Empire of Light

Showtimes December 26 - 29:

It’s the early 1980s, circa All That Jazz, The Blues Brothers, and Chariots of Fire, and Hilary (Olivia Colman) is staff supervisor at an old movie palace in a British seaside town. She lives on her own, maintains a regular schedule, and struggles to move beyond some past episodes of mental illness, for which she takes a medication that leaves her feeling, in her words, “a bit numb.” Yet her life is far from empty. The cinema’s staff, much younger than her, are like a quirky little family, and she’s having a secret, if dubious, affair with her married manager (Colin Firth). When Stephen (Micheal Ward) — a Black college-aged man who’s himself feeling alienated in their small town — joins the cinema’s staff, the two find tender escape in one another. But their May-December relationship may not be destined to last forever.

Cinematographer Roger Deakins exquisitely photographs the inhabitants of this story, who were created with real heart by writer-director Sam Mendes. A love letter to the people who come together under a projector’s glow, Empire of Light radiates with warmth and nostalgia, providing a lovely match for the mood of the holiday season and a poignant reminder that movies can be magic.

(UK / 2022 / Directed by Sam Mendes)
R / 1 hr 59 mins