''The Hanging Sun'' is a 2022 Italian-British noir

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Francesco Carrozzini Francesco Carrozzini (born September 9, 1982) is an Italian-born director and photographer based in the United States. In 2016, he made his feature directorial debut at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival with the documentary '' Franca: ...

. It is an adaptation of the 2015 novel ''Midnight Sun'' by

Jo Nesbø Jo Nesbø (; born Jon Nesbø; 29 March 1960) is a Norwegian writer, musician, economist, and former football player and reporter. More than 3 million copies of his novels had been sold in Norway as of March 2014; his work has been translated ...

. The film had its world premiere as the closing film of the

79th Venice International Film Festival The 79th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August to 10 September 2022. Juries Main Competition (Venezia 79) * Julianne Moore, American actress and author (Jury President) * Mariano Cohn, Argentine director, screenw ...

on 10 September 2022.

Premise

John ( Alessandro Borghi) is on the run after betraying his powerful crime boss father (

Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all th ...

). He travels north to evade his brother (

Frederick Schmidt Frederick Schmidt is a British actor who has appeared in such films '' Mission: Impossible – Fallout'' (2018) and '' Angel Has Fallen'' (2019). Career In his early career, he starred in many British films. In '' Mission: Impossible – Fallou ...

) and takes refuge in an isolated village. The village is a small community of strict religious conformists. John grows close to a woman with a troubled past named Lea ( Jessica Brown Findlay), becoming a father figure to her son Caleb (Raphael Vicas). The two must find a way to break the ties to their past and start over.

Cast

* Alessandro Borghi as John * Jessica Brown Findlay as Lea *

Sam Spruell Sam Spruell (born 1 January 1977) is a British actor. He is best known for playing villainous roles in film and television including Oleg Malankov in '' Taken 3'', Finn in '' Snow White and the Huntsman'' and Swarm in '' Doctor Who: Flux''. He a ...

as Aaron and Nicolas *

as Michael * Raphael Vicas as Caleb *

as Dad *

Charles Dance Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters and villains. His most notable film roles include Sardo Numspa in '' The Golden Child'' (1986), Dr. Jonathan Clemens in '' ...

as Jacob

Production

A Sky Original film, ''The Hanging Sun'' is a U.K.-Italian co-production by

Sky Studios Sky Studios is a production company founded by Sky in June 2019 with assets from the now defunct Sky Vision. It develops, produces and funds original drama, comedy and documentary, and has investments in a number of production businesses in ...

ITV Studios ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadca ...

' Cattleya Producciones and Groenlandia.

Release

The first trailer for the film was released on 31 August 2022. The film was chosen as the closing film of the

, presented out of competition, and premiered on 10 September 2022. It was theatrically released in Italy on 12 September 2022.

Reception

Anna Smith of ''

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...

'' called the film "a workable and good-looking thriller". Davide Abbatescianni of '' Cineuropa'' said "Carrozzini successfully transposes a captivating story about hate and toxic family relationships to the big screen, assembling an effective cast and lending the movie great pace." Jonathan Romney of '' Screen Daily'' called the film a "bizarre mess from start to finish", criticizing the "oddness" of the accents employed by Borghi and others. Romney praised the performances of Dance and Mullan, but criticized the casting of Vicas and lamented that Brown Findlay's role was "largely restricted to being dourly long-suffering."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanging Sun, The 2022 films British thriller films Italian thriller films Films based on crime novels Films based on Norwegian novels Films based on works by Jo Nesbø Films produced by Matteo Rovere 2020s Italian films