For those who remember the popular PBS TV series, the new Brideshead Revisited retains much of the flavor and emotional stamina of its predecessor. Purists will debate the paucity of details, but the essence of Evelyn Waugh’s highly acclaimed novel--sin, sex and societal class--is faithfully presented by a first-rate cast.

Set in pre-World War II England during the decline of the country’s privileged aristocracy, Brideshead follows young, middle-class Charles Ryder’s (Matthew Goode) involvement with the rigidly Catholic Marchmain family.

The film stutters a bit at the start with its chronologically scrambled pacing, but soon hits its stride when a drunken Sebastian Marchmain (Ben Whishaw) stumbles into Charles’ Oxford dorm room and deposits a stomach full of wine on the floor. While Sebastian falls for Charles, viewers sense that Charles regards their relationship as more socially symbiotic that sexual.

Emma Thompson breathes life into Lady Marchmain in a convincing performance as the guardian of strict Catholicism and a decaying English caste system. Her very proper British smile and veiled icy demeanor toward Charles are both subtle and disarming. It’s enough to send chills down your spine. The sound and lighting during their first formal encounter in the massive dining room of Marchmain's magnificent ancestral estate, Brideshead Castle, is disturbingly ornate and sepulchral. Audiences sense that Charles has been placed there like a chess pawn by powerful players in a game that pits Sebastian against Lady Marchmain--with poor Charles in constant checkmate.

Julia (Hayley Atwell), Sebastian’s sister, is the movie’s soft center. Vacillating between redemption and perdition, her feelings for Charles tug at her, yanking heart and soul in diametrically opposite directions. Taking us through mood and age, her lavish costumes beautifully accent time’s passing, reflecting a fall from carefree gaiety to the formal constraints of caste and position as she matures towards the film’s end.

Adding depth and color to our protagonist is Charles’ father (Patrick Malahide), whose tart tongue and worldly wit constantly remind Charles of his station. Their brief encounters early in the film fill in the blanks in Charles emotional past, suggesting a somewhat loveless paternal relationship and benign parental neglect. It’s also why Charles so readily embraces new relationships, and why he so eagerly accepts Sebastian’s invitation to Brideshead.

In a “sacrilegious” decent into hedonism, Brideshead treats viewers to the treasures and temptations of pre-World War II Venice. Here they encounter Lord Marchmain (Michael Gambon), who has rejected all that is Brideshead for the passionate embrace of Cara (Greta Scacchi) and the joie de vive of a city as conflicted as the Marchmain family itself.

Cara introduces Charles to a more tolerant Catholicism: “We enjoy life, sin a bit, then go to confession,” says Cara. This is aptly punctuated by Julia and Sebastian, who cavort on the beach like children, temporarily free from the oppressive guilt of mum and Catholicism. When Charles decides to make his move and steal a kiss from Julia, a maelstrom of emotions sends characters reeling for cover--Sebastian into the guilt he knows, Julia into her religion and Charles into the confusion and insecurity of his lower caste. Leave it to Lady Marchmain to set things in proper order, reaffirming Julia’s social standing and return to God’s good graces, offering contrition to Sebastian and, of course, putting Charles back into his place.

In a sort of emotional and religious cleansing, taking audiences into a much-needed middle ground from the decadence of Brideshead and Venice, Brideshead then moves to Morocco, where Charles finds an ailing Sebastian who has discovered a sort of wounded contentment and acceptance. The movie seems to build on this, as Charles rediscovers himself and builds a life with a new seemingly passionless love. From here the film segues into a choppy bit of exposition as Charles finds Julia, Julia rediscovers Charles and briefly falls into sin.

Things change, once again, when Lord Marchmain returns to Brideshead to die. And as deaths do in stories like this, eyes are opened and consciences are awakened to life’s clear unyielding truths, one of which is later poignantly expressed by a soldier’s philosophy of life as British bombers roar over Brideshead: “You’re born, you live, you die.” And so the story moves toward its ultimate denouement, beautifully and subtly punctuated by Charles’ tiny gesture--a refusal to snuff out a lone candle in Brideshead’s chapel.

With solid performances by a talented English cast, Brideshead Revisited accomplishes much of what Evelyn Waugh intended, sacrificing some details but supplying audiences with a rich canvas of emotions.

Brideshead Revisited is now playing at the ArcLight Hollywood, The Landmark, Laemmle Playhouse 7 and ArcLight Sherman Oaks.

For more information, visit bridesheadrevisited-themovie.com.