Benjamin

Name: Benjamin
Director: Simon Amstell
Released: 2019

Simon Amstell

2019

Synopsis

Benjamin, a rising star filmmaker, is on the brink of premiering his difficult second film ’No Self' at the London Film Festival when Billie, his hard drinking publicist, introduces him to a mesmeric French musician called Noah.

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Recommendations

80
Empire
Part film industry satire, part winning love story, Benjamin is low-key and shambling but emerges funny, bittersweet and affecting.
80
The Guardian
Amstell creates a detailed ecosystem of in-jokes from the worlds of media and film, and from that cynical context he conjures a miraculously heartfelt love story, sweet and poignant in all its awkwardness.
80
The Observer (UK)
The jokes are brutal and very funny, with Benjamin the butt of most of them.
80
Film Threat
The story is feather-light, but the pain, either felt or indirectly caused by Benjamin, can be harrowingly authentic. We want to simultaneously hug him for reassurance and physically restrain him to keep from the next nerve-induced verbal volcano.
75
Movie Nation
Benjamin is a brief, brisk movie that somehow manages to squeeze in seven characters of consequence, tell an amusing and romantic story, and still find the time to dip its toes into something darker.
70
Variety
Benjamin wrings a lot of warmly perceptive, occasionally acidic humor. The film might be termed a romantic comedy, though the will-they-won’t-they dynamic that usually powers the genre feels beside the point here.
60
CineVue
Benjamin is a charming metropolitan rom-com which is ultimately too lightweight to escape the gravity of its influences.
60
Time Out
It is an unusual mix of intense, angsty character-driven drama and laugh-out-loud jokes about the film industry. It’ll be best enjoyed by those who live in the milieu it depicts, along with fans of Amstell’s bittersweet wit – and there’s probably overlap between the two.