Curzon Richmond

• 2021
• US
• 1h 48min
• 15

• Directed by: Mike Mills
• Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann, Scoot McNairy, Molly Webster, Jaboukie Young-White, Woody Norman

After gracing audiences with Beginners and 20th Century Women, writer-director Mike Mills returns with another warm, insightful, and gratifyingly askew portrait of American family life. A soulful Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny, a kindhearted radio journalist deep into a project in which he interviews children across the U.S. about our world’s uncertain future. His sister, Viv (a marvelously intuitive Gaby Hoffmann), asks him to watch her 9-year-old son, Jesse (Woody Norman, in one of the most affecting breakout child performances in years), while she tends to the child’s father, who’s suffering from mental health issues. After agreeing, Johnny finds himself connecting with his nephew in ways he hadn’t expected, ultimately taking Jesse with him on a journey from Los Angeles to New York to New Orleans. Anchored by three remarkable actors, C’mon C’mon is a gentle yet impeccably crafted drama about coming to terms with personal trauma and historical legacies.

• 80%

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• 2021

Exhibition on Screen tells the fascinating story of Wilhelm Hansen and, with exclusive access to a sell-out exhibition at London's Royal Academy, brings the extraordinary collection to the big-screen in glorious high-definition. From Hansen's beautiful house and gardens at Ordrupgaard to the streets of bohemian Paris, this film takes you on a journey to discover some of the best examples of 19th-century French art ever collected.

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• 2021
• US
• 2h 37min
• 15

• Directed by: Ridley Scott
• Cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, Al Pacino

The turbulent marriage and divorce of Patrizia and Maurizio Gucci, the head of the Gucci fashion house, leads to murder.

• 70%

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• 2021

An operatic reimagining the familiar tale, the Greek myth of Orpheus, from Eurydice’s point of view.

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• 2021
• UK / Australia / US / Canada / New Zealand
• 2h 6min
• 12A

• Directed by: Jane Campion
• Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Genevieve Lemon, Keith Carradine, Frances Conroy

Dir Jane Campion/GB AU US CA NZ 2021/126 mins
Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons

Jane Campion (The Piano, Top of the Lake) returns to the LFF with a beguilingly dark drama about two wealthy brothers in the America West.

Rancher Phil Burbank (a brooding Benedict Cumberbatch) is an intimidating presence to all but his brother George (Jesse Plemons). The two men run a hugely successful inherited ranch on the edge of a tiny frontier town in the early 1920s. With only the company of the rough cattlehands, George yearns for something a little more refined, while Phil is content with their mutual isolation and craves his brother’s favour and companionship. But when George brings home a new wife (Kirsten Dunst) and her teenage son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Phil turns on his most arresting power to torment. Adapting from a novel by Thomas Savage, Campion grips you from the start and expertly ratchets the tension – with Ari Wegner’s cinematography and Jonny Greenwood’ score helping to cast an ominous spell. Often playing affable eccentrics, this is a Benedict Cumberbatch unlike any we’ve seen, brilliantly terrorising every frame with silent menace. And scene by scene, our understanding of his cruel persona shifts in such surprising and fascinating ways. It’s a pleasure to welcome Campion back to the Festival for what is set to be an unforgettable American Express Gala.

• 69%

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