Lovers Rock (2020 film)
| Lovers Rock | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Steve McQueen |
| Screenplay by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Shabier Kirchner |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Mica Levi |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | |
Release dates |
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Running time | 68 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
Lovers Rock is a 2020 romance film directed by Steve McQueen and co-written by McQueen and Courttia Newland. It stars Micheal Ward and Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn as two lovers who meet at a reggae house party in 1980 in West London.[1] The film was released as part of the anthology series Small Axe on BBC One on 22 November 2020 and Amazon Prime Video on 27 November 2020. It premiered as an opening film at the 58th New York Film Festival on 24 September 2020.
Cast
- Micheal Ward as Franklyn Cooper
- Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn as Martha Trenton
- Kedar Williams-Stirling as Clifton
- Shaniqua Okwok as Patty
- Ellis George as Cynthia
- Francis Lovehall as Reggie
- Daniel Francis-Swaby as Bammy
- Alexander James-Blake as Parker B
- Kadeem Ramsay as Samson
- Romario Simpson as Lizard
- Jermaine Freeman as Skinner
- Marcus Fraser as Jabba
- Saffron Coomber as Grace
- Frankie Fox as Eddie Marks
- Dennis Bovell as Milton
Release
The film was selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival alongside Mangrove, but the Festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The film later premiered at the 2020 New York Film Festival, which was held virtually, alongside Mangrove and Red, White and Blue.[3][4] It screened at the 64th BFI London Film Festival on 18 October 2020.[5] It premiered on BBC One and became available for streaming on BBC iPlayer in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2020,[1] and became available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video in the United States on 20 November.[6]
Reception
Critical response
Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 95 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."[7] On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 98% based on 103 reviews, with an average rating of 8.79/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "A singular viewing experience that perfectly captures a moment in time, Lovers Rock is a lovingly-crafted ode to Black joy."[8]
Angelica Bastién of Vulture.com called Lovers Rock "undoubtedly one of the best movies of the year...a transfixing romance not just between the two characters at its center but one about the beauty of the human body, the succor of an energetic party, and the possibility in the hush of a night."[9]
Top ten lists
The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of best films from 2020.[10]
- 1st – Ty Burr, The Boston Globe
- 1st – Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
- 1st – CineVue
- 1st – Consequence of Sound
- 1st – Joshua Brunsting, CriterionCast
- 1st – Nick Chen, Dazed
- 1st – Adam Kempenaar, Filmspotting
- 1st – Josh Larsen, Filmspotting
- 1st – Sean Fennessey and Adam Nayman, The Ringer (with Mangrove)
- 1st – Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com
- 1st – Matt Fagerholm, RogerEbert.com
- 1st – Fionnuala Halligan, Screen Daily
- 1st – Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture
- 2nd – David Sims, The Atlantic
- 2nd – Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage
- 2nd – Cary Darling, Houston Chronicle
- 2nd – Eric Kohn, IndieWire
- 2nd – Radheyan Simonpillai, NOW (Toronto)
- 2nd – Tomris Laffly, RogerEbert.com
- 2nd – David Fear, Rolling Stone
- 2nd – Christopher Gray, Slant
- 2nd – Alison Willmore, Vulture
- 2nd – Jordan Ruimy, World of Reel
- 3rd – Robbie Collin, The Daily Telegraph
- 3rd – Peter Travers, ABC News/Good Morning America
- 3rd – Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press
- 3rd – Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
- 3rd – Alan Zilberman, Brightest Young Things
- 3rd – George Elkind, Detroit Metro Times
- 3rd – Ken Bakely, Film Pulse
- 3rd – Odie Henderson, RogerEbert.com
- 3rd – Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
- 3rd – Jonathan Romney, Screen Daily
- 3rd – Screen Slate
- 3rd – Pat Brown, Slant
- 3rd – Devindra Hardawar, /Film
- 3rd – Peter Howell, Toronto Star
- 3rd – Asher Luberto, Under the Radar
- 3rd – Alissa Wilkinson, Vox
- 4th – Matt Goldberg, Collider
- 4th – Scott Tobias, Miscellaneous/Unaffiliated
- 4th – Kevin Ritchie, NOW (Toronto)
- 4th – Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com
- 4th – Peter Sobczynski, RogerEbert.com
- 4th – Allan Hunter, Screen Daily
- 4th – Keith Watson, Slant
- 5th – Adam Chitwood, Collider
- 5th – Barry Hertz, The Globe and Mail
- 5th – In Review Online
- 5th – Clarisse Loughrey, The Independent
- 5th – Angie Han, Mashable
- 5th – Samuel R. Murrian, Parade
- 5th – Nick Allen, RogerEbert.com
- 5th – Scout Tafoya, RogerEbert.com
- 5th – Steven Scaife, Slant
- 5th – Stephanie Zacharek, Time
- 6th – Charles Bramesco, A.V. Club
- 6th – Noel Murray, A.V. Club
- 6th – Vikram Murthi, A.V. Club
- 6th – Katie Rife, A.V. Club
- 6th – Marlow Stern, Daily Beast
- 6th – Blake Crane, Film Pulse
- 6th – Jonah Koslofsky, RogerEbert.com
- 7th – Jenny Nulf, Austin Chronicle
- 7th – Empire
- 7th – Max O'Connell, RogerEbert.com
- 7th – K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone
- 7th – Derke Smith, Slant
- 7th – TimeOut
- 8th – A.A. Dowd, A.V. Club
- 8th – Anne Thompson, IndieWire
- 8th – A. O. Scott, The New York Times
- 8th – Richard Brody, The New Yorker
- 8th – Paste
- 8th – The Playlist
- 8th – Brendan Hodges, RogerEbert.com
- 8th – Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
- 8th – Tim Grierson, Screen Daily
- 8th – Hoai-Tran Bui, /Film
- 9th – Mike D'Angelo, A.V. Club
- 9th – Max Weiss, Baltimore Magazine
- 9th – Zhuo-Ning Su, The Film Stage
- 9th – David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
- 9th – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
- 10th – David Morgan, CBS News
- 10th – Matt Rooney, JoBlo
- 10th – ScreenAnarchy
- 10th – Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
Top 10 lists (not ranked)
- Steve Erickson, Gay City News
- Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
- Sheila O'Malley, RogerEbert.com
- Joshua Rivera, The Verge
- Sean Burns, WBUR/The ARTery
References
- ^ a b "Small Axe - Lovers Rock". BBC.com Media Centre. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Scott, Sheena. "'Small Axe': 5 Films On Black British Culture Coming To Amazon Prime". Forbes. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
- ^ Chang, Justin (12 October 2020). "Even from home, this year's New York Film Festival was a virtual celebration of cinema's power". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Fleming Jr., Mike (3 August 2020). "New York Film Festival Sets Steve McQueen's 'Lovers Rock' For Opening Night; Drive-Ins, Virtual Showings To Supplement Possible Lincoln Center Screenings". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
- ^ Ritman, Alex (23 September 2020). "Steve McQueen's 'Lovers Rock' Added to London Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
- ^ Wilkinson, Alissa (19 November 2020). "A guide to Steve McQueen's Small Axe, the greatest film series you'll see this year". Vox. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
- ^ "Lovers Rock Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Lovers Rock (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Angelica Jade Bastién (27 November 2020). "Small Axe Is a Revelation". Vulture.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ Dietz, Jason (9 January 2020). "Best of 2020: Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
External links
