| The Last Face | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sean Penn |
| Written by | Erin Dignam |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Barry Ackroyd |
| Edited by | Jay Cassidy |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 132 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.2 million[2] |
The Last Face is a 2016 Americandrama film directed bySean Penn and written byErin Dignam. The film starsCharlize Theron,Javier Bardem,Adèle Exarchopoulos, andJean Reno. It was selected to compete for thePalme d'Or at the2016 Cannes Film Festival,[3][4] debuting to generally poor reviews.[5] The film was released onDirecTV on June 29, 2017, before being released bySaban Films on video on demand and in theaters on July 28, 2017.
Wren Peterson is a physician and activist working in West Africa with the organizationDoctors of the World that her late father started many years ago. She is happy to lead the organization, but frequently finds herself negatively comparing herself to her father's achievements. In 2003, Wren meets Miguel, a handsome surgeon who has also devoted himself to treating people from impoverished and war-torn sections of the world. The two fall in love but Wren soon discovers that Miguel has had a prior sexual relationship with her cousin, which contributes to the decay of their relationship.
On April 10, 2014, it was announcedSean Penn would direct the film, withCharlize Theron andJavier Bardem set to star in the film.[6]Principal photography began on August 1, 2014, inCape Town.[7]
The film premiered at the2016 Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2016.[8] On September 8, 2016,Saban Capital Group, through itsSaban Films division, acquired the U.S distribution rights to the film.[9] The film was released onDirecTV on June 29, 2017, before being released on video on demand and in theaters on July 28, 2017, by Saban Films.[10]
The reception forThe Last Face at Cannes was very negative andThe Sydney Morning Herald reported that the film was booed during its screening.[11][12] The film holds a rating of 8% onRotten Tomatoes, based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 3/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "The Last Face's noble intentions are nowhere near enough to carry a fundamentally misguided story that arguably demeans the demographic it wants to defend."[13] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 16 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[14]
The Hollywood Reporter panned the film, writing "A backdrop of Third World atrocity, suffering and merciless human-rights violations serves as the canvas for a faux-profound Hollywood love story in Sean Penn's stunningly self-important but numbingly empty cocktail of romance and insultingrefugee porn,The Last Face."[15]The Guardian andThe Telegraph were equally dismissive, withThe Guardian commenting that "Charlize Theron andJavier Bardem give career worst performances as doctors falling in love in west Africa while black characters are relegated to the background".[16][17]
Critics chided Penn for making a treacly white-savior movie that attempts to shame its audience with bloody war imagery.