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IMDbPro

Allelujah

  • 2022
  • 1h 39m
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
2K
YOUR RATING
Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, David Bradley, Jennifer Saunders, Russell Tovey, Jesse Akele, and Bally Gill in Allelujah (2022)
The story of a geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital threatened with closure.
Play trailer2:18
1 Video
21 Photos
Drama

The story of a geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital threatened with closure.The story of a geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital threatened with closure.The story of a geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital threatened with closure.

  • Director
    • Richard Eyre
  • Writers
    • Alan Bennett
    • Heidi Thomas
  • Stars
    • Jesse Akele
    • Lorraine Ashbourne
    • Nivedita Bhargava
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.0/10
    2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Richard Eyre
    • Writers
      • Alan Bennett
      • Heidi Thomas
    • Stars
      • Jesse Akele
      • Lorraine Ashbourne
      • Nivedita Bhargava
    • 61User reviews
    • 29Critic reviews
    • 52Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:18
    Official Trailer

    Photos21

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    Top cast41

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    Jesse Akele
    • Nurse Pinkney
    Lorraine Ashbourne
    Lorraine Ashbourne
    • Mrs Earnshaw
    Nivedita Bhargava
    • Mother
    David Bradley
    David Bradley
    • Joe Colman
    Nicholas Burns
    Nicholas Burns
    • Minister
    Paul Butterworth
    Paul Butterworth
    • Richard
    JP Conway
    JP Conway
    • Kieran
    Eileen Davies
    Eileen Davies
    • Molly
    Judi Dench
    Judi Dench
    • Mary
    Nishu Dikshit
    • Ruha
    Patricia England
    • Mavis
    Vincent Franklin
    Vincent Franklin
    • Mr Salter
    Bally Gill
    Bally Gill
    • Dr Valentine
    Gerard Horan
    Gerard Horan
    • Mr Earnshaw
    Derek Jacobi
    Derek Jacobi
    • Ambrose
    Catherine Jayes
    • Pianist
    Rajinder Kaur
    • Nani
    Harsheen Kaur
    • Shirina
    • Director
      • Richard Eyre
    • Writers
      • Alan Bennett
      • Heidi Thomas
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews61

    6.02K
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    Featured reviews

    7robdrummond

    Heartwarming but dark film

    As is often the case - I simply dont understand the low-scores by Imdb contributors. A score starting with a 5 on here is completely unjustified.

    This is - perhaps at first sight - a boring film full of old doddery figures. There are no car chases - no screeching of wheels - no guns in fact or any raised voices threatening anyone with anything. Perhaps whats whats "wrong" here.

    Instead there are many threads of peoples varied lives all ending up (as most readers of this will - if they are lucky) in their twilight years under the care of The NHS - their for our first breath and our last.

    There is a completely unexpected plot twist near the ending - makes one think "Is this based on a true story" and then you remember the genius of the Writer Alan Bennetts fiction over decades here in the UK.

    Its brilliant. Have some curiosity and give it a go.
    7dreopdreef

    Not meant as a funny movie

    Do not get me wrong, the movie has funny bits and pieces, but I do not believe it is meant to be a funny movie. It is more a harsh reflection on healthcare and how we treat our elderly. But for me it did not get too dark, I also enjoyed it very much.

    Jennifer Saunders really has grown as an actress I think. We know she can do funny, but in this more serious role she blossoms as well.

    However, do you wanna watch because of dame Judy Dench, do not get your hopes up too much. She has a smaller part and for me a bit too small and on the side.

    Overall, very well acted. If you are not English I recommend decent subtitles.
    9Lomax343

    Touching, Affecting and Twisty

    There are some plot twists you can see coming a mile off. There are many films where you know a twist is coming, even if you don't know what it'll be. Allelujah is a film where you don't realise there's going to be a twist t all, never mind one so vicious.

    Set in a small, crumbling hospital earmarked for closure, and which mostly deals with geriatric patients, Allelujah starts out as a classic Little Guy vs Government Machine story. There's much that is poignant, and much that is comic and there are fine performances throughout, particularly from Jennifer Saunders, David Bradley and Derek Jacobi.

    Then, just when the bureaucrat seems set for a big change of heart and the audience senses the feel-good ending, the rug's pulled out from under them completely. It's both devastating and unforgettable.

    Dr Valentine's final piece to camera is magnificent, as he says the things that *need* to be said.
    6cathyannemoore-66196

    Not what I expected

    I thought I was all set for a heart warming feel good film. Very depressing. Tackles the issues of geriatric care and there's no happy ending we all are going to die. Jennifer Saunders is really different to how we usually see her. No make up dowdy and with a northern accent. It didn't surprise me she could transform successfully into a no nonsense matron of a Yorkshire hospital given all of the characters she played in French and Saunders. Judi Dench and Derek Jacobi of course steal the show. The words spoken as a narrative over the film by Dr Valentine had me sobbing into a tissue throughout .
    5dorothybishop-12911

    Excellent acting but flaky plot

    On the positive side, the acting was great. I particularly liked Jennifer Saunders' portrayal of a dedicated, no-nonsense ward sister, and David Bradley's retired miner. The underlying message of the threat to the NHS by those that don't understand its core values is an important one. But this film was not the way to make that point.

    Although, as you'd expect with a strong cast, the acting was great, many of the characters were tediously stereotyped: the charming Asian doctor who 'loved old people', the bubbly, enthusiastic nurse, a range of old people who used Alan Bennett one-liners to establish themselves as sweetly eccentric, away with the fairies, or curmudgeonly in a loveable way. You could tell just by the body language that the children of an old lady were up to no good and just wanted to fleece her. The son of the miner who had gone South to forge a successful career as a management consultant was predictably transformed from an over-confident critic of the hospital to a supporter.

    The setting was not so much stereotyped as confusing. The threatened hospital did have one doctor, one nurse, a sister, and a physiotherapist, and some of the patients were sick - indeed the plot hinged on a character who was worried that if he improved he'd be sent back to a nursing home. But most of the activities that we saw suggested that the institution was a care home - the old people seemed to be long-term residents and were well enough to shuffle around doing craft activities and reminiscence therapy. A film crew from the local paper were drifting around interviewing residents. It was as if the original intention was to make a film about a care home, but they then realised that if they wanted the message to be about the NHS, they needed to make it into a hospital.

    I won't include spoilers but just to say that just when you think this is going to be a totally saccharine experience, where the struggling hospital will be saved from closure, there is a plot twist that acts like a hand grenade in derailing all expectations. It might have worked if the rest of the film had been more believable, but it seemed totally unsatisfactory in the context of the rest of the film.

    And then, at the end we have bolted on a section where the nice doctor is now in a covid ward, making a heartfelt plea for the continuation of the NHS, while showing devastating scenes of patients in corridors, and exhausted staff in PPE struggling to cope. I found myself wishing that Ken Loach had made a film on this theme: that would have been far more effective than this clunky treatment.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The point about the Earnshaws needing their mother to hang on for another three months relates to UK Inheritance Tax. No tax is payable on any gift given more than seven years before the giver dies. If however, the giver dies within seven years, tax can be applied retrospectively. There is a sliding scale, known as taper relief, so that if the giver dies six years after the gift (as here), the tax rate is 8% (from a maximum of 40%).

      In the case of large transfers (eg a property), even after various allowances are taken into account, 8% can amount to a significant sum.
    • Goofs
      After a death, a pulse is checked using a thumb. You should never take a pulse using your thumb as it has its own pulse.
    • Quotes

      Sister Gilpin: I mean, all these managers, all they think about is movement isn't it? Like the hospital system is just some giant bowel that has to keep pumping out shit.

    • Connections
      Featured in The Graham Norton Show: Dame Judi Dench/Hugh Jackman/Michael B. Jordan/Eugene Levy/Paul Rudd/Michael Douglas/Pink (2023)
    • Soundtracks
      For the Good Times
      Written by Kris Kristofferson

      Performed by Perry Como

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    FAQ14

    • How long is Allelujah?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 17, 2023 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Aleluia
    • Filming locations
      • Wakefield Westgate Railway Station, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, UK(Train station)
    • Production companies
      • Warner Bros.
      • Pathe UK
      • BBC Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross worldwide
      • $5,631,642
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 39 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

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