There is a time in the life of every young film starlet when she will try to prove that she is also a great actress. For Marilyn Monroe, that film was The Prince and the Showgirl. For Michelle Williams, who plays Monroe during the filming of said film, it is My Week With Marilyn. Many actresses have attempted to play the legend but Williams's portrayal is by far the best.

The film is told from the perspective of Colin Clark (Redmayne), a young man with aspirations of becoming a filmmaker. Through his parents' connections with Lawrence Olivier (Branagh) and Vivian Leigh (Julia Ormond), he is able to secure a minor job on set as third assistant director. There he encounters and becomes infatuated with the leading lady, who draws him in as her confidante as she struggles with insecurities caused by her fame, beauty and desire to be regarded for her talent.

Director Simon Curtis (TV miniseries "Cranford") devoted eight years to the film and brings England in the 1950s to life with beautiful costumes and set design. The film doesn't shy away from portraying the often dull process of filmmaking, which leads to some of its best moments. Branagh and Ormond are terrific as the two legendary actors and Dougray Scott is a wonderfully gruff Arthur Miller. But it's on Williams's performance that the film hinges, and she doesn't disappoint. She disappears into the role, portraying Marilyn as a vulnerable woman struggling to reconcile her real identity with the bombshell persona she had adopted. A radiant performance in a fabulous film.