Imagine, if you will, if Tennessee Williams had written a British costume drama, and Peter Greenaway decided to film it. That's the feeling of Angels and Insects: a healthy dose of Southern Gothic, filmed in a misanthropic, cold, calculated manner, filled with lush colors and decay. It is the story of William (Mark Rylance), a low-born entymologist who moves onto the England estate of the Alabasters, a truly odd family whose patriarch (Douglas Henshall) fancies himself a scientist. William had spent some time on the Amazon, but most of his specimens were lost during a shipwreck which he miraculously survived. He is taken in on the charity and goodwill of the Alabasters.

For some reason that I couldn't understand, he quickly falls in love with the faint and eerily pale Eugenia (Patsy Kensit), who is so chock full of mystery and hidden secrets that she can barely walk straight. Just as quickly, her overprotective brother Edgar (Jeremy Kemp) dislikes him, prompting my favorite line in the movie. It is the night before William and Eugenia's wedding, and Edgar is drunk and abusive toward William. Edgar says "I don't like your attitude, sir. I've never liked it. I believe that you sneer in your heart." For some reason, that makes me smile, and I am going to try to use it in conversation. Anyway, the wedding goes off without a hitch, and soon Eugenia is expecting a baby. Then it gets weird.

She starts shutting him out of her room. It becomes quickly apparent that William's real match on the estate is Miss Crompton (Kristen Scott Thomas), a beautiful young woman who likes bugs as much as William does. Edgar's behavior becomes more and more erratic. William, along with Miss Crompton and several of the children, start observing an anthill, thinking that they will write a natural history about it. Certain behaviors of the ants uncannily resemble the behaviors of the people on the estate. William actually remarks "It is as if environment were everything and inheritance nothing," a statement that is both timely and a little overdone. Finally, the Deep Dark Secrets start pouring out like ants from a kicked-in anthill.

One of the strangest things about the film are the costumes. At first I thought that everyone was dressed as if they were guests at the Mad Hatter's tea party. Then I slowly started to realize that many of the costumes were modelled after the insects that keep cropping up. The costumes were rightfully nominated for Best Costume design. I can rightfully say that I've never seen such creative costumes in a costume drama.

The film is not for everyone. The dialog, especially the manner in which it is delivered, is sometimes off-putting. It is a little tiring to have every line uttered by a character so ominous and full of double entendres. However, I enjoyed it, even if it creeped me out quite a bit.