

Director David Green, best known for his 1988 film Buster, is managing director of London-based production company September Films, which has previously made the critically well-received House Of America and Academy Award-nominated Solomon And Gaenor. Breathtaking is one of the first fruits of September's recent plans to develop and produce an expanded slate of feature films, and is the seventh feature from two-year-old co-producer Sky Pictures. It had its market premiere at Cannes this year.