One of the best performances of the last year can be found in the latest film from Afterschool and Simon Killer director Antonio Campos, the character study Christine. His first feature based on a true story, it follows the final weeks of the life of Christine Chubbuck (Rebecca Hall), a Florida-based news reporter who committed suicide live on air in the summer of 1974. With the film now available on VOD, we’re pleased to premiere an exclusive clip, which features Hall’s character on-air about a local zoning crisis.
I said in my review, “Hall, in one of her best performances, embodies Christine with searing intensity, staring blankly while her co-workers offer simple questions and in one remarkable scene, puzzling a woman offering many different solutions to help her situation. Her initially nervous energy eventually evolves into verbal explosions at her mother (J. Smith-Cameron) and Michael, placing the blame on them for her current social and professional roadblocks, respectively.”
Check out the clip below.
Rebecca Hall stars in director Antonio Campos’ third feature film, CHRISTINE, the story of a woman who finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a spiraling personal life and career crisis. Christine, always the smartest person in the room at her local Sarasota, Florida news station, feels like she is destined for bigger things and is relentless in her pursuit of an on-air position in a larger market. As an aspiring newswoman with an eye for nuance and an interest in social justice, she finds herself constantly butting heads with her boss (Tracy Letts), who pushes for juicier stories that will drive up ratings. Plagued by self-doubt and a tumultuous home life, Christine’s diminishing hope begins to rise when an on-air co-worker (Michael C. Hall) initiates a friendship which ultimately becomes yet another unrequited love. Disillusioned as her world continues to close in on her, Christine takes a dark and surprising turn. Based on true events, Campos’ intimate and sensitive portrait of a woman on the brink is grounded by Hall’s impeccable and transformative performance as Christine.
Rounding out the supporting cast are superlative performances by Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”), Tracy Letts (“Homeland,” Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright), Maria Dizzia (“Orange Is The New Black”), Timothy Simons (“Veep”) and J. Smith-Cameron (“Margaret”).
Christine is now available on VOD and will hit DVD on February 14.