Julia

Julia (Tilda Swinton), 40, is an alcoholic. She is a manipulative, unreliable, compulsive liar, all strung out beneath her still flamboyant exterior. Between shots of vodka and one-night stands, Julia gets by on nickel-and-dime jobs. Increasingly lonely, the only consideration she receives comes from her friend Mitch, who tries to help her. But she shrugs him off, as her alcohol-induced confusion daily reinforces her sense that life has dealt her a losing hand and that she is not to blame for the mess she has made of it.

Glimpsing imminent perdition, and after a chance encounter with Elena, a Mexican woman, Julia convinces herself – as much in panic and despair as for financial gain – to commit a violent act.

As the story unfolds, Julia's journey becomes a headlong flight on a collision course, but somehow she makes the choice of life over death.

The first film in ten years from Erick Zonca, director of the sublime The Dreamlife of Angels.

“Gripping, tense and often wildly unpredictable thriller, superbly directed by Erick Zonca and featuring a ferocious central performance from Tilda Swinton.” (Matthew Turner, ViewLondon)

“It’s the slow burn of Swinton’s idiosyncratic but engrossing interpretation of this unlikely heroine that holds the movie together and provides an end result that is both affecting and teasingly different.” (Wally Hammond, Time Out)

"Tilda Swinton makes any film worth seeing -- but you've never seen her in a role quite like this. 'Julia' takes you on a wild ride you won't soon forget." - Leonard Maltin, ReelzChannel

"Tilda Swinton is electrifying , an Oscar worthy tour-de-force display of sheer acting brilliance. She easily delivers the best performance of 2009 ­ male or female. JULIA is juicy stuff and one hell of a ride, a riveting knock-your-socks-off crime thriller that is just about as intense as movies can get. This one will blow you away." - Peter Hammond, Hollywood.com

“Ms. Swinton demands to be seen even when her character is on a self-annihilating bender so real that you can almost smell the stink rising off her. So I sat in my seat, cursed the screen and was grateful to watch an actress at the height of her expressive power claw toward greatness.” (Manohla Dargis, New York Times)