Mostly British Film Festival

Schedule Of Events

Thursday February 13, 2025

2:30 pm - THE CRITIC

Ian McKellen is at his suave and slimy best as Jimmy Erskine, a mean, feared, ferocious theater critic in 1934 London. He ruins lives for the fun of it taking particular aim at a hapless actress played with touching vulnerability by Gemma Arterton. Jimmy’s life gets complicated when the owner of his newspaper dies, and the owner’s son, appalled by his critic’s cruelty, fires him. Craving revenge, Jimmy involves other people in his devilish plot, leading to blackmail, betrayal and more. No one is innocent. McKellen embodies one of the best bad guys in a long time. You can’t take your eyes off his scheming face.

UK 2023 (101 minutes)

5:30 pm - PADDINGTON IN PERU

Indulge in a sneak preview of this franchise’s third installment starring the adorable Paddington and the equally cute and charming Hugh Bonneville, guest of honor at the Mostly British Film Festival, as the bear’s adoptive dad Henry Brown. The entire Brown family accompanies Paddington to Peru in search of his beloved Aunt Lucy, who has mysteriously disappeared from a home for retired bears. The rescue team embarks on a journey through Peruvian jungles and up into the mountains in search of Paddington’s missing kin, encountering a new character: the retirement facility’s spiteful Reverend Mother played with convincing malice by Olivia Colman.

2025 UK (106 minutes)

7:45 pm - JANE AUSTEN WRECKED MY LIFE

Closing Night

Jane Austen would be delighted in her well-mannered way to learn of all the movies based on her work. The latest, smart 21st-century version by French first-time director Laura Piani is set at Shakespeare & Company, the legendary British bookshop in Paris. There we meet a perpetually single and deeply unhappy clerk, Agathe, who escapes into romance novels, yearning for the happy ending Austen conjures up for her heroines. Piani obviously knows her Austen, and she introduces familiar tropes from her early 19th century classics while contriving a modern, feminist twist. This refreshing take focuses on finding a partner for Agathe, as well as on her quest to become a writer like Austen. In French and English.

France 2025 (94 minutes)

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Date: February 6-13, 2025