Guest of Honour, 2019.
Directed by Atom Egoyan
Starring David Thewlis, Laysla De Oliveira, Luke Wilson, Rossif Sutherland, Arsinée Khanjian and Alexandre Bourgeois
SYNOPSIS:
Jim (Thewlis) is a health inspector whose daughter, Veronica (De Oliveira), has recently been convicted of a crime. Although Jim is certain that she isn’t guilty, his efforts to reduce her sentence are hampered by her intransigent refusal to cooperate with him. Despairing, Jim lashes out through his work, pursuing neglectful restaurateurs with a vigour we first assume to be dedication, but soon realize is far more than professional zeal.
In Guest of Honour, director Atom Egoyan uses the story of Jim (Thewlis) and his fraught relationship with daughter Veronica (De Oliveira) to examine the ways one processes grief and memory in this intriguing and character driven tale. The cast is strong with Thewlis giving a performance both humourous and dramatic that is paired well with De Oliveira’s stoic seriousness.
The strongest aspect of the film is Thewlis as Jim, a city health inspector who takes his job quite seriously and even more so after the passing of his wife and incarceration of his daughter. Thewlis is charismatic in the role and balances Jim’s state of mind fairly well, displaying his growing grief and frustration with ease. There’s a certain amount of humour in how seriously he takes his work, yet at no point does he seem unreasonable when he explains why he’s so strenuous with his work and throws himself into it more to escape his grief.
By contrast, Oliveira’s Veronica is much less personable by design throughout most of the film. Content to be in prison for a crime she may or may not have committed, Oliveira showcases how much Veronica has shut down well, burying herself in her own grief, guilt and anger. She actually gets quite a lot of room to explore Veronica as she is shown at three different points of time – before, during and after her incarceration – where she is fairly different at each point. Whether it’s Veronica’s animated movements conducting music or her simmering rage at her father, Oliveira emotes nicely with just her expressions.
Guest of Honour flows pretty well, even with its non-linear story. Egoyan balances the different timelines and bounces back-and-forth at the necessary points, slowly pulling back the complicated layers to the characters’ past and their relationships at a pace that keeps things interesting. The film’s score is almost a character unto itself while a lot of the cinematography is flashy with its colours and style, though it can feel a bit self-indulgent, particularly in its first act. While Thewlis and Oliveira are the standouts, the supporting cast don’t have too much to do as Luke Wilson is relegated to scenes only with Oliveira and two significant characters to their past aren’t quite explored as well as they could have been. Due to the supporting characters being on the sidelines, there’s a certain lack of closure regarding a few of them given their significance to Jim and Veronica.
Nevertheless, Guest of Honour is an interesting look at how people cope with grief differently and the power memories can have shaping people. Thewlis and Oliveira give strong performances that contrast each other and keeps the focus on them as more is revealed about their fractured relationship. It would have been nice to have seen more of the supporting characters though, but Egoyan’s story still flows fairly well. His examination of the film’s themes coupled with Thewlis and Oliveira’s performances makes Guest of Honour an intriguing viewing.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
