The Woman on the Beach

The Woman on the Beach

Year: 1947

Runtime: 71 mins

Language: English

Director: Jean Renoir

RomanceDrama

Go ahead and say it…I’m no good! A sailor suffering from post-traumatic stress becomes involved with a beautiful and enigmatic seductress married to a blind painter.

The Woman on the Beach (1947) – Spoiler-Free Movie Summary & Plot Overview

Get a spoiler-free look at The Woman on the Beach (1947) with a clear plot overview that covers the setting, main characters, and story premise—without revealing key twists or the ending. Perfect for deciding if this film is your next watch.

In a windswept coastal town where the sea constantly moans against weather‑worn cliffs, a lone Coast Guard officer contends with the echo of his own mind. Scott Burnett carries the weight of a wartime tragedy that still haunts his sleep, flooding his waking hours with ghostly images of wreckage and a distant, beckoning silhouette. The relentless tide and the perpetual scent of salt become a backdrop for a story that feels as much a psychological landscape as a physical one, mixing the stark realism of a sailor’s duty with an atmosphere thick with the uncanny.

Amid the clang of shipyard steel and the muted rhythm of lighthouse beams, Scott finds a tentative anchor in a young woman who works beside him. Eve Geddes is bright and practical, yet her features mirror the enigmatic figure that haunts his nightmares, suggesting a fated pull that blurs the line between comfort and unease. Their budding connection offers a glimpse of ordinary hope, even as the ocean’s darkness continues to linger at the edges of their conversations.

A chance encounter on the shoreline introduces another compelling presence: Peggy Butler, the elegant, mysterious wife of a once‑renowned painter who now lives without sight. Her husband, Tod Butler, struggles to reconcile his lost ability to create with an obsessive reverence for the value of art that can no longer be made. The triangle that forms among Scott, Peggy, and Tod is charged with unspoken longing and fragile trust, each character carrying their own scars—visible or not—and the story unfolds as a study of how desire, memory, and the relentless sea can ache and intertwine. The film moves with a slow, dream‑like cadence, inviting the audience to feel the tension between yearning and restraint without ever spelling out the inevitable consequences.

Last Updated: December 05, 2025 at 09:51

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Tense affairs set against bleak landscapes, where desire becomes a trap.Discover movies like The Woman on the Beach, featuring tense and atmospheric stories of obsessive and destructive love affairs. These films share a moody, fatalistic tone, complex character motivations, and a focus on the psychological dangers of desire within a constricting triangle.

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Movies about Isolation and Trauma like The Woman on the Beach

Stories where remote settings mirror characters' internal psychological storms.If you liked The Woman on the Beach for its portrayal of PTSD against a stark coastal backdrop, explore these films. They feature characters dealing with heavy psychological burdens in remote settings, creating a potent mix of atmospheric dread and deep character study.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves a character escaping to or being trapped in a remote location to cope with, or run from, a psychological wound. The isolation forces them to confront their demons, often through interactions with a small number of other characters, leading to crises that are as much internal as they are external.

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The Woman on the Beach Summary

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The Woman on the Beach Summary

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Characters, Settings & Themes in The Woman on the Beach

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