Notes on a Scandal (2003)

Barbara Covett takes charge of explaining her fellow teacher Sheba's scandal and casts her own attention as loyalty. Listen to how neatly her judgements arrange everyone else's motives, then notice the emotional claims she makes for herself. Heller's wit makes the account dangerously enjoyable before it becomes uncomfortable. The adult teacher's sexual exploitation of a pupil is part of the subject; Barbara's version adds a second problem of possession and self-justification.