This film is part of Rentals
My Days of Mercy
Starring Elliot Page and Kate Mara, this sophomore feature from Tali Shalom-Ezer is a beautiful and poignant love story between two women from vastly different backgrounds and opposing political views.
Director: Tali Shalom Ezer
Overview
Lucy (Page) spends her weekends travelling around the Midwest in a battered RV alongside her younger brother Ben and with older sister Martha behind the wheel. Their destination: whichever federal prison is due to execute a death row inmate that night, so that they can join with their fellow protestors and advocate peacefully outside the institution’s walls for the abolition of the death penalty. During one such protest, Lucy’s eye is drawn to Mercy (Mara), from the opposite ‘camp’ (people who come and support the executions taking place). When Mercy brazenly flouts the unwritten rule of fraternising with the enemy and approaches the painfully shy Lucy, the scene is set for a heartwrenching love affair that threatens to shatter everything Lucy believes in, but which could ultimately set her free.
Working from a superb script by BAFTA-nominated British writer Joe Barton, Shalom-Ezer has crafted a love story filled with passion and truth, against a backdrop of one of the most polemical issues of our time. Whilst astutely observing the importance of the death penalty debate, Shalom-Ezer’s focus is on the burgeoning, opposites-attract love affair between Lucy and Mercy. And the on-screen chemistry between Page and Mara, offering up career-best performances, pulls you in and swallows you whole.
Related
Girls Will Be Girls Girls Will Be Girls
Drama 2024 119 mins Director: Shuchi Talati
Teenage romance simmers in a strict Himalayan boarding school in this sublime coming-of-age tale. Winner of the 2024 Sundance audience prize.
The Goldman Case The Goldman Case
Drama 2023 116 mins Director: Cédric Kahn
Gripping courtroom drama based on the explosive 1976 murder trial of French political activist, Pierre Goldman.
In Camera In Camera
Drama 2024 95 mins Director: Naqqash Khalid
A struggling actor faces relentless knockbacks in Naqqash Khalid’s sharp-witted comment on race and identity in the film industry.
Kneecap Kneecap
Drama 2024 105 mins Director: Rich Peppiatt
Fantastically outlandish biopic about the anarchic Belfast rap trio and their fight to save the Irish language.
The Light between Oceans The Light between Oceans
Drama 2016 132 mins Director: Derek Cianfrance
Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander star in Derek Cianfrance’s sweeping romance about a lighthouse keeper, his wife, and the baby they rescue from a drifting boat.
Tracks Tracks
Biopic 2014 113 mins Director: John Curran
Mia Wasikowska stars in this inspirational true story about one woman’s extraordinary odyssey through the Australian Outback.
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
Documentary 2023 89 mins Director: Anna Hints
A remarkable and award-winning documentary exploring female solidarity through a soothing ancient tradition.
Anatomy of a Fall Anatomy of a Fall
Crime 2023 152 mins Director: Justine Triet
Justine Triet's gripping, Palme d'Or-winning psycho-thriller is deeply intelligent with a spellbinding performance from Sandra Hüller.
The End We Start From The End We Start From
Drama 2023 102 mins Director: Mahalia Belo
A stunning post-apocalyptic British drama navigating the anxieties of parenthood and the future of the world.
Four Daughters Four Daughters
Drama-documentary 2023 103 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
The mother-daughter relationship is explored to cathartic effect in this complex and poignant hybrid documentary about a woman and her missing daughters.
Sometimes I Think About Dying Sometimes I Think About Dying
Drama 2023 94 mins Director: Rachel Lambert
Daisy Ridley stars as a melancholic office worker who fantasises about her own death, in Rachael Lamberts wonderfully offbeat drama.
Nezouh Nezouh
Drama 2024 104 mins Director: Soudade Kaadan
Enchanting feminist coming-of-age drama, from award winning Syrian director Soudade Kaadan.
Upstream Colour Upstream Colour
Science Fiction 2013 96 mins Director: Shane Carruth
Shane Carruth’s startlingly original and beautifully conceived drama follows two lovers as they recover from infection by a mind-altering parasite.
Night Courier (Mandoob) Night Courier (Mandoob)
Comedy 2023 112 mins Director: Ali Kalthami
A desperate delivery driver gets caught up in the dark underworld of Riyadh in Ali Kalthami’s gripping, pitch-black satire.
The Ballymurphy Precedent The Ballymurphy Precedent
Documentary 2018 108 mins Director: Callum Macrae
John Pilger's film on the conflict in Northern Ireland is a skilful mix of investigative journalism, documentary storytelling and reflections on contemporary history.
Utopia Utopia
Documentary 2013 111 mins Director: John Pilger and Alan Lowery
John Pilger's portrayal of the oldest continuous human culture is also an investigation into a suppressed colonial past, and rapacious present.
The Coming War on China The Coming War on China
Documentary 2016 113 mins Director: John Pilger
John Pilger’s prescient 60th film for ITV is both a warning and an inspiring story of resistance.
Girls Will Be Girls Girls Will Be Girls
Drama 2024 119 mins Director: Shuchi Talati
Teenage romance simmers in a strict Himalayan boarding school in this sublime coming-of-age tale. Winner of the 2024 Sundance audience prize.
The Goldman Case The Goldman Case
Drama 2023 116 mins Director: Cédric Kahn
Gripping courtroom drama based on the explosive 1976 murder trial of French political activist, Pierre Goldman.