Ray & Liz (2019)
88%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: 3 wins & 8 nominations
Ray & Liz takes an unflinching look at lives impacted by poverty whose lingering impact is enhanced by writer-director Richard Billingham’s refusal to indulge in sentimentality
Ray & Liz” is a movie that will make you laugh, cry, and feel all sorts of emotions. It’s a moving portrayal of a family trying to survive in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, and it’s done in a way that’s both beautiful and heartbreaking. The film is gorgeously photographed on 16mm, and the performances are absolutely committed. Even though it’s a tough watch, it’s worth it for the strange tonal nuances that find humor and hope in the midst of terrible sadness. So grab some tissues and get ready for a wild ride with “Ray & Liz.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
KimStim
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Convict Lake, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG for sci-fi action violence, mild language and sensuality
Year of Release
1998
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 48m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United Kingdom
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 10, 2019 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 14, 2020
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Richard Ashton, Michelle Bonnard, James Eeles, Sam Gittins, James Hinton, Andrew Jefferson-Tierney, directed by Richard Billingham, written by Richard Billingham, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Justin Chang, Dave White, José Teodoro, Andrew Lapin, Glenn Kenny, Nell Minow, Yasser Medina, Alonso Díaz de la Vega, Amelia Harvey, Roger Moore, Steven Sheehan, Louis Proyect, produced by Jacqui Davies, MPAA rating, poverty, social taboos, Birmingham, extreme rituals, family dysfunction, Thatcher’s Britain, unflinching, no sentimentality, emotional pain, 16mm photography, British miserablism, humor, beauty, sensuality, hardships, neglect, poverty line, Margaret Thatcher’s Britain
Worldwide gross: $112,587,658
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $206,614,228
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 675
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 22,531,541
US/Canada gross: $70,187,658
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $128,804,249
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 595
US/Canada opening weekend: $22,052,836
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $40,470,064
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 301
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $58,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $106,438,178
Production budget ranking: 374
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $57,316,959
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $42,859,091
ROI to date (est.): 26%
ROI ranking: 1,261
Michelle Bonnard – Zeinab
James Eeles – Kevin
Sam Gittins – Will
James Hinton – Dean
Andrew Jefferson-Tierney – Headmaster – Mr. Hale
Director(s)
Richard Billingham
Writer(s)
Richard Billingham
Producer(s)
Jacqui Davies
Film Festivals
Toronto
Awards & Nominations
3 wins & 8 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (71) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (67) | Rotten (4)
What distinguishes “Ray & Liz” is its ability to find strange tonal nuances within that terrible sadness; bleak as it is, it’s remarkably devoid of bitterness or rancor, and even its most despairing passages are flecked with humor and hope.
July 20, 2019
Justin Chang
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Billingham’s famous photos are tough-minded and emotionally painful, silent by virtue of their medium. And his live-action version offers a similar experience.
July 19, 2019
Dave White
TheWrap
TOP CRITIC
Gorgeously photographed on 16mm, Richard Billingham’s Ray and Liz counters the grubby, quasi-authentic tenets of so-called British miserablism with humor, beauty, and a sensuality that in no way dilutes the hardships and neglect at its core
July 15, 2019
José Teodoro
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
We often say art “cuts close to the bone,” but in its depiction of clinking liquor bottles and drawers of unopened rent notices soaked in dog urine, Ray & Liz slices clean through that bone.
July 12, 2019
Andrew Lapin
NPR
TOP CRITIC
Performed with absolute commitment by its cast (Justin Salinger and Ella Smith play the younger versions of the title characters), “Ray & Liz” is a quietly harrowing movie.
July 11, 2019
Glenn Kenny
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
With its very tamped-down emotion, Bellingham’s decision not to attempt insight or empathy is the most telling display of the consequences of his story.
July 10, 2019 | Rating: 2.5/4
Nell Minow
RogerEbert.com
TOP CRITIC
The domestic portrait with which it reconstructs fragments of Billingham’s childhood and his dysfunctional family seems infinitely flat to me. Full review in Spanish
March 31, 2022 | Rating: 4/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
Even the presence of memory and the past show that no evil lasts forever. At least for Richard and Jason. [Full review in Spanish]
December 9, 2021
Alonso Díaz de la Vega
El Universal
Whilst it doesn’t follow a concrete narrative, Ray & Liz is a moving portrayal of a family trying to stay above the poverty line.
April 13, 2020 | Rating: 3/5
Amelia Harvey
Screen Queens
In 108 spare, harrowing minutes, we see the walls closing in on a family that’s given up, never equipped to deal with the despair of Margaret Thatcher’s Britain.
April 4, 2020 | Rating: 3/4
Roger Moore
Movie Nation
The film clearly demonstrates why Billingham’s childhood has informed so much of his artistic career, but it proves a little harder to find a way to empathise with it.
February 6, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Steven Sheehan
The Digital Fix
Despite failure to provide context of family dysfunction within the rust-belt of Black Country in Northern England, it is still a keenly-observed portrait of the director’s own family.
February 4, 2020
Louis Proyect
Counterpunch.org…
Plot
While on a mission to observe the peaceful Ba’ku race, Lieutenant Commander Data suddenly behaves as if having to fear for his existence. The immortal Ba’ku, whose planet offers regenerative radiation, and therefore incredible lifespans, live in harmony with nature and reject advanced technology. Their planet and their culture is secretly researched by the Federation associated with an alien race called the Son’a. But the Son’a intend to abduct the Ba’ku in order to take the planet for themselves and for the Starfleet officials who all would like to regenerate their bodies. But they did not think of the loyalty of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E to the Prime Directive.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast of Ray & Liz includes Richard Ashton, Michelle Bonnard, James Eeles, Sam Gittins, James Hinton, and Andrew Jefferson-Tierney.
Richard-Billingham.jpg
