''Hurt By Paradise'' is a British comedy-drama film directed by

Greta Bellamacina Greta Rosanna Bellamacina (born ) is a British actress, poet and model. Early life Bellamacina was born in Hampstead, London, England, and raised in Camden. She discovered an interest in performing at an early age. She attended Royal Academ ...

. The film stars Bellamacina as Celeste, a single mother and her unexpected friendship with her babysitter, a middle-aged failed actress. The film was nominated for the

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a serie ...

Award for Best British Feature Film and Best Performance at

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

2019 and for Best UK Feature Film at

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove to ...

2019.

Cast

as Celeste * Sadie Brown as Stella *

Tanya Burr Tanya Burr (born 9 June 1989) is an English YouTuber and actress, who began posting makeup and fashion videos to her YouTube channel in 2009. In 2017, Burr began pursuing a career in acting, and has since had guest roles in series such as ''Bu ...

as Maud *

Jaime Winstone Jaime Margaret Winstone (born 6 May 1985) is an English actress, best known for her roles in ''Kidulthood'', ''Dead Set'', '' After Hours'' and her portrayal of Barbara Windsor in ''Babs''. Early life and education Winstone was born in Camden ...

as Janette *

Camilla Rutherford Camilla Rutherford (born 20 September 1976) is an English actress and fashion model. Early life Camilla Rutherford was born to (Gordon) Malcolm Rutherford (1939-1999), a financial journalist for the ''Financial Times'' and sometime advisor to ...

as Estelle *

Anna Brewster Anna Brewster is an English actress and model. Early life Anna Brewster is from Moseley, Birmingham. She attended St Bernard's RC School, Kings Heath Junior School and Queensbridge School in Moseley before studying for her A levels at Solihu ...

as Tessa * Jazzy De Lisser as Lori * Nicholas Rowe as Jonathan Birchwood * Bruno Aleph Wizard as Roman

Filming

''Hurt By Paradise'' was shot in

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

and

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

, London.

Reception

The ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' wrote, "Bellamacina is as precise and bold as

Joanna Hogg Joanna Hogg (born 20 March 1960) is a British film director and screenwriter. She made her directorial and screenwriting feature film debut in 2007 with ''Unrelated'' followed by ''Archipelago'' (2010) and ''Exhibition'' (2013). Two of her film ...

." ''

Another Magazine ''Another Magazine'', styled ''AnOther'', is an international fashion and culture bi-annual. Founded in 2001, its Editor-in-Chief is Susannah Frankel, who joined in January 2016. Frankel had been Fashion Features Director of the magazine since ...

'' called the film "spellbinding". ''Filmotomy'' said "Bellamacina has it in her to become one of the great contemporary female voices in British cinema." On

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 ...

, the film has an approval rating of 80%.

References

{{Reflist 2019 comedy-drama films 2019 films British comedy-drama films 2010s British films