Drama

Guest of Honour

Drama

Veronica wants to remain in jail for a sexual assault she knows she's been wrongfully indicted for. She and her father, Jim, find themselves acting out of the bounds of good behavior as the past haunts them.

Year

2020

Duration

1h 45m

IMDb

5.9

Trailer

Cast

Atom Egoyan

Director

Laysla De Oliveira

Veronica

Luke Wilson

Father Greg

David Thewlis

Jim

Cherie D'Elia

Lisa

Sugith Varughese

Indian Restaurant Manager

Juan Carlos Velis

Spanish Restaurant Owner

Joyce Rivera

Spanish Restaurant Owner

Srdjan Vilotijevic

Tito

RS

Roula Said

Fatima

Isabelle Franca

Young Veronica

Tennille Read

Roseangela

Alexandre Bourgeois

Clive

Rossif Sutherland

Mike

Seamus Patterson

Lenny

Sochi Fried

Alicia

Alexander Marsh

Young Walter

Gage Munroe

Walter

Tony Nardi

Luigi

Atom Egoyan

Writer

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Comments

10 comments

ellputoAug 16, 2025

Veronica (Laysla De Oliveira) tells stories of her deceased father Jim (David Thewlis) with Father Greg (Luke Wilson) who is planning his funeral. Jim was a health inspector who exercised his fearsome powers on small restaurant operators. Veronica is a music teacher leading her students on a performance tour. Student Clive and bus driver Mike both take a liking to her but she rebuffs them both. Filmmaker Atom Egoyan delivers his usual interior personality story. I am willing to buy that this is a troubled father daughter pairing but I'm not sure if I buy this sort of crazy. I don't know why the kids would not tell the truth to the police. Even if Clive is willing to lie, I don't see why his friend would. Like Clive says, he is forced to attend some annoying sessions. I would tell the truth just to avoid that. As for Thewlis, this is an interesting performance. I am much more interested in his work than the complicated story of self-destruction. The disjointed flashback structure is not clear enough and it doesn't have enough space to give the story room to explain itself. The music performance road trip is clear enough but the story with Walter needs work. I may even just cut out Walter all together to clarify the plot. All in all, there is some interesting material with some troublesome issues.

user4529234120238May 29, 2023

source: Guest of Honour

CeranoraNov 22, 2022

When Thewlis is on, he's on siphens the entire world into his feelings. He is a true great. He manages to evoke so much. In this way it is an odd cousin to Naked, or a kind of encore. It does not reach those heights--how could it--but there is an unusual power when he worked with an auteur, that has an analytic intensity in common with his Leigh film. He is the reason the film is good. Any time it cuts away, I lose interest. Egoyan, as a fan of his great 90s works, I think digital cinematography takes the mystery and intensity out, and they could have found a whole other angle to plot this. But that 90s work was SO good, I will give Egoyan a pass wherever he goes. Also his wife never ages. She is his lucky charm because she just takes his worlds into another universe every single time.

Abdo.wneesNov 22, 2022

Veronica (Laysla De Oliveira) tells stories of her deceased father Jim (David Thewlis) with Father Greg (Luke Wilson) who is planning his funeral. Jim was a health inspector who exercised his fearsome powers on small restaurant operators. Veronica is a music teacher leading her students on a performance tour. Student Clive and bus driver Mike both take a liking to her but she rebuffs them both. Filmmaker Atom Egoyan delivers his usual interior personality story. I am willing to buy that this is a troubled father daughter pairing but I'm not sure if I buy this sort of crazy. I don't know why the kids would not tell the truth to the police. Even if Clive is willing to lie, I don't see why his friend would. Like Clive says, he is forced to attend some annoying sessions. I would tell the truth just to avoid that. As for Thewlis, this is an interesting performance. I am much more interested in his work than the complicated story of self-destruction. The disjointed flashback structure is not clear enough and it doesn't have enough space to give the story room to explain itself. The music performance road trip is clear enough but the story with Walter needs work. I may even just cut out Walter all together to clarify the plot. All in all, there is some interesting material with some troublesome issues.

Meliss'okNov 22, 2022

David steals the entire movie. A tour de force of brilliant acting. You believe this tormented man. But there basically is no story, nothing seems to hang together to give the film any coherence. Did his daughter allow his lover to burn to death? What happened to her son? Luke Wilson is odd in an uncharacteristic serious role, when normally he's a bit of a light joke. A shame. I hated feeling so dissatisfied. But Thewlis in a master class of his own. Would love to see more of him and less of Atom's films - what has happened to him? 5/10 all for David.

NgaramaNov 22, 2022

It is worth watching! One of my top five favorite movies by Atom Egoyan!

Tolou Anne MireilleNov 22, 2022

Used to be rabbit ears pulled in tv channels, now they are a coveted culinary delicacy. If nothing else, one always learns something from an Atom Egoyan film. Consistently fine thespian David Thewlis as a complicated health inspector, carries "Guest of Honour" with the calm assurance, refined decorum, and meticulous deduction of Sherlock Holmes. Yet it is he who is the mystery. And as wonderful a performance it is (he really does carry the movie), the convoluted and twisty plot proves too benign and lacking, to do justice to foreshadowed expectations. A forgettable and perplexing storyline involving his jailed daughter is awkwardly distracting at best, and out and out messy at worst. Slipping in a comedic Wilson brother (Luke) as a serious priest is admirable, but alas, serves to sabotage the dramatic flow. Too bad, as the movie does indeed look great, and Thewlis is excellent, a commanding screen presence, delivering a perfectly nuanced role lacking a worthy supporting cast, and more importantly, a superior written vehicle. hipCRANK

user4304645171849Nov 22, 2022

This story tells a complicated relationship between father and daughter. It is messed up, but it doesn't make me feel for the characters or the situation. I didn't find it engaging.

NonoNov 22, 2022

I keep waiting for the day that Canadian films will find their voice. Seeing the wonderful David Thewlis in the lead role of Guest of Honour, I hoped for something terrific. I wasn't disappointed there. Thewlis is note-perfect as a mysterious and tortured man...a food inspector in Hamilton, Ontario of all things. I could watch Thewlis read the phone book, but when all is said and done, a compelling personality (and genuinely excellent cinematography), don't make for the lack of a coherent narrative. I still don't know exactly who did what to whom and why. The supporting cast is so-so. I could inhale the atmosphere and personality of this film...I just couldn't find the story.

Hunnybajaj HunnyNov 22, 2022

I was hooked from the minute this movie started and by the end I was in tears.