From Academy Award®-winning director and writer Sam Mendes, Empire of Light is a moving drama about the power of human connection during turbulent times. Set in and around a faded old cinema in an English coastal town in the early 1980s, it follows Hilary (Olivia Colman) a cinema manager struggling with her mental health, and Stephen (Micheal Ward), a new employee who longs to escape this provincial town in which he faces daily adversity. Both Hilary and Stephen find a sense of belonging through their unlikely and tender relationship and come to experience the healing power of music, cinema, and community.
Written and directed by Sam Mendes, Empire of Light stars Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow, Crystal Clarke, with Toby Jones and Colin Firth. The film is produced by Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris’ Neal Street Productions, in partnership with Searchlight Pictures.
2023 Academy Award® Nominee
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – Roger Deakins
2023 Golden Globe® Nominee
BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA – Olivia Colman
2023 Critics Choice® Nominee
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – Roger Deakins
"An engrossing, poignantly observed and beautifully acted drama about love, life and the fragile art of moviegoing…"
- Guardian
"A heartwarming reminder of the joy, comfort, and necessity of the big screen experience."
- London Evening Standard
"It’s an achingly lovely film—the best Mendes has yet made."
- Vanity Fair
"A treasure worthy of its own magnificently-crumbling Art Deco Screens."
- Screen International
Thursday 2nd March
115 min
MA15+
Colin Firth, Olivia Colman, Toby Jones, Crystal Clarke, Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow, Micheal Ward
Sam Mendes
Drama
The Astor Theatre, Pentridge Cinema, Palace Balwyn, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Dendy Brighton, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Palace Norton Street, Palace Central, Palace Verona, Palace Byron Bay, Palace James St, Palace Barracks, Palace Electric Cinema, Palace Raine Square
