MR BURTON

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Storyline (warning: spoilers)

Mr Burton tells the little-known story of the early professional life of the great Welsh actor Richard Burton. Richie Jenkins (Harry Lawtey) is a bright pupil from an impoverished background in a Welsh mining village. With his mother deceased and his father (Steffan Rhodri) drunk most of the time, he lives with his sister Cis (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) and her increasingly irritated husband Elfed (Aneurin Barnard). But Richie finds salvation in Shakespeare through his schoolteacher Philip Burton (Toby Jones).
The narrative begins in Port Talbot, where a 17-year-old boy struggles under the weight of a life bound by industrial hardship. The mining town—bleak, unyielding, almost industrial in its austerity—serves as a stark counterpoint to the artful world that beckons from afar. Here, the young man is cast as a quiet observer, his inner potential barely hinted at amid the grey clamour of everyday life. As the relationship between mentor and student takes shape. We witness detailed scenes of vocal exercises, hesitant rehearsals, and the painstaking practice of diction (each scene a small manifesto against conformity). A series of quiet yet potent interactions—a look, a brief nod—serve to build a bond that transcends the classroom.
Richard, the young protégé, transforms from an uncertain miner’s son into a figure who commands attention on stage. His evolution is marked by a series of small but significant moments—a hesitant glance in the mirror, a quiver before delivering a line, and eventually, a resolute stance that hints at burgeoning self-assurance.
The decision to adopt a new name signals not just a change in identity, but also an internal tug-of-war between the bonds of his origins and a desire for reinvention. Many are aware that Richard Burton was born as Richard Jenkins, but never knew how or why he changed his name… this film fills in that narrative.