REVIEW #259 Empire of Light

A duty manager of a seaside cinema, who is struggling with her mental health, forms a relationship with the new employee. Set on the south coast during the 1980’s.

Empire of Light is a very misunderstood film that focuses on the themes of mental health and racism in the 1980’s. Meanwhile telling a complicated love story between two inherently different characters. Does the film bite off more than it can chew at times? Sure it does, but I still found the story rather enjoyable and the performance from Olivia Coleman was one of my personal favourites from the actress. The film definitely suffers from trying to tackle too many issues and themes all at once, resulting in each topic never getting the true spotlight it deserves. Instead we are presented with little flashes of Hilary’s mental health, a glimpse at Stephens life dealing with racism, all whilst trying to create the appropriate vibe for the time period it’s set in (1980’s) and create a complicated love story. It would have worked better if they had focused on one topic and explored that fully. I also think people are getting too caught up on the sex scenes, granted they could have removed the Hilary and Stephen scene because a kiss would have sufficed but those moments certainly don’t ruin the film! However there is still a lot to enjoy, Roger Deakins cinematography is brilliant, the performances are good and at its heart, it’s a rather wholesome story.

Overall (6.8/10)

Thanks for reading.

Callan