Tell Me That You Love Me

Laura Simms (Judith Scott) is in her early thirties and is the editor of a glossy women's magazine, Woman Now. Her ex-boyfriend Michael (James Wilby), whom she still sees, is charming, unreliable and unfaithful.

Over Laura's birthday dinner, he tells her he is getting married to his boss, Davina (Laura Davenport). This upsets Laura and she runs to the Ladies' Room; while she's away, Michael scrawls their waitress's telephone number on the bill, which Laura sees on her return. She reacts angrily and rushes out of the restaurant, eventually losing her way in a dark alley. She is followed by a stranger (Sean Bean), who saw what happened and paid the bill. He offers to call her a taxi.

Tell Me That You Love Me reworks the classic women's magazine romance into a deliberately light drama with menacing undertones. The opening sequences contain romantic cliches: candle-lit dinners, beautiful clothes, an irresponsible yet irresistable ex-boyfriend, and a strong, silent lover.

But here is where conventional romances end. In this case, Tell Me That You Love Me becomes a thriller. The heroine discovers that her dream lover is a violent and obsessive man who punches another man in a restaurant because he believes a drunken pass was made at Laura; who thinks nothing of leaving a string of messages on her answerphone and inundating her with twelve dozen roses after they've quarreled; and who becomes insanely jealous of Michael, threatening him and ultimately trashing his flat.

In the end, the consequences of this relationship are both menacing, and tragic.

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