THE FOX is based on the famous novella of the same title by D.H. Lawrence (1885—1930). Like the original, this adaptation is set in rural England in 1918, where two young women in an unconventional relationship are struggling to exist on an isolated farm. They are having trouble with their crops, their hens won’t lay, winter is upon them and a fox has been pillaging their henhouse. A handsome young soldier appears who seems to provide a temporary solution to their problems. In exchange for food and shelter, he offers to shoot the fox and to assist them in other ways on the farm. The women invite him to stay with them a few days, a decision that has devastating consequences.
D.H. Lawrence was known for his love of symbols, and his novella THE FOX is a prize example of this. In the novella as well as in this adaptation, the title THE FOX applies both to the animal that has been raiding the henhouse and to the soldier who enters the farmhouse. The young man slowly works his way into the household. His engaging personality and erotic charms stir up emotions and divide the two female friends. What does he want? Both of the women? One of them? Their farm? Can their relationship survive this predatory force from the outside? They must decide whether to follow their minds or their passions.
