Young Adam is a 2003 British neo-noir erotic drama directed by David Mackenzie and starring Ewan McGregor, set on the industrial canals between Glasgow and Edinburgh in 1950s Scotland, in which Joe — a drifter and failed writer — takes a job on a barge owned by Les and his wife Ella. When Joe and Les fish a young woman's body from the canal, Joe secretly knows more than he lets on — revealed through flashbacks to be Cathy, his former lover whom he watched drown without saving her. Meanwhile Joe seduces Ella — his boss's wife — behind Les's back, and when Les eventually catches on he simply walks away, leaving the two together. Joe also had a simultaneous affair with Ella's sister Gwen, and the darkest revelation is that Joe had previously humiliated, beaten and raped Cathy — yet stays silent as an innocent man is tried and convicted for her murder.