Seven Veils

It's an opera-based (Salomé) drama set in Toronto in 2023. Jeanine (Elizabeth Reeve/Amanda Seyfried) is usually a play director who has agreed to remount "Salomé" at the request of her deceased mentor's wife, Beatrice (Lanette Ware). Jeanine has just separated from her husband, Paul (Mark O'Brien), who has remained at home with their daughter Lizzie (Maya Misaljevic), and Jeanine's widowed mother, Margot (Lynne Griffin), who has dementia. Margot's caregiver, Dimitra (Maia Jae Bastidas), also plays a role.

"Seven Veils" portrays Jeanine's efforts to mount the opera against her personal history reflected in the earlier 1996 "Salomé" directed by her mentor, Charles, that utilized her difficult family experiences shown in home movie-style flashbacks. Jeanine juggles Internet connections with her family and her efforts to shape the "Salomé" production in personal ways. Her direction involves complex relationships with the leads of John the Baptist (Michael Kupfer-Radecky) and Salomé (Ambur Braid), their understudies (Douglas Smith and Vinessa Antoine), and the props manager, Clea (Rebecca Liddiard). Sometimes, Jeanine's decisions mystify others, and other tensions within the company increase the drama. The film ends with opening night.

One reviewer calls Atom Egoyan a visual director. That fits "Seven Veils," as the images overwhelm a complex story a mile wide and a couple of inches deep. Jeanine's character is the only one with depth; a little more focus would have helped the story's coherence. Egoyan's concept is clever, but the execution falls short. "Seven Veils" is an interesting watch, but it's not certain what we've learned in the end.

The most impressive single thing about this Atom Egoyan film must be the setting, which draws heavily from the recent, real-life Canadian Opera Company production of Richard Strauss's opera 'Salome'. Even a few of the genuine singers are used in supportive roles. The plotline that is embedded within that atmosphere is, however, a fairly conventional one: the young stage director (Amanda Seyfried) must face two big ghosts from her past who are (a) her father and (b) her mentor, himself a legendary director. We;ve seen variations on that many times before. Other things getting in her way -- which would be enough of a challenge by themselves -- are the personal issues and problems of the lead singers and management who want to skew the production their own way. It's well enough done, and it's certainlyl visually impressive. I didn't think however that this role suited Seyfried too well; I though she should convey a more commanding, certain presence, because her character was supposed to be an experienced director already. (Comparison for contrast: Cate Blanchett, the imperious orchestra conductor in Tar (2022)). But there it is -- Egoyan has a strong personal style, and you get what you get.

Telling an incredible story that merges beautiful scenes and a rich musical score through what appears to be a typically Egoyan disjointed narrative.

Egoyan's genius is his capacity to depict the brutality of human experiences with tenderness and compassion.

This movie is at par with the best of Hollywood and better still because of its intelligence and the timeliness of its message.

Amanda Steyfried's starring role as Jeanine is absolutely perfect along with a first class cast that will be sure to leave audiences satisfied.

Got to enjoy this movie before its public release and it was truly a treat.

In dark-drama "Seven Veils" Amanda Seyfried (as strong as ever) directs a remounting of the opera 'Salome' that her now deceased mentor & lover originally directed. In rhythm with the production (involving the likes of Rebecca Liddiard (good), Lanette Ware, Vanessa Antoine, and actual opera stars Ambur Braid & Michael Kupfer-Radecky) Seyfried evokes emotions from her own childhood trauma and current troubled marriage. Experienced writer / director Atom Egoyan clearly immersed himself in Richard Strauss' opera (and Oscar Wilde's play it was based on) which fans of may really enjoy - but for others this may be too 'artsy' to entertain.

Seyfried acting is excellent. Reality turns out to be even more tragic and complicated than the opera plot. Or perhaps we could say, that this is a way to convey a reality as dramatic as an opera, without taking focus from the work they are all doing.

I enjoyed it, though the subject can be hard to watch at moments. The work of a director can be fascinating and I really liked the way she developed it, without second guessing herself even though she is new, even when everybody seems against her, or even when they all try to make fun of her and assume they all know better than her because they are some part or it.