It is 1960s London. On a rainy ordinary weekday, Jenny (Carey Mulligan) stands in the torrential rain at the bus stop, drenched and miserable. Out of nowhere, a sleek car pulls up and a man, identifying himself as a fellow music lover, expresses concern for her cello that she carries in the case beside her. The charming stranger, David (Peter Sarsgaard) convinces her to put the cello in the car and walk beside it. But soon, Jenny, persuaded by his easy friendliness and charm, gets in and allows him to take her home.
By chance, Jenny sees him a few days later in town and he impulsively invites her to attend a music concert with her. This singular event thus sparks Jenny entrance into an adult world that she eagerly wants to escape into a world that as a high school student studying for Oxford, dreaming of Paris, pining for love and contending with more awkward, insecure boys her own age can scarcely imagine. 
David is the perfect companion-handsome, smart, worldly, and oh so charming. Often in the company of his equally assured friends (Dominic Cooper and a hilarious Rosamund Pike), David sees Jenny as the integral companion to the group, thus reinforcing her feelings of value and significance. David’s smooth assurances and steady air have even her decidedly conservative middle class parents (Cara Seymour and Alfred Molina) at ease with this older man’s increasingly involved role in their daughter’s life. (in real-life Peter Sarsgaard is 38, in the movie they never specify). Soon, her mother is giggling and blushing under David’s seemingly innocent eyes and her father praising him, giving Jenny consent to participate in late nights and overnight holidays, barely believing they themselves have granted their permission.
But beneath the glossy veneer of the music concerts, restaurant dinners, auctions, dances, and trips, there is a seedy tarnished underside to David. “All that glitters is not gold”—a line from Shakespeare’s play Merchant of Venice—becomes eerily prophetic. As Jenny finds herself caught in the crossfire of the liberal age of the 60s, she too must determine her morals and values rather quickly—before the ugliness of David’s secret threatens to not only break her heart but also derail her future dreams irrevocably.
An Education has been nominated for three Oscars, including best picture and best screenplay, with Nick Hornby, famed for About a Boy and High Fidelity, a fair contender. Newcomer Carey Mulligan has also received her first Oscar nomination for her performance and it is well deserved. She brings a sweetness and a mixture of china doll vulnerability and steel-like strength to the role of Jenny, a girl that is in the midst of realizing that the joys of “growing up” can come with a heavy price and sometimes the decisions you make can determine the course of your entire life. Peter Saargard also hits the right note as David, being neither too slimy nor overtly sweet in his intentions.
An Education is about the journey that all of us must make on our way to adulthood. Without our parents in control, we realize that for better or for worse, we have the power to make decisions that determine our character and shape our destiny. We realize rather quickly too that sometimes the most important lessons cannot be found in textbooks. The film celebrates this bittersweet path—and with dynamic performances and a compelling story—it makes the road worth traveling.
An Education is currently playing at the Savoy and Beverly cinemas.