Empire of Light

Dir: Sam Mendes
Cast: Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Crystal Clarke, Tanya Moodie

Hilary (Olivia Colman) manages a seafront picture palace in Margate. Once an opulent multiscreen cinema with a dance hall overlooking the sea, now only one screen remains open, albeit a grand one. In preparation for a regional premiere of Chariots of Fire, Hilary and her colleagues - played by a heavyweight ensemble that includes Toby Jones, Colin Firth, Tom Brooke and Michael Ward - spruce up the venue. Outside, the town itself is crumbling, with a rising far-right presence and Stephen (Ward) regularly harassed by skinheads. Mendes delivers a stirring ode to the cinema — as a space for collective experience, offering the pleasures and balms of watching films in darkness together.

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