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''Benediction'' is a 2021
biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
drama film written and directed by
Terence Davies Terence Davies (born 10 November 1945) is an English screenwriter, film director, and novelist, seen by many critics as one of the greatest British filmmakers of his times. He is best known as the writer and director of autobiographical films ...
. It stars
Jack Lowden Jack Andrew Lowden (born 2 June 1990) is a Scottish actor. Following a four-year stage career, his first major international onscreen success was in the 2016 BBC miniseries '' War & Peace'', which led to starring roles in feature films. Lowden s ...
and
Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in ' ...
as the
war poet A war poet is a poet who participates in a war and writes about their experiences, or a non-combatant who writes poems about war. While the term is applied especially to those who served during the First World War, the term can be applied to a p ...
Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both describ ...
, along with
Simon Russell Beale Sir Simon Russell Beale (born 12 January 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabe ...
,
Jeremy Irvine Jeremy William Fredric Smith (born 18 June 1990), known professionally as Jeremy Irvine, is an English actor who made his film debut in the epic war film ''War Horse'' (2011). In 2012, he portrayed Philip "Pip" Pirrip in the film adaptation of ...
,
Calam Lynch Calam Finbar Lynch (born 7 November 1994) is a British actor of Irish descent. His films include the Disney adaptation of ''Black Beauty'' (2020) and Terence Davies' ''Benediction'' (2021). On television, he appeared in the BBC One drama ''Mrs W ...
,
Kate Phillips Kate Phillips (born 21 May 1989) is a British actress. She became famous for her role as Jane Seymour in the successful miniseries ''Wolf Hall'' (2015). She subsequently appeared in the miniseries '' War & Peace'' (2016), the first season of th ...
,
Gemma Jones Jennifer "Gemma" Jones (born 4 December 1942) is an English actress. Appearing on both stage and screen, her film appearances include ''Sense and Sensibility'' (1995), the ''Bridget Jones'' series (2001–2016), the ''Harry Potter'' series ( ...
and
Ben Daniels Ben Daniels (born 10 June 1964) is a British actor. Initially a stage actor, Daniels was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Never the Sinner'' (1991), the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for ''900 Oneonta'' ( ...
. It was released in United Kingdom on 20 May 2022 by Vertigo Releasing and United States on 3 June 2022 by
Roadside Attractions Roadside Attractions is an American production company and film distributor based in Los Angeles, California, founded on July 27, 2000, by Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff, specializing largely in independent films. Lionsgate Lions Gate ...
.


Synopsis

The story of Siegfried Sassoon, a British poet and decorated W.W.I combat veteran who was sent to a psychiatric facility for his anti-war stance during W.W.I, had love affairs with several men during the 1920s, married, had a son, and after his conversion to Catholicism continued to be plagued by his memories.


Cast

*
Jack Lowden Jack Andrew Lowden (born 2 June 1990) is a Scottish actor. Following a four-year stage career, his first major international onscreen success was in the 2016 BBC miniseries '' War & Peace'', which led to starring roles in feature films. Lowden s ...
as
Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both describ ...
**
Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in ' ...
as Older Siegfried Sassoon *
Simon Russell Beale Sir Simon Russell Beale (born 12 January 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabe ...
as
Robbie Ross Robert Baldwin Ross (25 May 18695 October 1918) was a Canadian-British journalist, art critic and art dealer, best known for his relationship with Oscar Wilde, to whom he was a devoted friend and literary executor. A grandson of the Canadian ...
*
Jeremy Irvine Jeremy William Fredric Smith (born 18 June 1990), known professionally as Jeremy Irvine, is an English actor who made his film debut in the epic war film ''War Horse'' (2011). In 2012, he portrayed Philip "Pip" Pirrip in the film adaptation of ...
as
Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...
*
Kate Phillips Kate Phillips (born 21 May 1989) is a British actress. She became famous for her role as Jane Seymour in the successful miniseries ''Wolf Hall'' (2015). She subsequently appeared in the miniseries '' War & Peace'' (2016), the first season of th ...
as Hester Gatty **
Gemma Jones Jennifer "Gemma" Jones (born 4 December 1942) is an English actress. Appearing on both stage and screen, her film appearances include ''Sense and Sensibility'' (1995), the ''Bridget Jones'' series (2001–2016), the ''Harry Potter'' series ( ...
as Older Hester Gatty *
Ben Daniels Ben Daniels (born 10 June 1964) is a British actor. Initially a stage actor, Daniels was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Never the Sinner'' (1991), the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for ''900 Oneonta'' ( ...
as Dr
Rivers A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
*
Calam Lynch Calam Finbar Lynch (born 7 November 1994) is a British actor of Irish descent. His films include the Disney adaptation of ''Black Beauty'' (2020) and Terence Davies' ''Benediction'' (2021). On television, he appeared in the BBC One drama ''Mrs W ...
as Stephen Tennant **
Anton Lesser Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is an English actor. He is well known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series '' Game of Thrones'', as Thomas More in ''Wolf Hall'', as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in ''The Crown'', as Prime Ministe ...
as Older Stephen Tennant *
Tom Blyth Tom Keir Blyth (born 2 February 1995) is an English actor. His films include '' Scott and Sid'' (2018) and ''Benediction'' (2021). He stars as the titular character of the Epix series ''Billy the Kid'' (2022), and will star in ''The Hunger Games ...
as
Glen Byam Shaw Glencairn Alexander "Glen" Byam Shaw, CBE (13 December 1904 – 29 April 1986) was an English actor and theatre director, known for his dramatic productions in the 1950s and his operatic productions in the 1960s and later. In the 1920s and 1930 ...
*
Matthew Tennyson Matthew Tennyson is an English actor of stage and screen. He won the Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Newcomer in 2012. Early life Tennyson was born in Stoke Newington, London, the son of Jonathan Tennyson, a physics professor, and a nur ...
as
Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced by ...
*
Geraldine James Geraldine James, OBE (born 6 July 1950) is an English film and television actress. Biography Early life and family James was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to a cardiologist father and an alcoholic mother, who had been a nurse. She failed her ...
as
Theresa Thornycroft Theresa Thornycroft (1853 – July 1947) was an English sculptor and painter. Biography Born Theresa Georgina Thornycroft, she was a member of the inventive and artistic branch of the Thornycroft family. Her father was sculptor and engineer ...
*
Richard Goulding Richard Goulding (born 1980/1981) is a British actor, best known for playing Prince Harry in the 2014 stage play ''King Charles III'', and its 2017 BBC TV adaptation, as well as in 2016 television series ''The Windsors''. Education Goulding wa ...
as
George Sassoon George Thornycroft Sassoon (30 October 1936 – 8 March 2006) was a British scientist, electronic engineer, linguist, translator and author. Early life Sassoon was the only child of the poet Siegfried Sassoon and Hester Sassoon (née Gatty), and ...
*
Lia Williams Lia Williams (born 26 November 1964) is an English actress and director, known for stage, film, and television appearances. She is noted for her role as Wallis Simpson in ''The Crown''. Theatre career Williams's breakthrough performance came ...
as
Edith Sitwell Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell (7 September 1887 – 9 December 1964) was a British poet and critic and the eldest of the three literary Sitwells. She reacted badly to her eccentric, unloving parents and lived much of her life with her governess ...
*
Suzanne Bertish Suzanne Bertish (born 7 August 1951, Hammersmith, London) is an English actress. Educated at Woldingham School, Bertish joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared in many of its productions, including its marathon eight-and-a-half-hour ...
as
Lady Ottoline Morrell Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell (16 June 1873 – 21 April 1938) was an English aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers including Aldous Huxley, Sieg ...
*
Julian Sands Julian Richard Morley Sands''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, ...
as Chief Medical Officer *
Jude Akuwudike Jude Akuwudike (born 1965) is a Nigerian actor. He has mostly worked in the United Kingdom, on screen and stage. He has appeared in productions of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. Early life Born in Nigeria, Wes ...
as Priest * Giovanna Ria as Nurse


Production

In January 2020,
Jack Lowden Jack Andrew Lowden (born 2 June 1990) is a Scottish actor. Following a four-year stage career, his first major international onscreen success was in the 2016 BBC miniseries '' War & Peace'', which led to starring roles in feature films. Lowden s ...
joined the cast of the film, with
Terence Davies Terence Davies (born 10 November 1945) is an English screenwriter, film director, and novelist, seen by many critics as one of the greatest British filmmakers of his times. He is best known as the writer and director of autobiographical films ...
directing from a screenplay he wrote. In March 2020,
Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in ' ...
joined the cast of the film. In October 2020,
Simon Russell Beale Sir Simon Russell Beale (born 12 January 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabe ...
,
Geraldine James Geraldine James, OBE (born 6 July 1950) is an English film and television actress. Biography Early life and family James was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to a cardiologist father and an alcoholic mother, who had been a nurse. She failed her ...
,
Kate Phillips Kate Phillips (born 21 May 1989) is a British actress. She became famous for her role as Jane Seymour in the successful miniseries ''Wolf Hall'' (2015). She subsequently appeared in the miniseries '' War & Peace'' (2016), the first season of th ...
,
Gemma Jones Jennifer "Gemma" Jones (born 4 December 1942) is an English actress. Appearing on both stage and screen, her film appearances include ''Sense and Sensibility'' (1995), the ''Bridget Jones'' series (2001–2016), the ''Harry Potter'' series ( ...
,
Anton Lesser Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is an English actor. He is well known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series '' Game of Thrones'', as Thomas More in ''Wolf Hall'', as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in ''The Crown'', as Prime Ministe ...
,
Jeremy Irvine Jeremy William Fredric Smith (born 18 June 1990), known professionally as Jeremy Irvine, is an English actor who made his film debut in the epic war film ''War Horse'' (2011). In 2012, he portrayed Philip "Pip" Pirrip in the film adaptation of ...
,
Ben Daniels Ben Daniels (born 10 June 1964) is a British actor. Initially a stage actor, Daniels was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Never the Sinner'' (1991), the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for ''900 Oneonta'' ( ...
,
Lia Williams Lia Williams (born 26 November 1964) is an English actress and director, known for stage, film, and television appearances. She is noted for her role as Wallis Simpson in ''The Crown''. Theatre career Williams's breakthrough performance came ...
,
Jude Akuwudike Jude Akuwudike (born 1965) is a Nigerian actor. He has mostly worked in the United Kingdom, on screen and stage. He has appeared in productions of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. Early life Born in Nigeria, Wes ...
,
Suzanne Bertish Suzanne Bertish (born 7 August 1951, Hammersmith, London) is an English actress. Educated at Woldingham School, Bertish joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared in many of its productions, including its marathon eight-and-a-half-hour ...
,
Calam Lynch Calam Finbar Lynch (born 7 November 1994) is a British actor of Irish descent. His films include the Disney adaptation of ''Black Beauty'' (2020) and Terence Davies' ''Benediction'' (2021). On television, he appeared in the BBC One drama ''Mrs W ...
and
Tom Blyth Tom Keir Blyth (born 2 February 1995) is an English actor. His films include '' Scott and Sid'' (2018) and ''Benediction'' (2021). He stars as the titular character of the Epix series ''Billy the Kid'' (2022), and will star in ''The Hunger Games ...
joined the cast of the film.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began on 8 September 2020, and finished on 22 October 2020.


Release

''Benediction'' had its world premiere as a Special Presentation at the
2021 Toronto International Film Festival The 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, the 46th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from September 9 to 18, 2021.Barry Hertz"TIFF planning ‘substantially bigger’ 2021 film festival compared to last year’ ...
on 12 September. That same month, the film's UK and Ireland distribution rights were acquired by
Vertigo Films Vertigo Films is a British television and film production company based in London, England. Vertigo Films has been responsible for the production and distribution of ''Bronson (film), Bronson'', ''StreetDance 3D'', and ''Monsters (2010 film), ...
. In October 2021,
Roadside Attractions Roadside Attractions is an American production company and film distributor based in Los Angeles, California, founded on July 27, 2000, by Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff, specializing largely in independent films. Lionsgate Lions Gate ...
acquired North American distribution rights to the film. It was released in United Kingdom on 20 May 2022 and United States on 3 June 2022.


Reception

On the
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, ''Benediction'' has an approval rating of 93% based on 148 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's consensus reads, "It isn't an easy watch, but ''Benediction'' uncovers a profoundly affecting drama in the real-life story of a combat veteran whose poetry warned against the horrors of war."
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which uses a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100 based on 32 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". In response to the film's portrayal of Sassoon's conversion to Catholicism the poet's niece, Sister Jessica Gatty (who attributes her own conversion to Sassoon's influence), repudiated the filmmakers by revealing that he had been both at peace and joyful in his later years, stating: "The redemption which he sought in many different ways and which he longed for, was found in the last decade of his life when he came home to Christ in the Catholic Church. He was transformed. I can witness to this, so I need to speak out."


References


External links

* * {{Terence Davies 2021 films American biographical drama films British biographical drama films 2021 biographical drama films 2021 LGBT-related films 2020s war drama films American war drama films British LGBT-related films British war drama films Films about poets BBC Film films Films directed by Terence Davies Roadside Attractions films 2020s American films 2020s British films