Keep the Lights On

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Keep the Lights On

2012,

1h 43m,

Drama/

LGBTQ+

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Watchlist

89%

66 Reviews

Tomatometer

62%

2,500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

66 Reviews

62%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Substance abuse and emotional and physical distance threaten the relationship between a gay filmmaker (Thure Lindhardt) and his longtime lover (Zachary Booth).

Critics Consensus

Keep the Lights On is a mysterious, sexy journey deep into the love affair of two men that always manages to stay true to life.

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J. Hoberman

ARTINFO.com

Feb 25, 2019

The movie's elaborately failed closure only makes sense once you understand that the filmmaker's all-too-human desire for self-justification apparently trumped the ruthless self-control required to make a work of art.

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Nathan Lee

Film Comment Magazine

Aug 22, 2013

Keep the Lights On acknowledges (without belaboring) the performative nature of identity; how each of our claims to selfhood, be it sexual, romantic, or professional, are staged on a shifting terrain of habit, fantasy, and desire.

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Kimberley Jones

Austin Chronicle

Nov 2, 2012

3.5/5

There's a lot to like here, and if you're a traditionalist who hungers for a happy ending, you'll find it embedded in the opening credits.

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Jordan M. Smith

IONCINEMA.com

Nov 16, 2020

Keep the Lights On stands as a heart-wrenching arch, oozing with amiable authenticity in slices of life too often shied away from on screen.

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David Lamble

Bay Area Reporter

Jun 9, 2020

Writer/director Ira Sachs has wisely chosen to tell the nine-year affair from the point of view of the filmmaker...

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B. Ruby Rich

Film Quarterly

Feb 28, 2020

This gay domestic drama is a fascinating turn for Sachs.

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Leia P

Oct 3, 2018

Very realible. It's not about a gay relationship, it's about love in all its shapes.

Hermione M

Dec 9, 2015

Keep the Lights On is brutally honest and devastating like love can be when ruined by drug addiction and by one person's dependence on another. Full review on filmotrope. com

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Ira Sachs

Director

Thure Lindhardt

Erik Rothman

Zachary Booth

Paul Lucy

Julianne Nicholson

Claire

Paprika Steen

Karen

Souléymane Sy Savané

Alassane

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Synopsis

Substance abuse and emotional and physical distance threaten the relationship between a gay filmmaker (Thure Lindhardt) and his longtime lover (Zachary Booth).

Director: Ira Sachs
Producer: Lucas Joaquin, Marie Therese Guirgis, Ira Sachs
Screenwriter: Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias
Distributor: Music Box Films
Production Co: Alarum Pictures, Tiny Dancer Films, Parts and Labor, Post Factory Films, Film 50
Genre: Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 7, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 22, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $243.5K
Runtime: 1h 43m

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