I KNOW, Alice’s face when she saw the picture! I have that moment on my list to gif but I don’t even know if I can do it justice without the sound, the sheer incredulity and like, Gemma Arterton almost hyperventilating as she looked through the rest of the pictures. And omg, her face when she saw Vera and then Vera withFrank.
And yes, it was convenient and unrealistic and contrived, but that happens all the time in m/f movies! And it’s not even like it was a massive coincidence, Vera had actually spent a lot of effort actively coordinating this. In m/f movies, the climactic suspense comes from whether or not the person who’s more in doubt at that point will forgive the other person or choose to follow their heart instead of convenience or even if the timing will just work out, whatever it takes to show up. And that’s what Vera did! Show up! Like, yeah, it was a bit cheesy and unearned but it often is! We–by which I mean all viewers, wlw or not–are so used to f/f characters separating in historical pieces (even when the book says they stay together, TITTB??) that we’re almost judging it by a different standard, since it’s so out of the realm of normal for us. Not every movie has to be the best movie ever, it can just be watchable and enjoyable, and this super was.