Hilary runs a movie theater by the sea. Once a magnificent movie theater with several screens and a dance hall overlooking the sea, today there is only one screen left, albeit a large one. Hilary and her colleagues are sprucing up the theater for the local premiere of Chariots of Fire. Outside, however, the town is decaying, the number of right-wing extremists is on the rise, and Stephen is regularly harassed by skinheads.
“[The story] was born in a time of self-examination and reflection. The memories that bubbled to the surface were memories from the early 80s to the present day. It was memories of growing up with a family history of mental illness and memories of my own formative teenage years, shaping my own racial politics during a time of great riotous racial politics that felt not dissimilar to some of the things we do through the world today also. All of these things felt both contemporary and current. I hope that when the audience sees the film, it feels like it did then, but also feels like it does now.”
Sam Mendes