For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers, in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence, before the the lights go out forever.
Saoirse Ronan
Lina Mayfleet
Harry Treadaway
Doon Harrow
Bill Murray
Mayor Cole
David Ryall
Chief Builder
Tim Robbins
Loris Harrow
Mackenzie Crook
Looper
Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Clary
Mary Kay Place
Mrs. Murdo
Toby Jones
Barton Snode
Lucinda Dryzek
Lizzie Bisco
Martin Landau
Sul
Ian McElhinney
Builder
B.J. Hogg
Mayor's Guard
Matt Jessup
Joss
Lara McIvor
Roner
Myles Thompson
Smat
Rachel Morton
Student #2
Conor MacNeill
Student #3
Lorraine Hilton
Miss Thorn
Eoin McAndrew
Student #1
Liz Smith
Granny
Mark Mulholland
Portrait Painter
Heathcote Williams
Sadge Merrall
Liam Burke
Mr. Boaz
Maureen Dow
Mrs. Sample
Simon Kunz
Captain Fleery
Director
Gil Kenan
Author
Jeanne Duprau
Screenplay
Caroline Thompson
February 20, 2025
7
With the future of the planet in grave danger, some far-sighted builders decide that it’s best for humanity to build a subterranean city into which they can retreat. It’s got to be something self-sustaining as they are going to be down there for a couple of centuries. They do provide exit instructions, but over time they get lost and so nobody knows that maybe it’s time to resurface. Now, though, the engineering is starting to give up the ghost and that means power and food are becoming rationed. The mayor (Bill Murray) is hopelessly out of his depth/obsessed with his own position and the chief electrician “Sul” (Martin Landau) is running out of ideas so it falls to the unlikely pairing of youngsters “Lina” (Saoirse Ronan) and “Doon” (Harry Treadaway) to rekindle the population’s appetite to get some fresh air. Luckily, she has a box left to her by her grandmother and as their jobs involve them clambering around the city’s gubbins, they can begin to explore in earnest. This isn’t something they can advertise - the mayor and his thugs will not brook any disenchantment in their city, even if the lights are all about to go out. Now having to fight a rearguard action too, can they discover a way out - and even if they do, is there anything left? I liked the creative style of this film and the fantasy is well explored and unravelled by the engaging partnership of Treadaway and Ronan amidst a city of colourful visual effects. Murray hams up nicely and there’s just the hint of menace from the Dickensianly monikered “Barton Snode” (Toby Jones) to keep the adventure moving along quickly for a ninety minutes of passages, pipe works and grand scale machinery. If you’re looking for complex psychology here then don’t bother, it’s all simply presented family fayre with a cast that look like they are enjoying telling us a story that looks great and vibrates when it’s meant to.