''Empire of Light'' is a 2022

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

film written and directed by Sam Mendes. The film stars Olivia Colman,

Micheal Ward Micheal Ward (born 18 November 1997) is a Jamaican-British actor and former model. His films include ''Blue Story'' (2018) and '' The Old Guard'' (2020). On television, he appeared in ''Top Boy'' and '' The A List''. Ward was awarded the 2020 B ...

Monica Dolan Monica Margaret Dolan (born 15 March 1969) is an English actress. She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Rosemary West in '' Appropriate Adult'' (2011). Career Dolan was born in Middlesbrough and trained at the Gu ...

Tom Brooke Thomas Brooke (born 1978) is an English actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Thick Kevin in '' The Boat That Rocked'' (2009), Bill Wiggins and Andy Apsted in the BBC One television series ''Sherlock'' and ''Bodyguard'' respectivel ...

Tanya Moodie Tanya may refer to: * Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. * Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name * Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946) * List of Mortal Kombat characters#T ...

, Hannah Onslow,

Crystal Clarke Crystal Clarke (born ) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Tina Argyll in the BBC and Amazon Prime miniseries ''Ordeal by Innocence (TV series), Ordeal by Innocence'' (2018) and Georgiana Lambe in the ITV (TV network), ITV a ...

Toby Jones Tobias Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. Jones made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama '' Orlando'' in 1992. H ...

, and Colin Firth. ''Empire of Light'' had its world premiere at the

Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022. History First held on 30 August 1974, t ...

on 3 September 2022, was released through a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in the United States on 9 December 2022, and is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on 9 January 2023, by

Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...

. The film received mixed reviews from critics, though Colman's performance and Roger Deakins’ cinematography received large praise. At the 80th Golden Globe Awards, it received nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for Colman.

Plot

In 1980, Hilary Small works as a

duty manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

at the Empire Cinema on the English South Coast. Hilary struggles with depression, lives alone, has been prescribed

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...

by her doctor, and is having an

extramarital affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of ...

with her boss Donald Ellis. A new employee, Stephen, who is Black British while living with his mother Delia, begins work at the cinema and he and Hilary become attracted to each other. The pair find it difficult to talk about

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

towards Stephen from some locals, as well as Hilary's past relationships. It is later revealed that Hilary has spent time in a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

where her depression leads to mood swings, causing her to take time off work. This culminates in Hilary revealing her affair with Donald to his wife Brenda during a screening of ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...

''. Stephen tries to help Hilary but the police raid her flat and she is re-admitted. Hilary eventually returns to work, only to witness Stephen being assaulted by three members of the National Front and admitted to hospital with serious injuries. Hilary visits him regularly as he recovers, and a nurse reveals Stephen often thinks of her. Having never watched a full film at the Empire Cinema, Hilary asks the projectionist, Norman, to show ''

Being There ''Being There'' is a 1979 American satire film directed by Hal Ashby. Based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Jerzy Kosiński, it was adapted for the screen by Kosiński and the uncredited Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers an ...

'' for her. After Stephen is released from hospital, he is accepted to study architecture at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

. Hilary is reluctant to properly say goodbye, but at the last minute overcomes this to embrace him.

Cast

* Olivia Colman as Hilary Small *

as Stephen * Colin Firth as Donald Ellis *

as Norman *

as Neil *

as Delia * Hannah Onslow as Janine *

as Ruby *

as Rosemary Bates *

Sara Stewart Sara Scott Griffith (born 28 June 1966) is a Scottish actress. She played Stella in '' Sugar Rush''. Early life Stewart was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to American parents. After spending some time in the U.S., she trained at the Central Sch ...

as Brenda Ellis *

Ron Cook Ronald G. Cook (born 1948) is an English actor. He has been active in film, television and theatre since the 1970s. Early and personal life Cook was born in 1948 in South Shields, County Durham, England, the son of a school cook and a car wo ...

as Mr. Cooper * Justin Edwards as Jim Booth

Production

It was announced in April 2021 that Sam Mendes had set his next film, which he would write and direct himself at

. Olivia Colman was in talks to star and

Roger Deakins Sir Roger Alexander Deakins (born 24 May 1949) is an English cinematographer, best known for his collaborations with directors the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes and Denis Villeneuve. Deakins has been admitted to both the British Society of Cinema ...

was announced as cinematographer. Colman was confirmed in July, with

also joining the cast. In December, Colin Firth,

and

were added to the cast.

and Hannah Onslow were confirmed to star in late February.

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...

and

Atticus Ross Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (born 16 January 1968) is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for '' The Social Network'' in 2010. In 2013, th ...

composed the film's score. Filming began on 7 February 2022 at

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

on the

Isle of Thanet The Isle of Thanet () is a peninsula forming the easternmost part of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel, it is no longer an island. Archaeological remains testify to its settlement in an ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. The Dreamland Margate Cinema building was remodelled and renamed until 15 May. The film includes several pieces of music that are being played on a record player in the film, such as

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's "

It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and first released on his 1965 album ''Bringing It All Back Home''. It was written in the summer of 1964, first performed live on October 10, 1964, and recorded on ...

", Cat Stevens' " Morning Has Broken" and Joni Mitchell's " You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio". Colman was critical of some sex scenes that made it to the final cut of the film, and thought they were not necessary to advance the plot.

Release

''Empire of Light'' premiered at the

on 3 September 2022. It received a limited theatrical release by

in the United States on 9 December 2022, and will be released in the United Kingdom on 9 January 2023.

Reception

The film has received mixed to average reviews. On the review aggregator 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 ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 44% based on 188 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "''Empire of Light'' contains some fine performances and a few flashes of brilliance, but this tribute to the magic of cinema is disappointingly mundane." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100 based on 42 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". A more favourable review in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' said the film was a "poignant, wonderfully acted drama".

Accolades

References

External links

Official Site
*
Official screenplay
{{Sam Mendes 2022 films 2022 romantic drama films 2020s English-language films American romantic drama films British romantic drama films Films directed by Sam Mendes Films scored by Atticus Ross Films scored by Trent Reznor Films set in a movie theatre Films set in the 1980s Films about racism Films shot in Kent Searchlight Pictures films 2020s American films 2020s British films TSG Entertainment films