Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

Drama, Romance, Biography | 2017 | R. 1hr 45min
CAST: Annette Bening, Jamie Bell, Vanessa Redgrave, Julie Walters, Kenneth Cranham, Stephen Graham, Frances Barber, Leanne Best DIRECTOR: Paul McGuigan CAPTIONED ON WEDNESDAYS | ENDS 3/22

Based on Peter Turner's memoir, the film follows the playful but passionate relationship between Turner (Bell) and the eccentric Academy Award (R)-winning actress Gloria Grahame (Bening) in 1978 Liverpool. What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme fatale and her young lover quickly grows into a deeper relationship, with Turner being the person Gloria turns to for comfort. Their passion and lust for life is tested to the limits by events beyond their control.

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Reviews

Despite a few quibbles that viewers may have, there is no denying the emotional force that this film develops, and for that, we can credit talented filmmakers and two stars working at the height of their powers.

Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter

These are full-bodied performances, with Peter's ardency and Gloria's kittenishness signaled in a hungry look, a wag of the eyebrows. Fittingly, the film's best scene needs no words.

Kimberley Jones, Austin Chronicle

What an astounding actress Annette Bening is. And she's at her very best playing Gloria Grahame, a screen siren of the 1940s and 1950s, who faced a health crisis in her final days with the help of a new love (a terrific Jamie Bell).

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone