Belfast had its world premiere at the 48th Telluride Film Festival on 2 September 2021; shortly thereafter, it won the People's Choice Award at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released in the United States on 12 November 2021 by Focus Features,[8] and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 21 January 2022, by Universal Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics for Branagh's direction and screenplay, cinematography, and the performances of the cast, and grossed over $49 million worldwide.
The film chronicles the life of a working-class Ulster Protestant family from the perspective of their nine-year-old son Buddy during The Troubles in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[9] Buddy's father Pa works overseas in England, while the family—Ma, elder brother Will, and paternal grandparents Granny and Pop—live in Belfast.
During the August 1969 riots, a group of Protestant loyalists attack the homes and businesses of Catholics on Buddy's street. The residents of the street set up a barricade to prevent further conflict and Pa returns home from England to check up on the family's wellbeing. The family attends church, where the minister delivers a harsh fork in the road speech; the rhetoric is continually reflected upon by Buddy throughout the film. Buddy develops feelings for a fellow high-achieving classmate, Catherine, a Catholic, and they eventually become friends.
Local criminal and sectarian rabble-rouser Billy Clanton approaches Pa demanding his involvement in "the cause"; when Pa refuses, he becomes aggressive and incessantly approaches Buddy. Meanwhile, the family struggles to pay off their accumulated tax bill. Pa dreams of emigrating to Sydney or Vancouver, a prospect met with distress from Ma. However, she can no longer deny the option of leaving Belfast as the conflict worsens and Pa is offered a promotion and housing deal in England from his employers. At Christmas, they attempt to discuss the matter with the boys, but Buddy breaks down at the thought of leaving.
Buddy and his cousin Moira attempt to steal chocolates from a sweet shop, but the plan goes awry. When later questioned by the police, he does not reveal his co-conspirators. Following this, Moira recruits him into her local gang, who turn out to be Ulster loyalists that loot a supermarket during a riot. A reluctant Buddy is coerced into stealing a box of laundry detergent before he returns home and informs Ma of his activities. Ma berates him and drags both Buddy and Moira back to the looting to return their stolen items.
Billy then appears and takes Ma and Buddy hostage as leverage for his escape. Pa and Will arrive, as does the British army, which has come to end the riot. This initiates a standoff with Billy, who attempts a shootout until Pa and Will disarm him, at which point he is arrested and swears retribution. When realising that they are no longer safe in Belfast, the family decides to leave for England. Before they do so, Pop dies after a period in hospital. Before departing, Buddy bids farewell to Catherine. He later wonders whether he could have pursued a future with her despite her being a Catholic. Pa responds that it would not make any difference as far as he was concerned. As Granny watches, the family boards a bus for the airport, Granny silently encouraging them to go forward towards the future and not to look back.
Principal photography began in September 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.[13][14] Filming initially took place in and around London before moving to Belfast.[12][13] The entire film was shot in seven weeks.[15] Production concluded by October 2020.[16]
Belfast was shot digitally using the large format Arri Alexa Mini LF camera and Panavision System 65 lenses.[17] The film was shot in colour and converted to black-and-white in post-production. Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos had a preference
for shooting in colour as it enables greater flexibility in the colour correction process.[18] Zambarloukos said the decision that a majority of the film would be in black-and-white was made because it "filters out any unnecessary noise" and "lifts the veil on the soul a little bit better than color can", for it allows actor performances to be brought to the forefront.[19] Natural light was utilised during photography which was a break from the more complicated lighting setups director Kenneth Branagh had worked with previously on larger studio films.[20] Zambarloukos said he took inspiration from the work of cinematographer Joseph Walker with his use of slightly increased exposure to allow for increased contrast in black-and-white photography.[18]
Music
The film features music by Belfast native Van Morrison, including the score he composed, dominated by electric guitar and saxophone,[21] eight of his classic songs, and a new song he wrote for the film, "Down to Joy".[22] It is Branagh's first film since Peter's Friends not to be composed by Patrick Doyle.
Belfast grossed $49million worldwide, with over $19 million coming from the UK. The US and Canada were the film's largest overseas markets, with a combined gross of $9.3 million.[5][6]
The film had a strong debut in the UK and Ireland, opening in second place just behind Spider-Man: No Way Home, with £2.2 million. It was the eighth-widest release of all-time in the territory, and was the top film at 412 of the 705 locations it played at. It performed especially well in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which accounted for 20 per cent of its total takings. Its location average in Northern Ireland was £8,801, compared to £3,121 across the rest of the market.[37] In its seventh weekend, Belfast surpassed the £14.4 million gross of Schindler's List, to become the highest-grossing black-and-white film of the modern era.[38] The film ultimately grossed £15.6 million in the UK and Ireland.[39]
In the US and Canada, Belfast was projected to gross around $1 million from 588 cinemas in its opening weekend.[40] It went on to debut to $1.8 million, finishing eighth at the box office.[41][42] It averaged $3,111 per-venue, one of the best of figures of 2021 for an indie total; 73% of the audience was over 35.[43] In its second weekend the film fell 47% to $940,000.[44] The film made $1.3 million over the five-day Thanksgiving frame, including $958,770 in its third weekend, finishing eleventh.[45][46][47] In its twelfth weekend, the film had an expansion to 200 theatres, grossing an estimated $120,000.[48]
In the weekend after earning six BAFTA nominations, the film grossed $3.23 million from seven markets.[49] The following weekend, the film earned $2.2 million from seven markets.[50]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 327 reviews, with an average rating of 7.90/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "A deeply personal project for writer-director Kenneth Branagh, Belfast transcends its narrative deficits with powerful performances and directorial craft."[51] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 55 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[52] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while 79% of filmgoers at PostTrak said they would definitely recommend it.[43]
Reviewing the film, Kevin Maher of The Times gave it 5/5 stars and wrote: "It's a film of formal beauty, letter-perfect performances, complex and textured writing (also from Branagh) and enough comedic one-lines and Van Morrison musical montages to make you forget that you are watching a drama about seething sectarian hatreds".[53]Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian also gave the film 5/5 stars and addressed it as "a seductive piece of myth-making from Branagh".[54] Writing for TheWrap, Steve Pond praised the performances of Dornan and Balfe, and said: "The film feels true in the way it must be exploring Branagh's memories of a tumultuous and confusing time, and the way it pays tribute to a vibrant community as that community is irrevocably changed."[55]Stephanie Zacharek of Time said that it was hard to resist the film's affectionate energy.[56] Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly said that "Branagh's genuine affection and nostalgia for his subject suffuse the movie; if only the misty romanticism of his story could match it" and gave the film a "B−" score.[57]
David Ehrlich of IndieWire, who gave the film a "C" grade, wrote: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and this scattershot crowd-pleaser renders them both in such broad strokes that it seems as if Branagh can only imagine the Belfast of his youth as a brogue-accented blend of other movies like it."[58]
At the 94th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Actor in a Supporting Role (for Hinds) and Actress in a Supporting Role (for Dench). At the age of 87, Judi Dench became the second oldest nominee in the category of Best Supporting Actress for her performance, after Gloria Stuart was nominated in the same category for her role in Titanic (1997). Branagh became the first individual to have been nominated in a total of seven different categories with his nominations in the Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay categories for his work on the film.[62]
