Far from Heaven

Hartford, Connecticut, 1957. The Whitakers are the very image of a suburban family. Their daily lives are characterized by carefully observed family etiquette, social events and a general desire to look polished. Cathy Whitaker is the housewife, wife and mother. Frank Whitaker is provider, husband and father. But little by little, Cathy’s immaculate world is transformed. Her relationships with her gardener, Raymond, her best friend, Eleanor, and her maid, Sybil, reflect the upheavals of a well-ordered life that is crumbling before everyone’s eyes.

Haynes lovingly depicts the beautiful, placid surfaces of mid-century suburban family life, and bursts them open to reveal a repressed world of shattering emotions and desires that cross the boundaries of racial and sexual tolerance, with tragic results.