SummaryWidowed mother Holly (Sienna Guillory) is radically tested when her teenage daughter Betsey (Jessica Alexander) experiences a profound enlightenment and insists that her body is no longer her own, but in service to a higher power. Bound to her newfound faith, Betsey refuses to eat but loses no weight. In an agonizing dilemma, torn between love an... Read More
Directed By:Ruth Paxton
Written By:Justin Bull
A Banquet
Metascore
Mixed or Average
59
User score
Mixed or Average
5.2
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
40% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
60% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Mar 9, 2022
80
Paxton’s movie sketches out the sinister dread just under the happy-family surface; she is in expert control of her film, achieving her effects with economy and force. It is really unnerving.
Sep 17, 2021
80
An intense combination of apocalyptic nightmare and family psychodrama. ... A provocative, rigorously composed film that confirms Paxton as a singular talent after a string of award-winning shorts.
Feb 18, 2022
63
Director Ruth Paxton puts you on edge from the beginning in “A Banquet,” and holds that unsettling mood throughout. But because the sound design is so vivid and Paxton’s eye for disturbing detail is so creative, it’s even more frustrating that the payoff is so unsatisfying.
Feb 24, 2022
60
A Banquet is a beautifully made psychological thriller with nuanced performances and a gross hook.
Sep 17, 2021
60
The filmmakers raise some interesting points, but it becomes an exercise in frustration to interpret the calculated connection between disordered eating, the metaphysical, and religious, medieval martyrdom. With nary any tangible scares, or much to truly unnerve or unsettle except from an empathetic humanistic standpoint, this feature-length directorial debut is assured, but far too ambiguous for its own good.
Feb 16, 2022
50
There are glimpses of comparably daydreamy thrillers like Come True or The Feast that give themselves to the fantasy of mania, but A Banquet fails to grab attention like these more ambitious companions. It all builds up to a cinematic Irish exit.
Sep 17, 2021
40
Justin Bull’s screenplay comes up short, failing to adequately capture the depth of its teen’s encounter with the abyss — her anorexia is the aftermath of an apocalyptic revelation — and to integrate it into the more comprehensible domestic tensions that serve as the plotless film’s only framework.
User score
Mixed or Average
0% Positive
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
100% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Apr 22, 2022
5
The atmosphere is quite unsettling and I liked that. This is psychological horror, with an intimate but not necessarily subtle style. The scares are uneventful, but it doesn't resort to cheap devices in that area either, which is appreciated. A Banquet is a film that is clearly taking a serious approach overall, but the balance of its themes ranging from isolation to body issues are not given a consistent treatment, exposing a story that works well at times and doesn't at others. The performances are among the most remarkable aspects of this film. The actors seem sufficiently committed to their characters to sustain what the plot sets them up to do. The ambiguity of their conclusion feels outdated, though it allows the audience to give it different meanings, which in some measure is actually more helpful.
Production Company:
- Tea Shop Productions
- Riverstone Pictures
- Reliance Entertainment Productions 8
Release Date:Feb 18, 2022
Duration:1 h 37 m
Tagline:Family or Famine
Awards
ReFrame
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Golden Trailer Awards
• 1 Nomination
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