An intense combination of apocalyptic nightmare and family psychodrama. ... A provocative, rigorously composed film that confirms Paxton as a singular talent after a string of award-winning shorts.
A Banquet
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
United Kingdom · 2022
1h 37m
Director Ruth Paxton
Starring Sienna Guillory, Jessica Alexander, Ruby Stokes, Lindsay Duncan
Genre Horror
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In this harrowing psychological thriller, a teenage girl experiences a supernatural enlightenment. Insisting that her body is now in service to a higher power, she refuses to eat, repulsed by the lavish banquets prepared to her by her widowed mother, Holly. Disturbed by her daughter's newfound faith, Holly must confront her own beliefs.
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What are critics saying?
The filmmakers raise some interesting points, but it becomes an exercise in frustration to interpret the calculated connection between disordered eating, the metaphysical, and religious, medieval martyrdom. With nary any tangible scares, or much to truly unnerve or unsettle except from an empathetic humanistic standpoint, this feature-length directorial debut is assured, but far too ambiguous for its own good.
The Film Stage by Jared Mobarak
All four main actors deliver great performances.
The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore
Justin Bull’s screenplay comes up short, failing to adequately capture the depth of its teen’s encounter with the abyss — her anorexia is the aftermath of an apocalyptic revelation — and to integrate it into the more comprehensible domestic tensions that serve as the plotless film’s only framework.
The film rockets toward an ending that’s somehow both sewed right up and blown wide open. Since neither interpretation really satisfies, it dilutes much of the creepy power that has come before. Instead, Bull’s script offers answers no one asked for.
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