Carmen

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1:42

Carmen

2022,

1h 28m,

Drama

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Carmen: Trailer 1

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100%

24 Reviews

Tomatometer

98%

500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

24 Reviews

98%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

CARMEN is perhaps veteran director and accomplished actor Valerie Buhagiar's most joyous film outing yet. Set in a sun-dappled village in Malta in the 1980s, Natascha McElhone gives a career-best performance as a 50-year-old woman finding a new start in life through romance. In a small Mediterranean village, Carmen has looked after her brother, the local priest, for her entire life. When the Church abandons Carmen, she is mistaken for the new priest. Carmen begins to see the world, and herself, in a new light. In Malta, it is tradition for the younger sister to devote her life to the church when an older brother enters the priesthood. Inspired by true events, Carmen lives a life of servitude from the age of 16 until 50, when her brother dies. Realizing her own mortality, she leaves the church and makes up for lost time.

Noel Murray

Los Angeles Times

Sep 23, 2022

Natascha McElhone is a wonder in writer-director Valerie Buhagiar’s charming dramedy “Carmen,” a film about a long-overlooked woman who finally comes out of her shell and puts a lifetime of silent observations to use.

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Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

Sep 22, 2022

2.5/5

The final warm embrace of the people who had previously scorned Carmen wraps the film in a feel-good ending that rewards the viewer’s concern for her general welfare and erases the sting of the repressive and patriarchal customs.

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Teo Bugbee

New York Times

Sep 22, 2022

In a movie where the central theme is a divorce from orthodoxy, the writer and director Valerie Buhagiar makes the wise decision to orient her film toward what’s pleasurable rather than what’s logical.

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Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

Feb 13, 2024

Star Natascha McElhone is as beguiling as ever, though the tone of the film is very understated

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Nuha Hassan

Nuha Hassan (Medium)

Sep 8, 2023

Carmen is a delight. There’s humour and sadness, all piled together into this memorable movie that speaks volumes of how a woman’s life.

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Ruth Maramis

FlixChatter Film Blog

Aug 24, 2023

3.5/5

McElhone is a delight to watch, able to balance the poignant and comedic elements seamlessly. It's an uplifting celebration of a woman finally finding her voice.

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Synopsis

CARMEN is perhaps veteran director and accomplished actor Valerie Buhagiar's most joyous film outing yet. Set in a sun-dappled village in Malta in the 1980s, Natascha McElhone gives a career-best performance as a 50-year-old woman finding a new start in life through romance. In a small Mediterranean village, Carmen has looked after her brother, the local priest, for her entire life. When the Church abandons Carmen, she is mistaken for the new priest. Carmen begins to see the world, and herself, in a new light. In Malta, it is tradition for the younger sister to devote her life to the church when an older brother enters the priesthood. Inspired by true events, Carmen lives a life of servitude from the age of 16 until 50, when her brother dies. Realizing her own mortality, she leaves the church and makes up for lost time.

Director: Valerie Buhagiar
Producer: Coral Aiken, Pierre Ellul, Anika Psaila Savona
Screenwriter: Valerie Buhagiar
Distributor: Good Deed Entertainment
Production Co: Aiken Heart Films, Falkun Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 23, 2022, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 23, 2022
Runtime: 1h 28m

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