Hilary goes about her business, does sexual favors for the boss in his office, and eats dinner alone at home. Things change when a young black man, Stephen, is hired at the Empire. Hilary takes Stephen under her wing and shows him interesting things about the theatre and its employees. When they encounter a hurt bird, Stephen impresses Hillary with his kindness in helping the bird to fly again. Hilary and Stephen open their hearts to each other. However, it isn’t long before Hilary’s darker issues surface once more.

No one is going to give you the life you want, you must go out and get it.

This tender, inspiring, and compassionate film takes us to Britain in the 1980s. Star actors include Olivia Colman, Michael Ward, and Colin Firth, and the cinematographer Roger Deakins. Director Sam Mendes, Colman, and Deakins were present at this Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was a personal film for Mendes whose mother had “mental trouble.” Deakins added that one of her good qualities of Mendes is that he likes to make films about real people. One of the main themes of the film is that each person has pain that they deal with. Ask about people, check on them, and don’t turn your back on anyone.

Colman Will Take Your Breath Away

Olivia Colman is the shift manager of the Empire movie theatre (the exteriors are taken off the Dreamland in Margate) in 1980. It’s a first-run theatre that is about to have the Southeast England premiere of CHARIOTS OF FIRE. Miss Colman is a mess. She’s on Lithium for the manic-depressive syndrome, conducting an affair with married manager Colin Firth, and her life is reduced to a bare minimum of routine. The new hire Micheal Ward shows up and gradually Miss Colman wakes up…. and while she goes off her meds and has a meltdown, her coworkers are revealed.

It’s a long, slow slog of a year for everyone — except for Firth, who gets his comeuppance in the second act — as Miss Colman and Ward are knocked down and try to pick themselves up again and find it is evil in the world, but compassion in the cinema: at least the staff of the Empire, where no one ever looks at a movie.

Miss Colman gives a bravura performance with a large assortment of effects as she takes her Lithium, goes off her lithium, drinks, and so forth. But Tom Brooke is outstanding as her coworker who sees everything and Toby Jones is always a worthwhile addition to any movie, as the projectionist who sees what he does as a beam of light in the darkness.

Mendes chooses a restrained presentation, and though many of us believe in that feeling of elation associated with movies, no one believes movie magic is a cure for anything as serious as mental illness or racism. There are some terrific individual scenes that work better than the movie as a whole, but it’s unclear whether the film needed to be shorter, longer or just better constructed.