Two Decades in the Making, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool Drops First Official Trailer

When Paul McGuigan’s Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool premiered at the Telluride Film Festival this past September, critics praised this emotionally walloping story of a May-December romance for the ages. Based on Peter Turner’s memoir, the film revolves around the true story a life changing phone call that Turner, played by Jamie Bell, received on September 29, 1981. His former lover, the actress Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening), had collapsed in a hotel in Lancaster and was refusing medical attention. Turner had met Grahame when he was a young actor living in London just a few years earlier, in 1979, when her stardom was well in the past, and they remained close even after their love affair ended. Grahame, an Oscar-winning actress who had starred in major films, from The Big Heat to Oklahoma and The Bad and the Beautiful (which is what she won Best Supporting Actress for), was known for her sultry on-screen heroines. Off screen, when her life seemed to be coming to an end, she turned to Turner for help, and he took her to his family’s home in Liverpool to take care of her. It’s taken two decades to bring this film to the big screen, and it looks like it was worth the wait. A 94% fresh rating on RottenTomatoes offers more proof. 

The Hollywood Reporter’s Stephen Farber writes that the two lead performances are going to be generating awards buzz. “There is no denying the emotional force that this film develops, and for that, we can credit talented filmmakers and two stars working at the height of their powers.”

Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool opens on December 29, 2017.