Empire of Light, the title of the new movie from Sam Mendes, simply means a cinema. And the vintage cinema at the heart of the upcoming drama is the long-standing Margate’s Dreamland Cinema on the Isle of Thanet in Kent, England, which was re-christened as a set to be the fictional venue, “The Empire.” For the full effect, the filmmakers transformed Margate’s main seafront road, the beach, the Old Town, Cliftonville, and Darcy’s Café back to the area’s look in the early ‘80s giving the period piece a promising impact.

Mendes’ ninth film as director, and second as a writer, is a far cry from his entries in the James Bond series (Skyfall, Spectre) and his ambitious World War I epic, 1917, as Empire of Light posits a more personal and human story. It sets up an alluring love letter to the movies as seen through the eyes of some lonely characters who work at the charming seafront Empire in 1981, when Margaret Thatcher’s Britain was embroiled in recession, racism, and the real existential concerns of folks like our lovelorn leading characters.

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Empire of Light: The Plot

The film’s synopsis reads:

A huge selling point for a film about loving film is the cinematography of master Director of Photography Roger Deakins. Empire of Light is the fifth collaboration between Deakins, who has worked with every major filmmaker from Martin Scorsese to the Coen brothers, and Mendes, following Jarhead (2005), Revolutionary Road (2008), Skyfall (2012), and 1917 (2019), which won Deakins his second Oscar after his first win for Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 (2017).

“A drama about the power of human connection during turbulent times, set in an English coastal town in the early 1980s.”

As it recreates the movie-going landscape of the early ‘80s, Empire of Light refers to a number of notable classics from the era, such as Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz, John Landis’s The Blues Brothers, Sidney Poitier’s Stir Crazy, David Lynch’s The Elephant Man, and Colin Higgins’ 9 to 5.

But the films that get the biggest spotlight are Hugh Hudson’s Oscar-winning Olympics drama, Chariots of Fire, which gets its regional premiere at the Empire, and Hal Ashby’s profound comedy, Being There. Based on the acclaimed 1970 novel by Jerzy Kosiński, the Peter Sellers classic is showcased in the film’s finale, a fitting choice as it is a highly influential work that Mendes presents as a telling touchstone.

Empire of Light: The Cast & Crew

     Searchlight Pictures

Olivia Colman, who won the Academy Award for Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite (2018), plays the theater’s beaten-down manager, Hilary, who is having an unsatisfying affair with the owner, Mr. Ellis, portrayed by Colin Firth. Hilary’s life changes when a new employee, a ticket-seller named Stephen, played by Micheal Ward, comes into the picture, forming a connection.

The supporting ensemble includes Toby Jones (Infamous, Journey’s End, First Cow), who also appeared with Olivia Colman in The Electrical Life of Louis Wain in 2021 as the Empire’s lovably cranky projectionist, Norman; and Tom Brooke, and Hannah Onslow as his assistants Neil, and Janine. Rounding out the cast are Tanya Moodie, Crystal Clarke, Monica Dolan, Sara Stewart, Ron Cook, and Justin Edwards in minor sideline roles.

In an interview with Deadline, the 56-year-old Mendes spoke about working with the highly capable cast and how they helped form the character’s paths:

The BAFTA Rising Star Award-winning Ward also talked about his commitment to his character, Stephen, with Entertainment Weekly:

“One of the things you realize as you get older as a director, if you’ve got eight people in a cast, fundamentally, you’ve got eight other imaginations in the room with you and it would be a good idea to ask them what they think. I can’t remember, but I definitely made changes after rehearsing with them, talking to them…we talked a lot.”

“It became less about acting, and it became real. I wanted to deliver a really authentic performance, so Black people that walked in that time can say, ‘Yeah, these are real things that we used to go through.’”

The film’s score was composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, but so far, there’s no word on an official soundtrack to be released on Compact Disc or vinyl, but perhaps a streaming option may arise by the time of the movie’s domestic release.

Release Date

Empire of Light is scheduled to be released on December 9, 2022. It originally premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 3 and has garnered mixed reviews (45% on the Rotten Tomatometer). Still, interest in Colman, Mendes, and the audience’s affection for film may give it some legs at the box office. It will later make its way overseas to the UK for its 2023 premiere on January 13.

Although its critical response has been divided so far, Empire of Light has an appealing cast, premise, and presentation going for it. The film is one to watch when the holiday movie-going season is in full bloom come mid-December.