''Seven Veils'' is a 2023 Canadian

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film written and directed by

Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan (; ; born July 19, 1960) is an Armenian Canadians, Armenian-Canadian filmmaker. One of the most preeminent directors of the Toronto New Wave, he emerged during the 1980s and made his career breakthrough with ''Exotica (film), Exotica ...

. The film stars

Amanda Seyfried Amanda Michelle Seyfried ( ; born December 3, 1985) is an American actress and singer. She began acting at 15, with a recurring role as Lucy Montgomery in the CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns'' (1999–2001). She came to prominence for he ...

as Jeanine, a theatre director who is dealing with repressed trauma as she prepares to mount a production of the opera ''

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

''. Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Mark O'Brien and Vinessa Antoine also star.

Cast

as Jeanine * Rebecca Liddiard as Clea * Douglas Smith as Luke * Mark O'Brien as Paul * Vinessa Antoine as Rachel * Michael Kupfer-Radecky as Johann / John the Baptist * Ambur Braid as Ambur / Salome

Production

In February 2023, it was announced

had joined the cast of the film, with

directing from a screenplay he wrote.

Rhombus Media Rhombus Media is a film and television production company formed in 1978 at the York University Film Department by Barbara Willis Sweete and Niv Fichman, and based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Larry Weinstein joined soon after. Rhombus Media dev ...

, Ego Film Arts, Cinetic Media, IPR.VC and Crave produced and financed. In March 2023, Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Mark O'Brien and Vinessa Antoine joined the cast, with

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

concluding in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Release

''Seven Veils'' had its world premiere at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on September 10, 2023. It was also selected for the lineup of the 2023 Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, the 2023 Atlantic International Film Festival, the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival, the 2023 Festival du Nouveau Cinéma de Montréal, and the 2024 Victoria Film Festival. The film's American premiere took place during the 2024 Armenian Film Festival in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

. The film was given a United States release in theaters on March 7, 2025, by

XYZ Films XYZ Films is an American independent film production and sales company founded in 2008 by Aram Tertzakian, Nate Bolotin and Nick Spicer, and is based in Los Angeles. It focuses on international genre films, including '' The Raid: Redemption'', '' ...

and

Variance Films Variance Films is a privately held film distribution company founded in 2008 that uses an innovative model of self-distribution combined with select elements of traditional theatrical distribution to allow filmmakers to achieve quality theatrical ...

Reception

The film received generally positive reviews. Martin Tsai wrote on ''

TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news organization that covers the business of entertainment and media. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009 and is based in Los Angeles. The site features original reporting, analysis, and editor ...

'': "''Seven Veils'' feels like a true return to form for Egoyan, almost as if ''Salome'' has inspired Egoyan’s entire filmography. To be sure, his work is often challenging, but the themes are fully connected and realized here. The screenplay is intricate and thoughtful. It’s just such a thrill to witness artistry and craftsmanship in every facet." In ''Deadline Hollywood'', Stephanie Bunbury wrote: "Seyfried’s Jeanine never cracks under these pressures; Egoyan habitually gives explosive emotions a wide berth, refusing to allow characters or audience any kind of catharsis. It is an unforgiving kind of stringency; his frigidity leaves many viewers cold. But it works well here and, for those of us with a taste for it, that coldness is satisfyingly bracing." In a negative review for ''The Telegraph'', film critic Tim Robey wrote: "''Seven Veils'' is content to waft ideas in our general direction, a common fault of all Egoyan’s weaker films, rather than defining their interplay with anything like '' Tár’s'' crispness. It mistakenly calls John’s beheading “the first sex crime in the Bible” – even Genesis has the rape of Dinah. And it makes us strain to grasp how the story of Salome and all this backstage malarkey meaningfully inform one another. It’s an egghead exercise, both scrambled and undercooked." The film was named to TIFF's annual

Canada's Top Ten Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films."Canada's Top Ten awards will honour excellence in Canadian cinema". ''Welland Tribune'', November 23, ...

list for 2023.Pat Mullen
"TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten Includes BlackBerry, Solo, Humanist Vampire"
''That Shelf'', December 6, 2023.

Awards

References

External links

Seven Veils at Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival
* {{Atom Egoyan 2023 drama films Canadian drama films Films directed by Atom Egoyan Films scored by Mychael Danna 2020s Canadian films English-language Canadian films