A Previous Engagement

Julia Reynolds persuades her husband Jack to take the family on a holiday to Malta, but she has a quiet plan tucked into the suitcase: a rendezvous with Alex Belmont, the man she dated twenty-five years earlier. She keeps this hope private while juggling family obligations, small domestic irritations, and the polite routines of travel. The story unfolds through a series of chance meetings, polite deceptions, and tender conversations that test what Julia remembers about youth and what she wants now. As old feelings surface in a foreign setting, the film focuses on moments of awkwardness and warmth, avoiding melodrama while asking whether a single afternoon can change the shape of long-settled lives.

The film was written and directed by Joan Carr-Wiggin and released in 2009. It features Juliet Stevenson, Tcheky Karyo, Daniel Stern, Valerie Mahaffey, and Claire Brosseau, and appears to be an original screenplay rather than an adaptation.

A limited theatrical release and modest distribution left A Previous Engagement largely under the radar commercially. It didn’t register as a mainstream box office success and has been seen more often on home video and streaming than in cinemas.

The movie hasn’t left a wide cultural footprint, though some viewers remember Juliet Stevenson’s grounded lead and the sunlit Mediterranean setting. It’s circulated quietly among fans of gentle romantic comedies and sometimes gets mentioned in lists of overlooked indie romance films.

Critical and audience response leaned toward the negative, reflected in a low vote average of 3.75 out of 10. Reviewers tended to praise certain performances while criticizing the screenplay’s uneven pacing and lack of dramatic urgency. Themes include nostalgia versus present reality, the complications of middle-age romance, and how small choices reverberate through family life.