This film has a lot going for it. Colman and Ward have tremendous on screen chemistry portraying characters facing difficult yet different obstacles in their lives. Mental health and race are heavy themes in this film and it takes human connections and support from your friends to get through these obstacles. Hilary (Colman) was struggling to get through her every day life until she meets Stephen (Ward) and together they form a strong bond and help each other get through some difficult personal moments. I love this film taking place in a movie theater and the relationships between the workers was written perfectly. Genuine relationships provide us with a light in our life and helps us get by and this film is all about the importance of genuine friendships. The score was phenomenal as usually by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and Roger Deakins came through again with outstanding cinematography. Sam Mendes is a great director and he did a nice job with the script as well. Lastly, the production design was absolutely terrific, the movie theater where this was filmed was beautiful and the roof of the theater was truly amazing, truly stunning.

Anyone who goes to see "Empire of Light" expecting another cosy movie about the love of cinema, both the medium and the building, will be sadly disappointed since Sam Mendes' superb new movie is about so much more. Yes, it's a love letter to all aspects of 'cinema' but it's also about racism and mental illness, lonliness and our ability to connect and it works on all these levels.

The setting is an unnamed town on England's South Coast in the early 1980's and the Picture Palace in question, (the Dreamland Cinema in Margate standing in for the Empire), really is a Picture Palace of the old school, (well, the bits of it that are open to the public are, at least), and Hilary, (an Oscar-worthy Olivia Colman), is the unhappy, lonely and mentally challenged duty manager who has allowed herself to drift into a casual sexual relationship with her married boss, (Colin Firth), and who now finds herself drawn to a new young employee who happens to be black, (Michael Ward, excellent).

Today, even with the age difference between them, this wouldn't be thought of as a problem but this was the early '80's and the National Front were on the march and Mendes' 'romance' doesn't shy away from the racism directed at Ward's character or from Hilary's mental problems. But this isn't a glum picture. Gorgeously photographed by Roger Deakins it is indeed a love letter to the movies and if like me you don't go stir crazy over "Stir Crazy", the joys of "Being There" should draw you in. Beautifully written, (also by Mendes), directed and acted, (as another employee Tom Brooke is also outstanding), this moving and intelligent picture really shouldn't be missed.