Most critics did not particularly like this, simplistically misinterpreting it as yet another paean to the magic of cinema à la Cinema Paradiso. Yes, it revolves around a seaside cinema and its staff, and wonderful classic films are there in the background, but it's really about mental illness, misogyny and racism. The backdrop is Thatcher's Britain in 1981, riven with economic depression and race riots. The peerless Olivia Colman plays the duty manager at a Margate cinema, on lithium following a schizophrenic breakdown and constantly dragged in by her sleazy boss for illicit sex in his office. When a sensitive younger black man joins the staff, they become friends and eventually lovers. But given toxic atmosphere of the era and her mental fragility, there are dark clouds on the horizon.
The film does tail off to some extent in its closing part, as unwilling to acknowledge a tidy ending as many great works are wont to do, but there are some genuinely moving moments along the way, and Colman's performance in particular is quite remarkable, as is the luminous photography of the incomparable Roger Deakins.
7/10
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