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UK. 2013. Dir : Alexandra McGuinness. Digital projection. 78 min. With Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Johnny Flynn, Benn Northover
Original English version
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The bright young things of London's social elite lead an excessive, lavish lifestyle that allows them to luxuriate in their own self-destruction. At the center is Alice, an ex-model unable to keep up with the opulent standards her peers feverishly chase. Alice may be in love with her on-and-off boyfriend Charlie, but the multiple pleasures of wealth and youth distract them from commitment. Meanwhile, Felix is besotted with Alice, even as he indecisively takes up with his naïve, needy girlfriend. Between wild summer nights in Glastonbury and the South of France, a lovelorn Orna gets her rocks off weaving overlapping love triangles that wreak havoc on impressionable hearts.
"Alexandra McGuinness' elegant black-and-white directorial debut finds the pulse of something real in a hot mess of horses, pet monkeys, spiritual gurus, and vodka baths. Clad in chic, sparkly outfits and perplexing headpieces, a luminescent ensemble led by Antonia Campbell-Hughes with Benn Northover, Amber Anderson, Cynthia Fortune Ryan, Liam Browne, Gina Bramhill, Jay Choi, Alex Wyndham, Daisy Lewis, and Katrena Rochell flounce about to an evocative indie soundtrack featuring the anachronistic folk stylings of lead actor Johnny Flynn alongside performances from emerging bands." TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2011
"Lotus Eaters playfully and with a deft touch finds that hazy, confusing, conflicted, and complex place when drugs, a loss of sense of self, and a desire for more from life converge creating a vivid, insightful picture into modern hip culture." EXAMINER.COM
"Lotus Eaters, it is altogether a magnificent achievement and something Alexandra McGuinness should be very proud of. She shows huge potential as a leading director for the next generation of cinema, and I do hope we see more similar work from her very shortly. I urge you to go and see Lotus Eaters (...)" SQUARISE.COM
"My original idea for Lotus Eaters was to make a film that showed both the highs and the hangovers and the hopes that people cling to even while everything is twirling out of control. As Jonathan Franzen said of Paula Fox's novel Desperate Parties (one of the inspirations for the script) said, "Full of people utterly unknown to themselves at brilliant parties you're grateful not to have been invited to." ALEXANDRA MCGUINNESS, DIRECTOR
