If you just took the films Andrea Riseborough has brought to Sundance, you would get a complete picture of her diversity as an actress. From Shadow Dancer to Burden to Mandy to Possessor and Nancy, there’s not a single role that resembles the last and she excels in them all. The Egypt-set drama Luxor was another film Riseborough had at Park City this year, and though it has slipped quietly under the radar, now that it’s opening the buzz is likely to build for her performance.
Directed by Zeina Durra, Luxor finds Riseborough moving solemnly through the titular Egyptian city, as a British aid worker who reconnects passionately with the handsome archaeologist she had been there with years ago.
I saw this film some weeks after Sundance had ended, which is why it was never reviewed. But what I remember was that it moved slowly, but emphatically, almost like a travelogue with Riseborough as our guide. The romance angle felt distant, though, and I think that comes through somewhat in this trailer.
Luxor opens on December 4th.
SYNOPSIS: Hana is seeking mental peace and physical respite after an overwhelming period spent working at a clinic in Ramtha, on the Jordanian-Syrian border, where she specialised in treating victims wounded in the war in Syria. She finds solace in majestic Luxor, Egypt, where she lived in her 20s and dated a handsome archeologist, Sultan, who was also studying there. On this nostalgic solo trip, she lingers through memory-filled hotel lobbies and ancient sites as she begins to grapple with her grief and her emotions from the war—but when she runs into Sultan on a ferry crossing unexpectedly, the chemistry is undeniable.
