This study aims to analyze the different factors contributing to the characters’ decision to commit suicide in the novel The Hours by Cunningham (1998) and its subsequent cinematic adaptation by Daldry (2002). It argues that while the novel depicts personal as well as social and political factors at work driving the characters to this tragic decision, the film adaptation fails to fully portray the social and political aspects of this decision and instead, highlights the personal side. It concludes by stating that the three characters who are the main focus of this study (Virginia Woolf, Laura Brown, and Richard Brown) are simplified in the film restricted only to their physical and mental health issues, while the various political and social factors that have a key role in forming these problems are eliminated. Although the film causes the audience to deeply identify with the characters and engage with them emotionally by focusing on personal and emotional aspects of their lives and using certain cinematic techniques, it misses the opportunity of critique and commentary on the political and social structures that influence people’s well-being and their possible subsequent tragic actions.

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