Guy Jenkin directs this straight-to-video romantic drama shot on-location in Malaysia. In the rainforests of Boreno in the 1930s, English officer John Truscott (
Hugh Dancy) accepts a position to colonize the native population of Sarawak at the request of the British government. In following with the native tradition, he is given the services of a servant, Selima (
Jessica Alba). A position that British officers refer to as a "sleeping dictionary," she is a concubine to share his bed and teach him the local language. The tradition forbids romantic entanglements, so the relationship is watched over by superior officer Henry Bullard (
Bob Hoskins) and his wife, Aggie (
Brenda Blethyn). When Selima and John fall madly in love, they enrage both the colonizers and the colonized. Also starring
Emily Mortimer and
Noah Taylor. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide