A Promise

Period romantic drama set in 1912 Germany, in which a striver, Friedrich Zeitz (Richard Madden), becomes engaged as a clerk in a steel factory. An orphan, Friedrich has overcome his humble upbringing as a state ward to graduate as an engineer. His keen intellect, industry, and innovation soon impress the aging owner, steel magnate Karl Hoffmeister (Alan Rickman), who quickly promotes Friedrich. Because Hoffmeister's health is in decline, doctor's orders confine the magnate to his bourgeois home. Appointed as Hoffmeister's private secretary, Friedrich visits daily for briefings and reveals his shrewd business insight. Hoffmeister's beautiful and vivacious young wife, Charlotte (Rebecca Hall), welcomes the young man into her home, and Friedrich ingratiates himself by tutoring her nonacademic young son, Otto (Toby Murray). While Hoffmeister grooms Friedrich as his protégé, Friedrich becomes more and more attached to Lotte. When Hoffmeister asks Friedrich to move into the mansion, the employee is hesitant, fearful that he will betray his feelings for Charlotte, but at her insistence he finally concedes. In this stifling atmosphere, Hoffmeister watches a romance develop, without a demonstrative word or gesture of love.