Babylon arrives at Cineworld this week and exposes the festering, badly behaved side of early Hollywood. The movie begins in the mid-1920s when silent cinema is all the rage; however, a change is on the horizon with the release of The Jazz Singer, which precipitates the arrival of talking pictures.
Writer-director Damien Chazelle traces the crisscrossing destinies of several memorable characters. Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) is the silent movie star who has helped shape the early days of motion pictures; Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) is a whirling dervish of a newcomer who crashes onto the moviemaking scene by accident; and Manny (Diego Calva) is the ambitious, well-intentioned Mexican immigrant who finds himself making his way up the Hollywood ladder.
Also thrown into the mix: acid-tongued gossip columnist Elinor St. John (Jean Smart), cabaret singer Lady Fay (Li Jun Li) and jazz trumpeter Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo). It's a memorable ensemble that puts a human face on a jaw-dropping, quintessentially timeless tale of excess and hubris.
Discover more about each of the characters in the following videos. (Also don't forget to check out the real-life Hollywood influences behind Babylon.)
Get ready for the wildest party of the year. Click here to book your tickets for Babylon, releasing at Cineworld on January 20.