Empire of Light is a plodding, forgettable movie from a master filmmaker

British director Sam Mendes has made some masterpieces, such as the visceral but personal war epic 1917, but he’s also made some less-well-received films. This is, after all, the man who directed one of the most admired Bond movies (Skyfall) and one of the most reviled (Spectre).

You never really know what you’re going to get with a Mendes movie although it will usually at least be interesting.

Empire of Light, Mendes’ love letter to human connections and the storytelling power of cinema, isn’t even that. Interesting, that is.

On paper, it has many of the elements that make a prestige adult drama – actors such as Olivia Colman, Colin Firth and Toby Jones, a lauded cinematographer in Roger Deakins, a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and, of course, Mendes, when he’s on form.

In reality, Empire of Light is a dull historical romance that isn’t even amusing enough to be offensive. It has its moments, but you’d be hard pressed to remember them later.

Set in 1980 in a coastal town in south-east England, Empire of Light is centred on Hillary (Colman), the duty manager of an art-deco cinema.

Hillary lives alone and takes lithium for a disorder which recently saw her hospitalised. She struggles to maintain relationships in her life beyond niceties with her co-workers and an affair with her boss (Firth).

When a new employee, Stephen (Micheal Ward), starts at the cinema, she’s surprised to find she desires him. The pair bond and soon, after a New Year’s Eve spent on the cinema’s rooftop, their collegial relationship becomes something more.

Stephen is a young black man caught in the maelstrom of the increased nationalism and hate speech of the early 1980s, propelled by the politics of the day (and yes, Margaret Thatcher is lumped with some of the credit for this overt racism).

It’s ugly, menacing and necessarily portrayed. While Empire of Light is clearly well-intentioned, it’s not a deep dive into British race relations. Sometimes it feels as if Stephen exists as a conduit so the film can comment on his experiences. It never quite does enough to make him a fully rounded character, and that’s through no fault of Ward, who gives a sensitive performance.

Colman also brings her A-game (although, when does she not?) to Hilary, a character whose temperament and moods are dictated by forces out of her conscious control. The Oscar winner is equally enthralling in the intense moments as she is in the quiet, banal ones.

Reznor and Ross’ score is effective, and Deakins’ cinematography is, expectedly, beautiful. The man knows exactly what to do with light and how frame a scene.

The film does a lot of things well, but it never sparks. There’s no verve or vivacity. It merely plods along.

Unlike a beam of light, there’s nothing magical about Empire of Light’s ephemerality. It’s just forgettable.

Rating: 2.5/5

Empire of Light is in cinemas now