Although accolades have followed director Atom Egoyan throughout his career, it’s never translated to much beyond that. His highest-grossing film is still 2009’s Chloe with just $11M, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. Egoyan returns with Guest of Honour, a knotty family drama that has earned raves at Venice, Toronto, and elsewhere.
Guest of Honour stars David Thewlis, Laysla de Oliveira, Rossif Sutherland, and Luke Wilson. It centers on a complicated father/daughter relationship and the implications of a hoax that goes terribly wrong.
A theatrical release for Guest of Honour has been planned for Europe in April, but it’s unclear if that is going forward. Perhaps a VOD debut will be extended into the U.S., as well.
SYNOPSIS: Jim (David Thewlis) and his daughter Veronica (Laysla De Oliveira), a young high- school music teacher, attempt to unravel their complicated histories and intertwined secrets in GUEST OF HONOUR, the new film from Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) which weaves through time exploring perception and penance, memory and forgiveness. A hoax instigated by an aggressive school bus driver (Rossif Sutherland) goes very wrong. Accused of abusing her position of authority with 17-year-old Clive (Alexandre Bourgeois) and another student, Veronica is imprisoned. Convinced that she deserves to be punished for crimes she committed at an earlier age, Veronica rebuffs her father’s attempts to secure her early release. Confused and frustrated by Veronica’s intransigence, Jim’s anguish begins to impinge on his job. As a food inspector, he wields great power over small, family-owned restaurants. It’s a power he doesn’t hesitate to use. While preparing Jim’s funeral, Veronica confides the secrets of her past to Father Greg (Luke Wilson) who may hold the final piece of the father-daughter puzzle.
