Gods and Monsters

Once a powerful Hollywood director best known for Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein, James Whale (Ian McKellen) is long retired, living quietly in 1950s Los Angeles and in increasingly fragile health. His stalwart housekeeper Hanna (Lynn Redgrave) quietly disapproves of the young men who pass through his life, but when Whale takes an interest in his new gardener, Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser), a former Marine and Korean War veteran, it seems to be about something more than his usual passing fancy. As the two men circle each other through a summer of afternoon conversations, Whale confronts the memories of the war, the studio system, and the loves he was never allowed to name. Bill Condon's Gods and Monsters won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and earned Oscar nominations for McKellen and Redgrave.