Watch: View trailer and find out where to watch Welsh ‘cinematic masterpiece’ Effi o Blaenau from today
Stephen Price
One of the most talked-about films to come from Wales this decade, Effi of Blaenau, hits cinemas from today – with showings across the UK, from Glasgow to London and right across Wales.
S4C’s Welsh-language feature film, Effi o Blaenau has received widespread critical acclaim, with the Times describing it as a ‘bleakly brilliant drama’ and ‘an extraordinary portrait of a woman on the edge’.
The Welsh language film was co-funded by Welsh Government via Creative Wales, and the film received its World Premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival on March 3 along with a homecoming premiere in Blaenau Ffestiniog just ahead of its release.
Effi o Blaenau will release widely in cinemas across Wales and the UK through MetFilm Distribution on June 19, before being broadcast on S4C, Clic and iPlayer at the end of this year.
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The film is an adaptation of Gary Owen’s critically acclaimed play, Iphigenia in Splott, but transported to the wide-open mountainous landscape of Eryri.
Directed by Marc Evans (Mr Burton) and produced by Branwen Cennard (Tarian) in her debut feature, the film follows Effi, a young woman who learns firsthand the personal costs of our societal shortcomings, with a tour-de-force lead performance by up-and-coming actor Leisa Gwenllian (S4C’s Itopia, On the Sea and Sky’s Under Salt Marsh). It also features Tom Rhys Harries (Netflix’s White Lines, Apple TV’s Suspicion) ahead of his lead role in the new DC Studios film Clayface.
Grappling with her weekly loop of unemployment, clubbing and hangovers, Effi has a chance encounter in a Llandudno nightclub with injured soldier Lee, briefly opening a door to something better. For a moment, Effi glimpses a life she never imagined. The reality that follows is far tougher.
The film has received positive reviews at its Film Hub Wales preview day, with Welsh exhibitors describing it as “Atmospheric”, “Fantastic” and “grounded in its community.” Another praised its “Compelling story and realistic characters”.
S4C’s head of Film and Drama, Gwenllian Gravelle, said: “S4C is proud to support Effi o Blaenau and is grateful to the production team and to Creative Wales for helping to bring it to the big screen in Wales and beyond.
“The film is a cinematic experience that originates from a specific place but resonates emotionally everywhere. Shaped by a strong landscape and details of everyday life, the film transforms the familiar into something moving and epic.”
Minister for Culture, Jack Sargeant, said: “Effi o Blaenau is set against the dramatic backdrop of Blaenau Ffestiniog, with its misty, moody landscapes really adding to Effi’s challenging story. Another great benefit of this North Wales production is the economic value and job opportunities that were created locally.
“This film demonstrates what can be achieved when industry partners – in this case S4C – and Creative Wales work together to support ambitious creative projects, giving them every chance of commercial success and reaching global audiences.
“It’s fantastic that Effi o Blaenau has been selected for the Glasgow Film Festival, where it will premiere in front of key decision makers and influencers from across the world’s film industry. What an exciting moment for filmmaking in Wales.”
MetFilm Distribution added: “We are delighted to be spearheading the theatrical release of Effi o Blaenau across the UK.
“The filmmaking team have produced a faithful and truly cinematic adaption of Gary Owen’s seminal play, anchored by an electric performance from Leisa Gwenllian. We can’t wait for audiences everywhere to meet Effi”.
Reviews
The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw wrote: “The visceral one-woman play Iphigenia in Splott by Welsh dramatist Gary Owen has overwhelmed audiences and critics since it premiered in 2015, reimagining the sacrificial heroine Iphigenia from Greek tragedy as a young working-class woman in Cardiff who likes a drink and a laugh, defiant in the face of pity, condescension and curtain-twitching.
“Now it has been recreated as a blistering Welsh-language movie by director Marc Evans, who has co-written the screenplay with Owen, with a live-wire performance from Leisa Gwenllian as Effi, a child of austerity and the Covid lockdown, reclaiming her rights to immediate pleasure and happiness in the face of long-term deprivation.
“…Effi o Blaenau is part of a British social realist tradition that extends from Ken Loach’s Poor Cow to Clio Barnard’s The Arbor, and it turns on that kitchen-sink staple no longer often found in modern drama and movies: the unplanned pregnancy. It also has what social realism often doesn’t have: an absorbing, propulsive story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. And it’s a film that doesn’t flinch from the burden of tragedy.”
He added: “It is a tremendous performance from Gwenllian as Effi, pursuing what appears to be the dissolute life of irresponsible adulthood and yet, when finally and inevitably coming into contact with authority figures from whom she needs help – her grandmother, a hospital nurse, a disapproving but yet kindly neighbour – Effi regresses to a desperately childlike state.
“She is infantilised by her own choices, yes, but also the grim way in which society has forced the choices on her. Interestingly, the male patriarchal power figures from Euripides’ play, such as Agamemnon and Achilles, are largely replaced by women; these are the people who hold sway over Effi. It’s an absorbing and affecting drama.”
★★★★★ Eye for Film
★★★★ The Guardian
★★★★ Time Out
★★★★ Heat Magazine
★★★★ The Scotsman
★★★★ The Upcoming
★★★★ The Skinny
Where to watch
19.6.26 Aberystwyth – Aberystwyth Arts Centre Tickets
19.6.26 Bangor – Pontio Tickets
19.6.26 Blaenau Ffestiniog – CellB Tickets
19.6.26 Bridgend – Odeon Tickets
19.6.26 Bristol – Watershed Tickets
19.6.26 Broughton – Cineworld Tickets
19.6.26 Caernarfon – Galeri Tickets
19.6.26 Cardiff – Chapter Tickets
19.6.26 Cardiff – Cineworld Tickets
19.6.26 Cardiff – Showcase Nantgarw Tickets
19.6.26 Cardiff – Everyman Cinema Tickets
19.6.26 Cardiff – Odeon Tickets
19.6.26 Cardiff – Vue Tickets
19.6.26 Chester – Picturehouse Tickets
19.6.26 Edinburgh – Cameo Picturehouse Tickets
19.6.26 Glasgow – Glasgow Film Theatre Tickets
19.6.26 Liverpool – Picturehouse at FACT Tickets
19.6.26 Llandudno Junction – Cineworld Tickets
19.6.26 Llanelli – Odeon Tickets
19.6.26 London – Curzon Bloomsbury Tickets
19.6.26 London – The Garden Cinema Tickets
19.6.26 Manchester – HOME Tickets
19.6.26 Merthyr Tydfil – Vue Tickets
19.6.26 Newcastle – Tyneside Cinema Tickets
19.6.26 Newport – Cineworld Tickets
19.6.26 Port Talbot – Reel Cinema Tickets
19.6.26 Sheffield – Showroom Cinema Tickets
19.6.26 Swansea – Odeon Tickets
19.6.26 Swansea – Vue Tickets
19.6.26 Tywyn – Magic Lantern Cinema Tickets
19.6.26 Wrexham – Odeon Tickets
26.6.26 Cardigan -Theatr Mwldan Tickets
26.6.26 Ipswich – King Street Cinema Tickets
26.6.26 London – Art House Crouch End
26.6.26 Pwlhelli -Neuadd Dwyfor Tickets
27.6.26 Porthmadog – Y Ganolfan Tickets
3.7.26 Maesteg – Town Hall Tickets
3.7.26 Fishguard – Theatr Gwaun Tickets
3.7.26 Llanfairfechan – Luxor Community Cinema Tickets
3.7.26 Ystradgynlais – The Welfare Tickets
4.7.26 Milford Haven – The Torch Theatre Tickets
5.7.26 Penarth – Pier Pavilion Tickets
7.7.26 Swansea – Taliesin Arts Centre Tickets
8.7.26 Monmouth – Savoy Theatre Tickets
10.7.26 Birmingham – MAC
10.7.26 Edinburgh – Filmhouse
10.7.26 London – ActOne Cinema
10.7.26 Oxford – Ultimate Picture Palace Tickets
13.7.26 Newport – Riverfront Tickets
16.7.26 Falmouth – Poly Tickets
17.7.26 Bradford – Pictureville Cinema
17.7.26 Oswestry – Maona Cinema
17.7.26 Abertillery – The Met Tickets
18.7.26 Stoke – Stoke Film Theatre
19.7.26 Woodbridge – Riverside Tickets
24.7.26 Plymouth – Arts Cinema
24.7.26 Pontypridd – Y Muni Cinema Tickets
27.7.26 Wellinton – Orbit
4.8.26 Builth Wells – Wyeside Arts Centre Tickets
1.9.26 Bracknell – South Hill Park Tickets
1.9.26 Hull – Hull Independent Cinema Tickets
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