Tulip Fever is a period drama written by Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love) and directed by Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl). In development since 2013, the film’s release date has moved around several times before settling on this weekend. It stars Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan, Zach Galifianakis, Judi Dench, Christoph Waltz, and Cara Delevingne.

In 17th Century Amsterdam, an orphaned girl (Alicia Vikander) is forcibly married to a rich and powerful merchant (Christoph Waltz) – an unhappy “arrangement” that saves her from poverty. After her husband commissions a portrait, she begins a passionate affair with the painter (Dane DeHaan), a struggling young artist. Seeking to escape the merchant’s ever-reaching grasp, the lovers risk everything and enter the frenzied tulip bulb market, with the hope that the right bulb will make a fortune and buy their freedom.

Vikander was keen to be a part of the project knowing that Stoppard was behind the script. “I knew it was a Tom Stoppard script and I’d worked with him on ‘Anna Karenina’. I got hold of the script because I’d heard such good things about it and I just fell in love with it. It’s a costume drama, but it’s the wit and the pace and thrill that made me cry and laugh. It could have been a farce, but instead it’s so intelligent.”

Tulip Fever is rated 14A.