Sam Mendes left the Bond franchise a director with a very admirable back catlogue but a slightly blunted future. Sure he was an Oscar winner with AMERICAN BEAUTY. Sure also he had directed the comic book translated, big star film ROAD TO PERDITION and even had not one, but two post,post Oscar serious character studies of big literature pieces with JARHEAD and REVOLUTIONARY ROAD. But these films are all gone and forgotton. Much like Mendes runs scored at Lords, which proved him an admirable cricketer and these films, an exceptional director. Now he is known for three blockbusters under his belt with the steller SKYFALL, the bloated SPECTRE and the technical marvel of 1917. It is hard to resurface after the big budget monsters that 007 creates. He did it right but going along with a serious piece but reliant on cinematics. With EMPIRE OF LIGHT, the blockbuster elements are gone and instead the personal is forefront and he writes and directs a love letter to cinemas.

Hilary (Olivia Colman) works at the Empire on a beach front in a coastal Kent town. The location it was film, is Margate but this is not fixed. She is a manager, well respected worker and a woman of simple means. She is also undergoing treatment for depression and, medicated for her split personality, certainly caused by some form of sexual abuse as a youth. Her boss, Mr Ellis (Colin Firth) is not ignorant of this and is having a sexual relationship with her, that is very one sided and very unpleasent. Her fellow collegues, Neil (Tom Brooke), Delia (Tanya Moodie) and Norman (Toby Jones) look out for her but life in the Empire is a mostly difficult affair. This is until Stephen (Michael Ward) is employed at the Empire. Their friendship is struck immediately and after a few days, on the stroke of midnight, a relationship bloosoms.

Mendes is returning to a more personal and some would suggest, deeper work with EMPIRE OF LIGHT. Interestingly though, he actually steps back from the screen and directs with a foot off. This is probably because he has a great cast and Colman is the rock that the film is built on. Her performance is rich and riverting. Her chemistry with Ward is tangible, he is also brillant and they together are a pleasure to watch. Brooke, Moodie, Jones and Firth, all take a backseat to the two leads but arent hidden. They are directed with astutue observations and it all feels inviting. There is some issues however. Its an efficently made film. Perceptive drawn as a drama, about the legacy of abuse, personal freedoms and the power of cinema. But Mendes writing sometimes loses its edge. He loses the rhythms that the cast have struck. Crowbarring in bits of film and English history. His very obvious love of cinema, draws attentions away from the characters he is developing oddly enough. As the titles roll, you feel that maybe if the relationships were placed elsewhere, then it might have been the only focus and the love of film, weirdly, wouldnt have hampered an otherwise, brillant film.