The film The Hours deals with distinct social welfare issues, as the plot spans across various time periods in the 20th Century. It is a drama that revolves around three very different women: two of whom have been profoundly affected by the works of Virginia Woolf; the other woman is Woolf, herself. As the story unfolds, they are going through different depressive states: Virginia Woolf is struggling to write her novel Mrs. Dalloway in 1923, as she recovers from depression; Laura Brown is a depressed and pregnant Los Angeles housewife who reads Woolf's novel in 1949, as she plans her husband's birthday party; and Clarissa Vaughn is a book editor in modern-day New York, who is planning a farewell party for her AI