Empire of Light Review
Empire of Light (2022) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Sam Mendes and starring Olivia Colman, Colin Firth, Micheal Ward, Toby Jones, Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow, Crystal Clarke, Monica Dolan, Ron Cook, Sara Stewart, Justin Edwards, Roman Hayeck-Green, Dougie Boyall and Spike Leighton. Sam Mendes is one of the best filmmakers of our time so it’s a bit of a disappointment that his new film, Empire of Light, misses the mark for greatness. Still, the film presents a thoughtful and intriguing look at fragile relationships against the backdrop of cinema in the early 1980’s. This picture sets itself in an English coastal town where a movie theater brings people of different backgrounds together to work there. There are the customers too, but the movie only presents brief glimpses of them. Empire of Light is about the experience of being employed in a theater and how it can affect everyday life.
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Olivia Colman’s role is the key ingredient of this film’s story line. She plays Hilary, an aging assistant to the theater manager, Donald Ellis (Colin Firth). Hilary is having an affair with the married Donald and the movie is very frank in terms of the first sex scene it presents to the audience. Hilary and Donald are engaging in raw, somewhat passionless, sexual relations. Donald doesn’t seem too concerned that his wife, Brenda (Sara Stewart), could find out. Hilary is seemingly timid and simply “there” when we first meet her. A new young Black theater employee, Stephen (Micheal Ward), is the catalyst to start the film’s plot where Hilary will change as a character, and the audience will learn of her troubled history. Stephen and one of the female workers at the theater laugh at an older patron of the theater which angers Hilary immensely at one point in the movie. Hilary tries to teach the employees that they have no right to laugh at anyone. When Stephen and Hilary discover an abandoned section of the theater, they begin to learn a bit about one another which helps propel a romance between these two characters into motion. Toby Jones plays Norman, the projectionist at the theater who Hilary asks to show her a movie, any movie, at one point late in the picture. Norman shows her the powerful Peter Sellers film, Being There, where Hilary experiences the true joys of the cinematic experience while watching the picture all by herself. This scene is where Colman’s performance comes to life emotionally and is one of the best parts of the picture. There’s an awkward scene earlier than that where a manic Hilary tries to speak at a big exclusive screening of Chariots of Fire. The theater manager, Donald, has just spoken and Hilary tries to read a poem aloud to the audience and encourage people of different races to get along. That’s because she has witnessed Stephen get mistreated by people in passing because of his skin color. Hilary garners applause from the audience but it isn’t truly heartfelt applause. Then, she calls out her affair with Donald in front of Brenda shortly after. This should be the most powerful scene in the move but falls a bit short in its execution due to clumsy dramatic timing. With that being said, the film works best when it focuses on Hilary’s bond with Stephen. The unlikely pair find comfort in each other’s company and there is a certain sweet center at the core of the romance regardless of the eventual outcome of it. Micheal Ward is absolutely astonishing in his performance here and is definitely worthy of consideration for a Best Supporting Actor nomination. He creates a multi-faceted character and, more importantly, he is able to be equally compelling to the always formidable Colman. Empire of Light is occasionally about the joy of going to the cinema. However, it is also concerned with the mundane tasks that come with working at a movie theater as well. When Hilary teaches Stephen how to replace candy that sells, it’s slow-moving and dull. Mendes adds a lot of unnecessary details to his story to progress the plot forward. There is a scene where Stephen is attacked by a group of savages that target the theater. This sequence is strongly rendered and feels authentic. There are many other less successful scenes such as when Stephen conveniently runs into his old girlfriend which further complicates his already complex situation with Hilary. Ultimately, the picture sometimes feels more like Stephen’s coming-of-age story than about his bond with Hilary. Firth is not in much of the film. As supporting performances go, it’s a pretty slim role for the Oscar-winning Firth and even Jones, as the projectionist, gets more of a chance to shine than Firth does. One can’t help but wonder if there were more scenes with these characters that were left on the cutting room floor. Also, the movie doesn’t deal specifically with the pictures it shows in the background with the exception of Being There and the Richard Pryor/Gene Wilder vehicle, Stir Crazy. Despite its limitations, Empire of Light is a decent movie. Colman is passionate and vulnerable in her role although it’s not a performance on the level of some of her previous ones. That being said, Ward makes this movie a better film than it could have been if his role was cast with a lesser actor in it. This is Ward’s coming into stardom role and he is the highlight of the film. It wasn’t possible to think that Ward would shine this bright opposite Colman before seeing the movie. Ward makes the film a compelling journey and Colman’s presence in the picture makes the movie a curiosity piece for any fan of cinema or Colman, herself. Rating: 7/10 Leave your thoughts on this Empire of Light review and the film below in the comments section. 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