EIFF 2015: Beyond the Lights
Rising superstar Noni (Belle’s Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is feeling the pressures of fame and finds herself on the literal edge, almost perishing in a suicide jump attempt until young cop Kaz (Nate Parker) saves her. The unusual pair – Rihanna-esque pop star and aspiring politician – form a friendship and gradual romance, which results in Noni veering off the life plan her manager-mother (Minnie Driver) has sculpted for her.
Beyond the Lights, from Love & Basketball director Gina Prince-Bythewood, is the type of mainstream, commercial romance that’s increasingly rare: one that, despite skirting clichés, never panders or underestimates its audience, never makes its obstacles to its stars’ romance seem implausible or arbitrary, and never loses sight of actual tangible pain and hope in its beautifully portrayed characters.
It’s a classic melodrama made contemporary, but one that never feels forced. Despite dealing with the flashy world of pop stardom and wish fulfilment, it doesn’t feel hokey, while its excursions into themes of self-worth, depression, false idol imagery, and female empowerment never feel undercooked.
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Beyond the Lights has its UK premiere at EIFF 2015, and will also be released on DVD by Universal Pictures UK on 29 Jun
22 Jun, 6.10pm, Cineworld
24 Jun, 8.40pm, Cineworld http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/films/2015/beyond-the-lights