This film closes on Thursday, October 30th.

Director and writer John Ridley (who scripted 12 Years a Slave) has produced a daring dream of a biopic, a film imagining Jimi Hendrix life in the years before he found fame. It’s 1966, and a frustrated Hendrix (charismatically played by hip hop star André Benjamin) is playing in a New York dive bar before he comes into the orbit of Linda Keith (Imogen Poots), the girlfriend of the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards. Linda’s connections and her belief in his talent inspire Jimi to take on The Animals bassist Chas Chandler (Andrew Buckley) as his manager and relocate to London in search of stardom.

These are the years before that stardom and the greatest hits are absent here, yet Swinging London is evocatively recreated and Jimi: All is by My Side does an exceptional job in the telling story of a troubled genius while acknowledging the women who gave him succour and direction during barren times. 

★★★★ Movies.ie ★★★ The Irish Times ★★★ The Guardian

Don’t forget we now schedule weekly.