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L-R: Robin Wright, Naomi Watts, James Frecheville and Xavier Samuel in Adore, a.k.a Perfect Mothers, based on The Grandmothers, a story by Doris Lessing

Recently we saw Adore (a.k.a. Perfect Mothers), which stars Naomi Watts and Robin Wright as best friends, both single mothers, who have long-standing affairs with each other’s sons. It sounds ooky, but in the film by Anne Fontaine it makes perfect sense because everyone is so beautiful, the setting is so beautiful (Seal Rocks, a coastal village in NSW, Australia), and everyone behaves in a civilized manner. Maybe too civilized, considering the movie could’ve been called The Mofos (thus raising its box-office potential). Despite the “taboo” storyline (though it’s not incest and the sons are of age) and the sumptuously-photographed erotic scenes, everything comes across as healthy and wholesome. It’s not as if anyone were trying very hard to hide their affair; nearly every scene takes place in glorious sunshine.

Later we found that Adore is based on The Grandmothers, a recent short story by Doris Lessing, who died yesterday. We wonder how close the adaptation is to its source.

Here’s Doris Lessing’s priceless reaction to hearing that she’s won the Nobel Prize for Literature.