E.M. Forster's provocative 1914 novel, published posthumously in 1971, is brought to the screen by director James Ivory in this beautifully photographed film. Set in pre-World War I England, the film concerns the coming of age of two young men who meet at Cambridge University and fall in love. Maurice (James Wilby, who played Anthony Hopkins's son, Charles Wilcox, in REMAINS OF THE DAY) and Clive (Hugh Grant) struggle with their hearts within the confines of a rigid society's moral hypocrisy. Clive eventually succumbs to a traditional life after witnessing the social banishment and imprisonment endured by another gay friend, Viscount Risley (Mark Tandy). But Maurice struggles with his sexual desires and chooses a more difficult, but honest, way of life. When a young gamekeeper (Rupert Graves) returns his affections, Maurice experiences his first real happiness. The film deals with trademark Merchant-Ivory themes involving individuals who are trapped by their society's strict conventions and who often attempt to break free, with varying consequences of fulfillment or disaster.