Story Overview

Iris is a 2001 biographical drama film about novelist Iris Murdoch and her relationship with her husband, John Bayley. Directed by Richard Eyre, the film is based on Bayley's memoirs, published in 1999. Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent portray Iris Murdoch and Bayley in the later stages of their marriage, while Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville appear as the couple in their youth. The film contrasts the beginning of their relationship, when Iris Murdoch was a more outgoing, dominant individual compared to the shy and intellectual Bayley, with their lives at their home in North Oxford when Iris Murdoch suffered from Alzheimer's disease and was cared for by a disillusioned Bayley. The beach scenes were filmed in Southwold, Suffolk, one of Iris Murdoch's favorite and frequented locations.