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Ray & Liz

2018

Richard Billingham

Tony Way, Ella Smith, Justin Salinger, Sam Gittins ...

6.5

457

Drama On the outskirts of Birmingham and the margins of society, the Billingham family perform extreme rituals and break social taboos as they muddle through a life decided by factors beyond their control. Based on director and photographer Richard Billingham’s memories, the film focuses on his parents Ray and Liz, their relationship and its impact on Richard and his younger brother Jason as they grow up in a Black Country council flat.

	Author	Review
United States	Leslie Felperin The Hollywood Reporter	"An intensely observed narrative feature (...) There is a palpable sense of affection and respect for the subjects"	POS
United States	Guy Lodge Variety	"A rare and remarkable cine-memoir (...) 'Ray & Liz' is formally arresting and rigorous, though not at the expense of its direct emotional force"	POS
United States	Glenn Kenny The New York Times	"Performed with absolute commitment by its cast (...) 'Ray & Liz' is a quietly harrowing movie."	POS
United States	Nell Minow rogerebert.com	"A brutal film about brutality. With its very tamped-down emotion, Billingham's decision not to attempt insight or empathy is the most telling display of the consequences of his story (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Paul O'Callaghan Slant	"A richly evocative portrait of working-class life in the British Midlands (...) A thrillingly fresh riff on kitchen-sink drama tropes"	POS
United States	Rory O'Connor The Film Stage	"All of this style is not without substance (...) Cinematographer Daniel Landin ('Under the Skin') consistently focuses on small details with the kind of fascination one associates with a child’s-eye view"	POS
United Kingdom	Allan Hunter Screendaily	"Richard Billingham brings a distinctive sensibility (...) A beautifully understated, heart melting performance from Joshua Millard Lloyd is a stand out"	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"The whole film is like an incomplete fragment, intriguing if frustrating (...) This is a tough film to watch, at once claustrophobic and open-ended or unfinished, leaving the audience with questions (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Robbie Collin Telegraph	"A darkly funny portrait of a Britain that shouldn’t exist (...) These tales are less notable for their dramatic shape than Billingham’s magpie’s eye for telling details within them (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Geoffrey Macnab The Independent	"The film doesn’t have much of a storyline but is unexpectedly moving and graceful in its depiction of this ill-fated family (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
	Kaleem Aftab Cineuropa	"It’s an austere, autobiographical movie full of good performances (...) but the pacing is sometimes wanting, and outside of Ray and Liz, the characters don’t manage to stick"	NEU

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