THE CHORAL at PALACE CINEMAS 2025 RUSSELL HOBBS BRITISH FILM FESTIVAL
Triumph of Harmony Over Discord, Alan Bennett’s “THE CHORAL” is a Masterpiece of Compassion and Wit. All this now in 2025, in this era where our cinema movies are often dominated by the bombastic and the fleeting, the quiet, steadfast arrival of a new Alan Bennett screenplay, feels less like a release, and more like a national event. At ninety-one years young, Britain’s most beloved chronicler of human foibles and social intricacies has returned with his eighth screenplay, THE CHORAL. Directed by his long-time collaborator, Sir Nicholas Hytner, this film is not merely a period drama, because it is a profound, touching, funny, compassionate, and surprising symphony of English life, set against the grim percussion of the Great War. This is a masterpiece, a work of such layered perfection and emotional resonance, that it reaffirms the enduring power of British Cinema at its very finest. Highly Recommended. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Ramsden in the year 1916, THE CHORAL immediately establishes its central, heartbreaking conflict. The war, that insatiable “great leveller” as one character aptly describes it, has cast its long and very draining shadow over every aspect of life. The local choral society, a bastion of community pride and civic routine, is crumbling. Its ranks, that were always filled with robust male voices, have been decimated by the war trenches of the Somme. The society’s fastidious mill-owner chairman, Duxbury (a wonderfully pompous Roger Allam), is less concerned with geopolitical strife, than with the very practical problem of filling the tenor and bass sections for their upcoming performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion. His predicament escalates from dire to impossible when the chorus master himself decides to do his patriotic duty and enlists, leaving the ensemble not just wanting, but utterly leaderless.
The solution, fraught with unspoken perils, arrives in the form of Dr Henry Guthrie, played with a sublime, soulful intensity by Ralph Fiennes. Dr Henry Guthrie, is a man out of time and out of place. An academic and a purist, he has spent significant time in Nuremberg, is a devoted scholar of German music, and speaks of Brahms not as an enemy composer, but with the reverence of a privileged acquaintance. His artistic philosophy is his creed, because he believes, with unshakeable conviction, that art—and music in particular, must always transcend the petty, bloody squabbles of nations. In this fictional town, gripped by war fever, this is a dangerously radical position. His quoting of Goethe at an introductory committee meeting, doesn’t just fail to land, it hangs in the air, like an act of cultural sedition.
On its surface, THE CHORAL fits comfortably into a cherished tradition of British Cinema underdog stories, sitting in that cosy drawer of cinema that houses the music driven stories like – Military Wives, Brassed Off, Song for Marion. All about a plucky group of amateurs finding solace and purpose in song. But to dismiss it as such would be to profoundly misunderstand Bennett and Hytner’s ambition. This is a film that uses the familiar framework of the community-chorus narrative to explore the most profound questions of art, identity, loyalty, and love in a time of collective madness. The streets of Ramsden, filmed with picture-postcard perfection in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Saltaire, that may look like they have been teleported from a Christmas card, but Bennett ensures we are never allowed to settle into a comfortable nostalgia. The underlying baleful fabric of the “social order” is more than subliminally present; it is the very engine of the drama.
This tension is masterfully established from the very first frames. The film opens with the stark, solitary legend ‘1916’ against a black screen. We are then presented with a breathtaking, wide-shot of a Yorkshire hilltop. Slowly, ominously, solitary figures crest the horizon, their silhouettes stark against the grey sky. Our cinematic lexicon primes us for the horror of the trenches, for the slow march of soldiers towards no-man’s-land. The revelation, then, is both a relief and a clever narrative feint: these men are part of a beating line on a genteel pheasant shoot. We are introduced to two young men, Lofty (Oliver Briscombe) and Ellis (Taylor Uttley), still too young for the front, their innocence soon to be compromised. Lofty’s job as a postman is to deliver the War Office telegrams, a task that transforms him from a boy into a herald of death. Ellis, in a moment of heartbreaking naivety, sees this grim duty as a romantic opportunity to get closer to the young women in the town. This opening sequence, wordless in its central action, is a masterclass in visual storytelling from Hytner and cinematographer Mike Eley, imprinting an ominous note that underscores the entire film.
At the heart of this maelstrom stands Ralph Fiennes’s performance as Dr Henry Guthie, a performance of such quiet power plus profound dignity, that it deserves to be considered among his very best. Ralph Fiennes has always possessed a unique ability to convey a universe of thought and feeling with the slightest flicker of his eyes, and here he turns the reaction shot into a high art form. His Dr Henry Guthie, is a man besieged, not by external forces alone, but by the internal conflict between his artistic ideals and the ugly, parochial reality he must navigate. He is tortured, noble, and possesses several uncomfortable secrets tucked tightly under his waistcoat. His relationship with his pianist, the delicate and devoted Horner (a beautifully nuanced Robert Emms), is a study in unspoken affection and shared vulnerability. In one of the film’s most tender and witty scenes, the two men discuss matters of unspeakable affection while standing, with perfect English awkwardness, whilst standing directly in front of the conspicuously named QUEENS HOTEL. It is a moment of pure Bennett genius, simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking, fully revealing a world of marginalised love, through subtext and societal constraint.
The opposition that Dr Henry Guthie faces is not a monolithic, mustache-twirling villainy, but something far more insidious and authentic. It is the casual, unthinking prejudice of the “social order.” When children pelt him with rocks in the street, the question hangs painfully in the air: is it because of his German sympathies, or is it because of the “other things” that Duxbury alludes to with a knowing, dismissive glance? Bennett and Hytner refuse to spoon-feed their audience. Nothing is overstated. The film’s exploration of its sexual marginalia is handled with a delicate, period-appropriate subtlety that trusts the viewer to read between the lines. This is not a film about grand, dramatic coming-outs or violent confrontations; it is about the daily, grinding pressure of living a life, that must be concealed, a pressure that Ralph Fiennes conveys in every taut muscle of his face and every measured, careful word.
As Guthrie struggles to assemble his oratorio, the film blossoms into a rich tapestry of a community in microcosm. The roster of familiar British faces is a veritable who’s who of character acting excellence, and each is given their moment to shine by Bennett’s peerless writing. Running a delightful gamut from A to A, we have Mark Addy as a pragmatic, salt-of-the-earth butcher whose bass voice is as substantial as his frame, and Alun Armstrong as a veteran chorister whose loyalty is torn between tradition and his new conductor’s vision. Lyndsey Marshal and Ron Cook provide further texture as townsfolk whose lives are subtly intertwined with the fate of THE CHORAL society. And in a cameo that is as unforgettable as it is brief, Simon Russell Beale appears as a local vicar, delivering a sermon on the nature of sacrifice that is both moving and deeply ambiguous, laden with Bennett’s signature, subversive wit.
A particular standout, and one of the film’s most luminous discoveries, is Amara Okereke as Mary, a Salvation Army officer. Her character introduces a quietly revolutionary strand to the narrative, challenging the established order not through political rhetoric, but through the sheer, undeniable power of her God-given talent. When she finally opens her mouth to sing, the effect is transcendent; hers is a voice of an angel, pure and clarion, that seems to momentarily silence the war itself. Her presence, and Guthrie’s recognition of her talent, becomes a quiet act of rebellion against the class and gender constraints of the time.
The central musical dilemma, the impossibility of performing Bach in 1916, forces a pivot that becomes the film’s thrilling climax. If German music is off the table, then perhaps a homegrown hero can provide the solution: Elgar and his monumental oratorio, THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. This shift in repertoire is not a compromise, but a strategic masterstroke, allowing the film to explore another facet of Englishness, the spiritual and metaphysical turmoil so powerfully rendered in Elgar’s music. The search for a suitable ‘Gerontius’ becomes a unifying quest, pulling together this disparate bunch of people in a cause greater than themselves. George Fenton’s score, which has subtly woven period-appropriate melodies and original themes throughout, here rises magnificently to support the Elgar, the music swelling to fill the emotional landscape of the characters’ lives.
The final act, building towards the performance of THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS, is a tour de force of editing by Tariq Anwar and direction by Hytner. They interweave the soaring music with the parallel narratives of the town, such as a telegram delivered, a secret glance shared, a personal sacrifice made. There are “significant elephants in the room”, the war, the hidden loves, the social injustices, that are not explicitly resolved with neat, sentimental bows. Instead, they are absorbed into the music. In the shared act of creation, in the harmony of voices raised together, these characters find a temporary, glorious respite from the discord of their world. A powerful testament to the film’s central thesis, that art does not exist in a vacuum, but is a vital, necessary force that can, even for a moment, heal and unite.
THE CHORAL is a film of impeccable craft. Peter Francis’s production design is immaculate, creating a world that feels both authentically lived-in and pictorially beautiful. Jenny Beavan’s costumes tell their own stories, from the rough-spun wool of the working class to the precise, slightly frayed elegance of Dr Henry Guthrie’s wardrobe. The sound design by Rob Turner is a character in itself, beautifully balancing the intimate rustle of a whispered conversation with the overwhelming, collective power of THE CHORAL performance.
We are treated to a film, that makes one truly thankful to sit in a cinema. THE CHORAL is such a film. It is a work of profound intelligence, deep humanity, and exquisite beauty. In Alan Bennett, we have a national treasure who, in his tenth decade, has lost none of his acerbic wit, his lightness of touch, or his unparalleled ability to make you laugh, as he breaks your heart.
In Nicholas Hytner, we have the perfect cinematic interpreter, a director who understands that the power of Bennett’s words lies in their quiet delivery, and their seismic emotional impact. And in Ralph Fiennes and his magnificent ensemble cast, they have a cast that delivers every note, both spoken and sung, to perfection.
THE CHORAL is more than just a movie, it is a benediction. It leaves its audience not with a sense of despair for the follies of the past, but with many glimmers of new hope, for the redemptive power of art and community. THE CHORAL makes one feel, profoundly and movingly, grateful, with all the complicated, beautiful, and bittersweet weight that the plot carries. An unmissable, triumphant masterpiece, in a fast-paced 112 minutes.
STARRING – Ralph Fiennes, Roger Allam, Mark Addy, Alun Armstrong, Robert Emms, Lyndsey Marshal, Ron Cook, Amara Okereke, Emily Fairn, Shaun Thomas, Jacob Dudman, Oliver Briscombe, Taylor Uttley, Simon Russell Beale, Angela Curran, Reuben Bainbridge, Christopher Dean.
Director = Nicholas Hytner, Pro Kevin Loader, Nicholas Hytner and Damian Jones, Screenplay = Alan Bennett, Ph Mike Eley, Pro Des Peter Francis, Ed Tariq Anwar, Music = George Fenton, Costumes = Jenny Beavan, Sound = Rob Turner.
From 5th November 2025, the 2025 Russell Hobbs British Film Festival, presented by Palace, will open in cities across the country, screening at Palace Cinemas, Palace Nova and Luna Palace Cinemas. This year’s sensational lineup showcases British brilliance at its best with hotly anticipated new releases, documentaries and retrospectives.
Opening the festival is the Australian Premiere of THE CHORAL, a sweeping wartime drama with a stellar cast led by Ralph Fiennes, and directed by Nicholas Hytner. As a group of choralists discover the joys of singing, the young male members must also come to terms with their imminent conscription into the army. Exploring humour and humanity at the heart of a community facing an uncertain future, the film also stars Roger Allam, Mark Addy and Amara Okereke.
Oliver Hermanus’ THE HISTORY OF SOUND, is The Special Presentation, starring an electric Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor. A decade spanning romance centered around the power of music, this gorgeous period drama, is a film of lingering melancholic beauty.
Marking the highly anticipated return to the screen of Daniel Day-Lewis, ANEMONE is this year’s Festival Centrepiece. Heralding the directorial debut of son Ronan Day-Lewis, with whom Daniel Day-Lewis co-wrote the script, ANEMONE also features superb performances from Sean Bean and Samantha Morton. The film explores the complex and profound ties that exist between brothers, fathers, and sons.
ANNE HATHAWAY (1556 until 6th August 1623) was the wife of William Shakespeare, an English poet, playwright and actor. They were married in 1582, when ANNE HATHAWAY was pregnant at 26 years old, and William Shakespeare was 18 years old. Closing the festival is Oscar winner Chloé Zhao’s (Nomadland, The Rider) radiant adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel HAMNET, starring Jessie Buckley as AGNES SHAKESPEARE and Paul Mescal as WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. Sensitively observed, and magnificently crafted tale about the complexities of love, and the healing power of art with creativity, fully setting the stage for the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, HAMLET. Despite calling ANNE HATHAWAY, by the just very incorrect name of AGNES SHAKESPEARE.
The film festival is delighted to once again welcome naming partner Russell Hobbs — the iconically British appliance brand that’s been adding style, charm, and a proper cup of tea to everyday life since 1952. Dean Hammerton, Marketing Manager, Asia Pacific, says “Thrilled to be back for another year as naming partner for the Russell Hobbs British Film Festival. Always embracing that classic British mix of innovation, tradition, and a dash of style, and those values do align beautifully, with the films being showcased. A real pleasure to once again celebrate the best of British culture, on screen and beyond.”
A standout selection of real-life stories feature in this year’s lineup profiling iconic British identities including John Cleese, Twiggy and John Lennon. In what might be his final European tour, JOHN CLEESE PACKS IT IN is a wry, behind-the-scenes portrait of a comedy legend on the road, battling various ailments, chaotic travel, and his own stubborn refusal to stop.
Exploring the final decade in the life of John Lennon, BORROWED TIME – LENNON’S LAST DECADE is a gripping documentary charting Lennon’s turbulent post-Beatles years of art, activism, and reinvention. Evolving beyond the Beatles, he created music and stood at the forefront of anti-war protests that would make him one of the most influential pop culture icons of all time.
In celebrated documentary TWIGGY, the meteoric rise of the 1960s style icon—bold, sharp, and unforgettable – is explored. The film showcases the fashion, fame, and fearless individuality of Twiggy, during a culturally significant period of British history.
To complement the documentary, Ken Russell’s THE BOY FRIEND (1971), Twiggy’s first film role, also features in this year’s festival. Bursting with glitz, glamour, and cheeky charm, Twiggy shines as an understudy turned star in this dazzling, tap-dancing love letter to 1920s musicals.
From the director of BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, Gurinda Chadha, comes the Australian premiere of CHRISTMAS KARMA, based on the classic Dickens story A Christmas Carol. In Chadha’s Bollywood style musical adaptation, the all-star cast including Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, Eva Longoria and Boy George, bring the story to life in a modern day, diverse London.
I SWEAR is Kirk Jones’s moving, funny and fierce film about John Davidson, the man who taught Britain about Tourette, recently premiered to rave reviews at the latest Toronto International Film Festival. I SWEAR is a biographical comedy/drama directed, written and produced by Kirk Jones. Starring Robert Aramayo, Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson and Peter Mullan. Based on the true story of John Davidson, who was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome at a time when it was barely identifiable, the film is a comedic and moving story of his journey.
A riotous spoof of period drama mixing forbidden romance, aristocratic scandals, and razor-sharp wit, FACKHAM HALL premieres at selected sessions, just prior to the official release in the UK. With an all-star cast and Jimmy Carr’s absurdist flair, the film skewers tradition while serving nonstop laughs and intrigue.
Actor Harris Dickinson’s searing directorial debut URCHIN follows Mike, sleeping rough on the streets, in his fight for redemption, starring an incredible Frank Dillane in the lead role. Highly lauded at the 2025 Cannes International Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Film and Best Actor prizes. Harrison Dickinson’s directorial debut is deeply rooted in humane authenticity.
The majestic drama THE NORTH, has been described as the “ultimate hiking film”. It is a tale of two old friends who embark on a 600-kilometre journey through the Scottish Highlands, seeking to reconnect not only with nature but with each other and the parts of themselves they have lost.
In icy suspense thriller, DEAD OF WINTER, British icon Emma Thompson plays Barb, a woman travelling alone through snowbound northern Minnesota. Barb interrupts the kidnapping of a teenage girl, and hours from the nearest town and with no phone service, realises that she is the young girl’s only hope.
MOSS & FREUD is the biopic about the life of era-defining supermodel Kate Moss and her relationship with British artist Lucian Freud. When Freud offered to paint Moss nude during the nine months of her pregnancy in 2002, it prompted her to embark on an intense journey of self-discovery.
Documentary BECOMING HITCHCOCK – THE LEGACY OF BLACKMAIL dives into the groundbreaking 1929 film that launched Hitchcock’s signature style. Also screening is Hitchcock’s thriller BLACKMAIL about a woman who kills a man in self-defence but falls victim to a blackmailer, considered a bridge between the silent era and that of the ‘talkies’.
Another must-see for Hitchcock fans, the retrospective HITCHCOCK: THE BEGINNING featuring ten rarely screened, early silent and talkie films from the 1920s to 1930s from the iconic director including NUMBER 17, the last of the era, CHAMPAGNE, MURDER!, THE SKIN GAME and Hitchcock’s only foray into screenwriting, THE RING.
Set in the Scottish Highlands, GLENROTHAN is a powerful tale of two estranged brothers played by Alan Cumming and Brian Cox, in the much loved actor’s directorial debut.
In a film adapted from an acclaimed novella, THE THING WITH FEATHERS charts the struggle of a young father, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, and his sons after a sudden family loss. As they struggle to hold their world together, they start to experience how love can endure in the strangest, most unexpected forms.
Powerhouse performances from Vicky Krieps, Aidan Gillen and Colm Meaney, RE-CREATION is a razor-sharp courtroom drama. Director Jim Sheridan reimagines a trial (based on a real story) that never happened with questions, guilt, bias and memory at the centre of a tense chamber where truth itself is on trial.
Dev Patel and Rosy McEwen electrify in chilling folk-horror RABBIT TRAP where music, myth, and obsession collide. Filmmaker Bryn Chainey’s debut blurs reality into an eerie, unforgettable nightmare that draws the viewer in and never lets go.
With a brilliant ensemble cast led by enigmatic festival favourite Bill Nighy, & SONS is the story of a world-renowned but reclusive novelist who believing he is about to die, summons his estranged sons to his home. An adaptation of the novel of the same name, the family drama also stars Johnny Flynn, George MacKay, Imelda Staunton and Dominic West.
Stories that focus on the older generation include FOUR MOTHERS, a riotous, heartfelt comedy where one man’s burgeoning career implodes as four eccentric mothers of his friends, off on a trip to a Pride festival, invade his Dublin home; and drama DRAGONFLY, starring Brenda Blethyn and Andrea Riseborough, about a neglected pensioner who finds an ally in a younger neighbour in what has been described as a fierce and wonderfully acted film.
A story of resilience, friendship and hope against an unforgiving system, LOLLIPOP is a raw, heartfelt drama. Starring Posy Sterling as Molly, a mother recently released from prison, her fight to reclaim her children and give them a life she never had is unrelenting.
In contemporary noir thriller with a twist ISLANDS, Sam Riley stars as a tennis coach at a holiday resort who befriends a couple with unnerving results and in WORDS OF WAR, the true story of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who battled for press freedom in Putin’s Russia, is portrayed by an incredible cast including Maxine Peake, James Lawtey, Jason Isaacs (The White Lotus), Ellie Bamber and Ciarán Hinds.
In a special Retrospective entitled BRITISH BRILLIANCE, six iconic British films that have all won Best Picture at the Academy Awards are showcased on the big screen including CHARIOTS OF FIRE, GANDHI, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE ENGLISH PATIENT and from 2010, THE KINGS SPEECH.
Rounding out the superb selection of documentaries is the quirky THE GOLDEN SPURTLE and I AM MARTIN PARR. The contestants of the annual World Porridge Making Championship battle with oats and ladles in a Highland village, celebrating tradition and community in THE GOLDEN SPURTLE; while the playful, provocative portrait I AM MARTIN PARR reveals the iconic British photographer behind the lens and his extraordinary eye on the everyday.
In a celebration of 25 years since its release, BILLY ELLIOT remains a heartwarming tale of grit and grace, following an 11-year-old boy who defies expectations, trading boxing gloves for ballet shoes in a celebration of passion, identity, and the courage to chase dreams.
The Australian premiere of GROW will delight families in an exuberant tale full of giant pumpkins, madcap characters, and a little girl who just might be a pumpkin-growing savant starring Nick Frost, Alan Carr and Jane Horrocks.
The 2025 Russell Hobbs British Film Festival opens on Wednesday 5th November in Sydney, Melbourne, Ballarat, Adelaide, Perth, Byron Bay, Canberra and Brisbane, concluding on Sunday 7th December 2025 in all cities.
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Please visit the Festival website for more information –
https://www.britishfilmfestival.com.au/
Tickets are now on sale –
https://www.britishfilmfestival.com.au/
The Russell Hobbs British Film Festival presented by Palace screens in the following locations from NOV 5 – DEC 7:
Sydney: Palace Norton Street, Palace Moore Park, Chauvel Cinema, Palace Central
