Franklyn

R

2008

1 hr. 38 min.

Drama

Fantasy

Romance

Mystery & Thriller

List

57%

30 Reviews

Tomatometer

43%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Sometime in the future, masked vigilante atheist Jonathan Preest (Ryan Phillippe) seeks revenge against the leader of a high-tech city under the control of a religious regime. His quest is juxtaposed against the issues faced by certain individuals in contemporary London: depressed Emilia (Eva Green), who concocts suicidal performance art; heartbroken Milo (Sam Riley), who is attempting to find his true love; and devout Peter (Bernard Hill), who searches for his missing son, a tormented veteran.

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Critics Consensus

Gerald McMorrow's bold debut is a complex and ambitious film that highlights the director's potential, but its multi-layered story takes time to develop and might be frustrating for some.

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Andrea C

Thriller cupo a fortissime tinte gotiche, in cui però tutti i personaggi sono piuttosto simili nella loro emarginazione e nella loro condizione ai limiti del sopportabile. In tutte le storyline le atmosfere sono molto simili ed i colori troppo piatti, scelta ovviamente voluta ma non particolarmente centrata. Manca spesso il guizzo in grado di destare l'interesse, il cambio di ritmo che avviene solamente in un paio di circostanze, quando vengono resi noti alcuni dettagli, come la follia dell'uomo mascherato o l'amicizia immaginaria del giovane Riley. Tutto gradevole ma il film non riesce veramente ad attrarre lo spettatore e a renderlo partecipe; forse proprio per l'ambientazione non credibile.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

12/27/23

Full Review

Wolfgang G

Franklyn – Die Wahrheit trägt viele Masken ist ein Fantasyfilm. Der Film ist die erste Regiearbeit von Gerald McMorrow, der auch das Drehbuch schrieb… In London durchleben verschiedene Charaktere in verschiedenen Dimensionen schwierige Situationen… Die Geschichte wird in vier Handlungssträngen erzählt, die miteinander verwoben sind… Ein kryptischer Fantasy-Thriller über vier verlorene Seelen zu verschiedenen Zeiten und an verschiedenen Orten. Und doch sind sie durch ein Geheimnis verbunden, die sich schließlich zu einem brillanten Finale vereinigen und wieder implodieren… Ein Anspruchsvoller Fantasy Film in jeder Art. Ich habe ihn mit Genuss genossen…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/03/23

Full Review

Graeme C

Absolute bobbins. Like a sixth form film class was given six million quid to make a film, and they all worked on it separately. Immature dross that thinks it's far more clever than it is.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

05/01/23

Full Review

isla s

This has quite an underworld feel to it, like batman in Gotham. It's reasonably sinister and atmospheric, although the lack of information (plot details) made it hard to feel especially emotionally invested in the various characters. Its pretty quirky but I certainly didn't feel particularly gripped by it. There are some good action scenes but it felt distinctly average to me and I was frustrated by the hushed dialogue at times as well, so I wouldn't particularly recommend it, no.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Best watched on mute otherwise be prepared to continuously toggle between volumes of 95 and 5.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The masked man and futuristic scenes look amazing but unfortunately these scenes only play a small part, most of the film is set in modern day timeframe. By the end everything is "sort of" explained, but the story is very poor which is unfortunate. If this film was all about masked man it could have been very good.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

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Gerald McMorrow

Director

Ryan Phillippe

Jonathan Preest

Sam Riley

Milo

Eva Green

Emilia

Bernard Hill

The Individual

Art Malik

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Edward Porter

Times (UK)

Franklyn is wonky and self-defeating: there are lots of gauche moments. Still, it's entertaining, and commendable for its strangeness.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 6, 2009

Full Review

Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

An admirably non-formulaic drama, which manages to reconcile the opposed British film traditions of contemporary, realistic, low-key character drama with eccentric, flamboyant, Gothic fantasy. It certainly marks out McMorrow as a talent to watch.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 27, 2009

Full Review

Nigel Floyd

Time Out

'Franklyn' has conceptual boldness and visual imagination that set it apart from the pack.

Rated: 3/6

Feb 27, 2009

Full Review

Louise Keller

Urban Cinefile

Ultimately it doesn't quite work, but along the way it is easy to be somewhat sucked in, especially by Eva Green's suicidal artist and Sam Riley's emotionally shattered dreamer

Nov 7, 2009

Full Review

Philip French

Observer (UK)

Franklyn is puzzling in a way some may think tiresome and others intriguing. Gerald McMorrow, whose first feature this is, has talent, but just as he starts tying up the loose ends, the film unravels.

Mar 6, 2009

Full Review

Allan Hunter

Daily Express (UK)

If ambition and flair were the only hallmarks of a five-star film then Franklyn would be top of the class.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 3, 2009

Full Review

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Synopsis

Sometime in the future, masked vigilante atheist Jonathan Preest (Ryan Phillippe) seeks revenge against the leader of a high-tech city under the control of a religious regime. His quest is juxtaposed against the issues faced by certain individuals in contemporary London: depressed Emilia (Eva Green), who concocts suicidal performance art; heartbroken Milo (Sam Riley), who is attempting to find his true love; and devout Peter (Bernard Hill), who searches for his missing son, a tormented veteran.

Director: Gerald McMorrow
Executive Producer: Peter Watson
Screenwriter: Gerald McMorrow
Production Co: Recorded Picture Company (RPC)
Rating: R (Language)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 19, 2015

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