Empire of Light
Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: December 9, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 48 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
23
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Vanity FairRichard LawsonSep 30, 2022
Whatever Mendes’s connection to the material, he’s made something humane and nourishing, a picture of rare thoughtfulness and decency. Read full review
88
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenDec 15, 2022
It’s a miracle it all works—and it works wonderfully, thanks mostly to Mendes’ script and his casting of Olivia Colman. Read full review
88
Washington PostAnn HornadayDec 7, 2022
Olivia Colman delivers an alternately delicate and ferocious performance as a cinema manager in Empire of Light, a tender, tear-soaked valentine to the ineffable joys of moviegoing. Read full review
83
UproxxVince ManciniDec 14, 2022
Empire of Light, by and large, strikes me as one of those stories that maybe started out as a bit of a corny idea, the kernel of it something like this monologue, but in the course of writing it, the characters became real enough that they sort of took on a life of their own. Which is exactly what’s supposed to happen, at that point you can throw out the initial pitch. Empire of Light creates this beautiful relationship that defies all categorization. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattSep 5, 2022
Colman, her eyes darting between hope and devastation, is so lit-up and specific (and funny, a quality that doesn't seem to get mentioned enough) that she lifts nearly every scene. Read full review
80
Film ThreatAlex SavelievDec 13, 2022
Mendes finishes things on a graceful, open-ended note. He adeptly handles unabashed romanticism and raw grief, optimism and hopelessness, significantly aided by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor’s soft piano score. The music peaks during the film’s most fervent moments, both violent (a protest during the climax) and tender (our heroes climaxing in each other’s embrace). Read full review
80
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganSep 13, 2022
Empire Of Light is a sentimental film – the piano-heavy score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross advertises that from the opening bars – but its message of love, tolerance and finding family wherever you can should make an impact in darkened rooms wherever it plays. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 12, 2022
Empire of Light is a sweet, heartfelt, humane movie, which doesn’t shy away from the brutality and the racism that was happening in the streets outside the cinema. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 4, 2022
In the era when content is king, Sam Mendes still believes in moving pictures. Empire of Light is the proof. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldDec 8, 2022
Colman, on whose face the film frequently rests (does anyone in cinema have a more open, guileless smile?), quietly holds the drama in her hands. Her Hilary is fragile, yet touchingly determined to will herself toward the light. Read full review
75
Original-CinThom ErnstDec 7, 2022
It’s possible to leave the theatre unaffected only to look back at Empire of Light with affection. And it’s the movie’s ability to linger unnoticed until surfacing with a revised and unexpected understanding that is at the heart of movie magic. Read full review
75
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodSep 4, 2022
Despite Deakins and Mendes’ shorthand in framing gorgeous images, there are moments, especially in the second act, where the film could simply use a bit more energy. Luckily, for Mendes, Colman provides it soon after and when the movie needs it most. Read full review
72
Paste MagazineAurora AmidonDec 8, 2022
By the end of Light, Mendes has taken his message a little too literally. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenSep 4, 2022
Nothing in the film has a fraction of the dramatic impact of the emotional roller-coaster Colman’s performance embodies. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJack SmartDec 8, 2022
Mendes the first-time solo writer juggles too many disparate story elements, and the nagging sense they should cohere makes it all the more perplexing that they don’t. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenDec 8, 2022
We may come to Empire of Light like moths to a flame but, ultimately, the film’s glow lacks incandescence. Read full review
63
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottDec 14, 2022
It’s beautiful, but it begins to fade, and fast — until there’s little, if anything worth remembering. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzDec 9, 2022
Empire of Light never entirely coheres, but it's worth seeing for the power of Colman's lead performance and the expertly judged backup acting. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 7, 2022
Empire of Light offers an appetizer of nostalgia for those who remember theaters during the early 1980s but the main course isn’t the easiest to digest, despite several strong performances. Read full review
63
The Associated PressLindsey BahrDec 7, 2022
Empire of Light may be a love letter to the movies, but it’s a sad one in which one of the parties, the local, independent movie theater, is fading away and possibly already gone. Read full review
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