Metroland is a 1997 British comedy-drama film directed by Philip Saville and starring Christian Bale and Emily Watson. Written by Adrian Hodges, based on the 1980 novel Metroland by Julian Barnes, the film is about a man whose tranquil and ordinary life is disrupted by the sudden reappearance of his best friend, which leads him to remember his rebellious youth in Paris, to question some of his life choices, and to re-evaluate his priorities and marriage.

Plot

In 1977, Chris (Christian Bale) and Marion (Emily Watson) are leading a peaceful married life with their child in Eastwood in the London suburbs known as Metroland, the staid commuter region at the end of the London Underground's Metropolitan Line. Their stagnant life is disrupted by an early morning phone call from Chris's childhood friend Toni (Lee Ross), who has returned to England after several years of travelling through Africa, Europe, and the United States as a bohemian poet. Years before, the two shared a dream of escaping boring suburban existence to live in avant-garde splendor in Paris. Toni's return sparks memories in Chris about their wild days in Paris in the late 1960s.