Empire of Light

Empire of Light is a dull historical romance that isn’t even amusing enough to be offensive. It has its moments, but you’d be hard pressed to remember them later.

These are tricky scenes to bring off, but Mendes has written them with such care and Colman performs them with such a delicate awareness of just how far they should be taken that the swift changes in pace and tone don’t hit a false note.

The main location for the film was a real cinema that had fallen into disrepair and was restored to its former magnificence. It provides a vital centre for this poignant, intelligent, handsome film.

The central romance between Hilary and the devastatingly handsome new usher, Stephen, played by Top Boy’s promising star Michael Ward, never rings true. Nor does Hilary’s sudden shock at discovering racism in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain.

Watching the misguided artistry at work in Empire of Light, it’s hard to fathom just what attracted so many top-tier talents to a project of such torpor.

Hilary and Stephen have been buffeted all their lives by the message that they are less-than, undeserving, unimportant. Empire of Light highlights the ineffable joy when both discover that none of that is true.

I did not enjoy it, too navel gaze-y, too long, too depressing

Sees Mendes return back to a time when his movies actually said something. If you go into this film expecting this to be like his work on the James Bond franchise you will be disappointed - this is a love letter to cinema from Mendes himself.

Empire of Light’s lack of focus and glaringly obvious thematic overtures had me wondering if we’d be better off watching these characters sit through a screening of An American Werewolf in London or Time Bandits instead.

Although there isn't a true character development, the performances are excellent, and the story leaves us thinking about discrimination, racial violence, and the misogynistic attitudes that prevail in the environment. [Full review in Spanish]