Empire of Light is a story about the power of human bonds in stormy times. Set in and around a faded old cinema in a coastal town in England in the early 1980s, the film follows Hilary (Olivia Colman), a woman who runs the cinema and struggles with her mental health. and Stephen (Micheal Ward), a new employee who dreams of escaping this provincial town where he faces daily adversities. Both Hilary and Stephen find a sense of belonging through their sweet and unlikely relationship and experience the healing power of music, film and community.
The movie Searchlight Pictures Empire of Light stars the Academy Award winner Olivia Colmanthe BAFTA winner Michael Ward, Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow And Crystal Clarkewith Toby Jones and the Academy Award Colin Firth.
The filmmaking team includes some of Mendes’ longtime collaborators, including producer Pippa Harris, cinematographer Roger Deakins, who reunites with Mendes for the fifth time, production designer Mark Tildesley, costume designer Alexandra Byrne, hair and make up designer Naomi Donne, editor Lee Smith, sound mixer Stuart Wilson, casting director Nina Gold, music supervisor Randall Poster, composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, executive producers Michael Lerman and Julie Pastor, and co-producers Celia Duval and Lola Oliyide.
Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (1917, Revolutionary Road, Road to Perdition, Jarhead, American Beauty) commented as follows when introducing the film: “Many people feel that their most formative years were in their teens. I lived my adolescence in the late 70s and early 80s: the music, movies and pop culture of that period contributed in large part to shaping the person I was. It was a time of great political upheaval in the UK, with a lot of controversial racial politics stirring things up, but at the same time it was a wonderful time for music and culture in general: a very creative, very politicized and energetic time. . However, however, EMPIRE OF LIGHT is a film born almost entirely due to the pandemic. The lockdown has been a period full of intense personal reflections for all of us. Each of us has found ourselves re-examining our lives. And for me, that meant coming to terms with some memories I’d been struggling with since childhood. It was this that prompted me to write the screenplay: the will to explore those memories to see if I could discover anything interesting“.