Empire of Light

Empire of Light

A love story set in and around an old cinema on the South Coast of England in the 1980s.

  • Released: 2022-11-12
  • Runtime: 115 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, Romance
  • Stars: Olivia Colman, Colin Firth, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow, Crystal Clarke, Sara Stewart, Adrian McLoughlin, Spike Leighton, Ashleigh Reynolds, Mark Goldthorp, Dylan Blore, Eliza Glock, Tim Samuels, Jamie Whitlow, Dougie Boyall, D.J. Bailey, George Whitehead
  • Director: Sam Mendes
 Comments
  • glyn-25860 - 26 February 2024
    Very Unsure of Itself
    Going into this Sam Mendes had come off the back of the brilliant 1917. Unfortunately there is none of that magic in this damp squid of a film. This movie apart from Olivia Coleman's performance and the cinematography has nothing much else to recommend it! This film fills like it has a lot to say but no real time to say it which is why the movie's themes are only snapshots but lack real depth and any sort of direction. The film deals with the love of cinema, racism and mental health. Firstly the love of cinema element in this film is so hap-hazard and doesn't really add anything. It lacks the complete emotional depth of say 'Cinema Paradiso' The racism element is there to show that the black man had to deal with skinheads and then the mental heath element shows Olivia Coleman's character being taken away after an outburst and then in the next scene she is totally recovered.

    Also, the scene in Dreamland is completely inaccurate. In Dreamland in the 80's this looked nothing like the modern day dreamland that the movie filmed it's scenes in. In the 80's you had the looping star and the Mary Rose. This scene in the movie is just the Dreamland if you were to visit it now.

    Also, I didn't buy into the relationship between the two leads. Sam Mendes is a great director with the likes of American Beauty, Revolutionary Road and 1917 and can also co-write a screenplay but he should never be aloud to write solo again. When you realise that he wrote this during the Covid lockdown, that makes a lot of sense.
  • Barbouzes - 1 September 2023
    Can't say I had a good time at the movies...
    Naw. Did not work for me. The characters are cliches, cardboard cut-outs who look and act like stock photos from the 1980s, and the situations are all contrived and expected -with swelling& sad music to bring them on and on and on. I did not feel a speck of genuine emotion in this film. If you have seen Cinema Parasido, the 1980 Italian film , also using a local cinema as the mirror for the locals' modest lives' tragedies, the difference between forced emotions- that's Empire of Light- and real pathos -the sublime Cinema Paradiso- will hit you in the face you like the difference between a fresh ripe strawberry vs a cheap chemical strawberry flavor.
  • fbfrancisboyter - 14 May 2023
    A beautiful looking film about nothing
    A pretty dull film overall. No matter how many great actors you put in it, and how much budget you spend, the plot just isn't there.

    It fails at being a love letter to the cinema experience. It has one scene of a character watching a movie and welling up. It isn't effective. It's no Cinema Paridiso.

    The film touches on three issues, racism, ageism, and mental health, but it doesn't resolve any of those issues in the plot. There's no character growth or resolution. There's just scenes where things happen involving those issues and then the film moves on. It's listless and forgettable. Incredibly meh Sam Mendes classic.
  • Xstal - 9 January 2023
    An Emotion Picture that Moves...
    You're trapped inside a world of make believe, where people take their seats to be deceived, lose themselves in fantasy, reels conjure alchemy, this is no paradise or palace, that you perceive. Behind closed doors, torment and distress are at play, where advantages are taken day by day, but you plough your lonely furrow, cage the rage, the pain, the sorrow, then someone new arrives, projects a fresh pathway.

    I spent two hours spellbound at the incredible Olivia Coleman, who takes you into the unstable world of Hilary in early 1980s Britain. More than ably supported by Michael Ward, the pair paint a picture of the challenges of the day, from different backgrounds and perspectives, that rollercoast your emotions to extremes. Great story, great direction and great performances - what more do you need from a film?
  • loganschainker - 18 December 2022
    The Latest Oscar Bait Film
    My least favorite genre in all of film is Oscar Bait. And this film is a very clear example of that. Sam Mendes' last film 1917 was one of the best war films I've ever seen. Such a fall from grace. The acting is decent, aside from Olivia Coleman who was great as usual. The drama was forced, manipulative and unearned. It didn't know if it wanted to be a romance, or if it wanted to be about loneliness or racism. It was mundanely all over the place. The other aspect that I really appreciated was the cinematography from the GOAT Roger Deakins. Overall, Empire of Light isn't that bad. But it was incredibly boring and unfocused which made it forgettable.
  • df16699n - 8 December 2022
    Empire of Life
    This film has a lot going for it. Colman and Ward have tremendous on screen chemistry portraying characters facing difficult yet different obstacles in their lives. Mental health and race are heavy themes in this film and it takes human connections and support from your friends to get through these obstacles. Hilary (Colman) was struggling to get through her every day life until she meets Stephen (Ward) and together they form a strong bond and help each other get through some difficult personal moments. I love this film taking place in a movie theater and the relationships between the workers was written perfectly. Genuine relationships provide us with a light in our life and helps us get by and this film is all about the importance of genuine friendships. The score was phenomenal as usually by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and Roger Deakins came through again with outstanding cinematography. Sam Mendes is a great director and he did a nice job with the script as well. Lastly, the production design was absolutely terrific, the movie theater where this was filmed was beautiful and the roof of the theater was truly amazing, truly stunning.