The film Leonora in the Morning Light (2025), based on Mexican novelist Elena Poniatowska’s novel Leonora, tells the story of British-born painter Leonora Carrington who was involved in the Surrealists in the 1930s. Played by Olivia Vinall, the film focuses largely on Leonora’s inner demons, notably her descent into madness that resulted in electro-shock treatments in Spain and her unsaid PTSD years later in Mexico.
I watched the film at the 2025 Chicago International Film Festival this October. Having previously written about my love for all things Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) and her BFF fellow artist, Remedios Varo, who also ended up in Mexico City after fleeing the Nazis in France, I wanted to love this film since both artists are getting greater visibility in recent years (such as Remedios Varo’s recent show at the Art Institute) and an opera in progress based on the works of Varo. But, I found the film fascinating yet flawed.
I hesitate to call either Leonora or Remedios surrealists since the Surrealists were very misogynistic (which is made clear in the film) and both of the women’s works feel more expansive with allusions to tarot, mysticism, and other spiritual systems (and a touch of Hieronymus Bosch, Dutch Renaissance painter whose work gets quite surreal, centuries before the term is coined). But for lack of a better term, their work could be described as surrealist.
I hesitate to call either Leonora or Remedios surrealists since… both of the women’s works feel more expansive with allusions to tarot, mysticism, and other spiritual systems… but for lack of a better term…
It was fascinating that the film showed a few of Leonora’s paintings. In the Q&A, the directors explained the challenge of showing a 2D painting in film, and elected for the film to step into her works. I think it’s an appropriate response to her works since they are so immersive, but I just wish there was more of that internal world throughout the film.
I am also curious about why the directors Thor Klein and Lena Vurma chose to highlight her mental health challenges. In the Q&A, Thor talked about being struck by how cinematic it was when Leonora broke down internally while the world also collapsed as the Germans occupied France.
So much of the first part of the film as it shows German surrealist Max Ernst and Leonora’s professional and personal relationship, with few mentions of the impending war. The directors wanted to focus on her interior life, but it’s hard to imagine the rise of fascism would not dominate the consciousness of the lovers. So when the moment occurs with Leonora’s breakdown as the war invades her life, it does not feel earned.
Instead of focusing on her mental state, it would have been more interesting to focus on her life journey. For instance, the film does capture her life from England to France, then Spain and Mexico. Two absences are notable: first, she spent time in New York City, which is only mentioned in a comment. Granted I know that not everything can be depicted in a film but if the film is looking at the formative experiences in her life, NYC seems like a strange absence. Secondly, how did she get to Mexico City? The film skips 11 years forward to her life in Mexico and doesn’t highlight what happened in between her incarceration and torture in Spain to get her to Mexico.
I appreciate that the film does not focus unduly on her relationship to the men in her life. It would be easy to fall into the trap of focusing on her relationship with Max at the cost of her own story. Instead, the film manages to tight walk through depicting their relationship and keeping its gaze on Leonora. She’s the star, not Max.
The performances of the actors were also quite striking. Olivia portrays Leonora with grace and a hint of mischief (especially in the early years of her life), and I’m glad that Remedios Varo portrayed by Cassandra Ciangherotti made several significant appearances in the film, but I wish the film had tied up their relationship in a more satisfactory fashion towards the end, which did not ring true. They were great friends and artistic influences on each other until Remedios’ untimely death in 1963. Leonora is quoted as saying, “Remedios’s presence in Mexico changed my life.” That quotation feels odd at the portrayal at the end of the film.
I would have liked to see more of Leonora as the mischievous artist that we see in brief glimpses in the earlier scenes of her life. There was such a focus on her inner demons at the detriment of the story as an artist.
If you want to learn more about Leonora’s life, check out The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington written by Leonora’s cousin Joanna Moorhead who reconnects with her aunt five years before Leonora’s death. Ultimately, I hope that this film inspires further research into the lives of Leonora Carrington and her sister-in-arts, Remedios Varo.
© Elisa Shoenberger (11/20/2025) — Special for FF2 Media®
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Elisa actually wrote this right after her 2025 Chicago International Film Festival screening last October, but we waited to post it until the rest of you could see it too. We have just received word of a North American mini-tour including stops in Albuquerque, Manhattan & Toronto. After this, a streaming platform is sure to be announced.
Follow this link to purchase tickets to the 9/20/26 Sunday screening plus filmmaker Q&A at the Roxy in Manhattan. We’ll be there!
LEARN MORE/DO MORE
Read FF2’s review of Remedios Varo exhibition at the Art Institute here.
Check out this conversation with Claire McMillan about her work on Remedios Varo here.
Read The Guardian’s review of The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington here.
Delve into “Artist Friendships: Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo” here.
Check out the Leonora Carrington website here.
CREDITS & PERMISSIONS
Featured Photo/Exit Photo: Olivia Vinall as Leonora Carrington in Leonora in the Morning Light (2025).
Middle Photo: Leonora Carrington in her Greenwich Village apartment, New York. Museum: PRIVATE COLLECTION. Author: Hermann Landshoff. Alamy Image ID 3CP6W61
Bottom Photo: Cassandra Ciangherotti (as Remedios Varo) with Olivia Vinall as (Leonora Carrington) in Leonora in the Morning Light (2025).
FP/BP/EP: Photos by Mirjam Kluka. © Dragonfly Films | Alamode Film. Images provided by the publicist & used with permission. All Rights Reserved.
