Working Class Heroes

Poor Cow

Ken Loach’s perceptive, personal, and moving debut feature film tells the story of a young mother’s struggles while her husband is in jail.

Drama
1968
101 mins
Ken Loach

The Long Good Friday

Bob Hoskins charms as a London mob boss brokering a development deal with the American mafia – but somebody wants to see him dead.

Gangster
1981
109 mins
John Mackenzie

Mona Lisa

Neil Jordan's gritty thriller stars Bob Hoskins as a gangster recently released from prison who falls in love with the prostitute he is supposed to be protecting.

Drama
Gangster
1986
100 mins
Neil Jordan

Journeyman

Paddy Considine directs and stars with Jodie Whittaker in this emotional knockout - the story of a boxer rebuilding his life after a near-fatal injury.

Drama
Sport
2018
92 mins
Paddy Considine

Catch Me Daddy

A young couple whose relationship has divided a community are forced on the run through the streets and moors of nocturnal Yorkshire.

Thriller
2015
112 mins
Daniel Wolfe and Matthew Wolfe

Harry Brown

Michael Caine’s storming return to an action role finds him as a retired marine confronting local hoodlums on his housing estate.

Crime
2009
103 mins
Daniel Barber

Vera Drake

Mike Leigh’s acclaimed story of a selfless woman who performs unlawful abortions in 1950s Britain; both an affecting drama and vital social history.

Drama
2005
120 mins
Mike Leigh

The Violators

In this spiky and stylish debut from novelist Helen Walsh, two girls from different backgrounds form an unlikely bond, setting off on a dangerous course.

Drama
2016
96 mins
Helen Walsh

'71

A young British squaddie is caught behind enemy lines in bomb-torn Belfast, in Yann Demange’s riveting suspense thriller.

Thriller
2014
99 mins
Yann Demange

Attack the Block

Aliens wage war on a tower block after one of their number is bludgeoned by a street gang in this witty, action-packed feature debut by Joe Cornish.

Crime
Science Fiction
2011
88 mins
Joe Cornish

Urban Hymn

In the wake of the London riots, teenager Jamie (Letitia Wright) finds herself at a crossroads; until music offers an unexpected path to salvation.

Drama
2016
114 mins
Michael Caton-Jones

Venus

Peter O’Toole in one of his last, finest performances in this story about an aging actor who thought he’d seen it all – until he met her.

Comedy
2007
95 mins
Roger Michell

Control

The life story of Ian Curtis, the tortured singer of Joy Division who suffered epilepsy and crippling self-doubt, filmed in stunning monochrome.

Biopic
2007
122 mins
Anton Corbijn

The Stone Roses: Made of Stone

Avid Stone Roses fan Shane Meadows records the reunion of the pivotal 1990s rock band, in this heartfelt and inspiring documentary

Performance
Documentary
2013
96 mins
Shane Meadows

Supersonic

Relive the stratospheric rise of the kings of Britpop in this rousing nostalgic trip from the producers of Amy.

Documentary
2016
117 mins
Mat Whitecross

The Proud Valley

Deeply moving mining drama that provided the legendary American singer/actor Paul Robeson with his best British film role.

Drama
1940
77 mins
Penrose Tennyson

Mr. Turner

Mike Leigh’s Cannes-winning account of the later years of J. M. W. Turner, brilliantly played by Timothy Spall.

Biopic
Historical drama
2014
150 mins
Mike Leigh

Tyrannosaur

Paddy Considine’s powerful feature debut, featuring astonishingly strong performances from Olivia Colman and Peter Mullan.

Drama
2011
92 mins
Paddy Considine

Marnie

Sean Connery stars as the man who marries a kleptomaniac who has some strange psychological problems, played by Tippi Hedren.

Crime
1964
130 mins
Alfred Hitchcock

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Gary Oldman leads an all-star cast, including Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy, in this acclaimed adaptation of John Le Carré's esteemed spy novel.

Thriller
2011
127 mins
Tomas Alfredson

I, Daniel Blake

Ken Loach’s powerful, Palme d’Or-winning invective against welfare injustice captured the mood of modern Britain and became his biggest box office success.

Drama
2016
100 mins
Ken Loach

My Name Is Joe

Ken Loach's intense drama boasts a majestic performance from Peter Mullan as a recovering alcoholic in Glasgow, struggling with his feelings for a local health worker.

Drama
1998
105 mins
Ken Loach

Neds

Peter Mullan's forceful drama about a boy who becomes embroiled in gangland life in 1970s Glasgow, peppered throughout with a rich vein of black humour.

Crime
2011
124 mins
Peter Mullan

Orphans

Peter Mullan steps behind the camera for this pitch-black comedy surrounding a family who reunite for their mother’s funeral.

Comedy
Drama
1999
98 mins
Peter Mullan

Fish Tank

Andrea Arnold's BAFTA winner and coming-of-age story starring newcomer Katie Jarvis as disaffected teen Mia and Michael Fassbender in one of his earliest film roles.

Drama
2009
118 mins
Andrea Arnold

Morvern Callar

Samantha Morton plays the enigmatic title character in Lynne Ramsay’s dreamy and atmospheric road movie.

Drama
2002
93 mins
Lynne Ramsay

Shallow Grave

Ewan McGregor and Danny Boyle burst onto the scene with this dark crime caper about three friends and their rich, dead flatmate.

Comedy
Crime
1995
89 mins
Danny Boyle

Kidulthood

Noel Clarke and Menhaj Huda’s explosive youth film follows the drug, sex and crime-fuelled antics of a group of West London teens over the course of a single day.

Drama
2006
91 mins
Menhaj Huda

Adulthood

After being released from prison following a murder charge, Sam Peel (Noel Clarke) attempts to reboot his life and seek redemption.

Drama
2008
99 mins
Noel Clarke

Brotherhood

A decade after the release of Adulthood, Sam (Noel Clarke) is trying to keep his family safe while simmering old grudges threaten to resurface.

Crime
2016
104 mins
Noel Clarke

Rita, Sue and Bob Too

A married man seduces two teenage babysitters in Alan Clarke’s mix of bawdy comedy and social comment, based on Andrea Dunbar’s Bradford plays.

Drama
1987
93 mins
Alan Clarke

Gregory's Girl

The ultimate depiction of coming-of-age awkwardness, Bill Forsyth’s comedy about a teen who falls for the new female footballer on the school team.

Comedy
Romance
1981
92 mins
Bill Forsyth

Brassed Off

Pete Postlethwaite stars in this emotional drama about members of a colliery brass band who learn their mine may soon be closing.

Drama
1996
107 mins
Mark Herman

East Is East

Damien O'Donnell's charming comedy-drama about Zaheed Khan (Om Puri), the patriarch of a Pakistani-British family whose children begin to reject their heritage and embrace UK life.

Comedy
1999
97 mins
Damien O'Donnell

My Generation

Michael Caine takes us back to swinging London in this engaging documentary on the 1960s cultural revolution, featuring over 50 interviews with the key players.

Documentary
2018
86 mins
David Batty

Orthodox

Stephen Graham is the orthodox Jew tempted into a life of violence by his corrupt associate (Michael Smiley), in this riveting and complex crime drama.

Drama
2016
94 mins
David Leon

Meantime

Tim Roth, Phil Daniels and Gary Oldman star in Mike Leigh’s TV film about an East End family try to stay afloat during a recession.

Drama
1983
107 mins
Mike Leigh

High Hopes

Mike Leigh’s bittersweet comedy tells the story of Cyril (Philip Davis), an idealist who despairs at the societal changes of Thatcher’s Britain.

Drama
1989
112 mins
Mike Leigh

Made in Britain

Tim Roth burst onto British screens with his coruscating performance as a teenage skinhead in this TV play from Alan Clarke and David Leland.

Drama
1982
76 mins
Alan Clarke

Gone Too Far!

Riotous urban comedy adapted from the hit Royal Court play, about a Peckham teen affronted by the arrival of his long-lost Nigerian sibling.

Comedy
Drama
2014
88 mins
Destiny Ekaragha

Grow Your Own

A group of Merseyside gardeners take umbrage to the arrival of some refugees, but they find common cause to resist a devious corporate takeover.

Comedy
Drama
2007
97 mins
Richard Laxton

Trainspotting

Danny Boyle's exhilarating, narcotic trip follows a group of heroin-addicted friends as they navigate their way through Glasgow's seedy 1990s drug culture.

Drama
1996
90 mins
Danny Boyle

Letter to Brezhnev

A defining Merseyside film, in which two Liverpool lasses hook up with a pair of Russian sailors only to wonder if they might be better off behind the Iron Curtain.

Comedy
Drama
1985
94 mins
Chris Bernard

Gascoigne

Documentary portrait of the mercurial football genius who inspired the game’s modern renaissance while battling personal demons.

Documentary
2015
87 mins
Jane Preston

Giro City

Glenda Jackson and Jon Finch play Welsh investigative journalists covering the Troubles in Northern Ireland only to unearth censorship and corruption back home.

Drama
1982
102 mins
Karl Francis

Intimate Relations

Julie Walters and Rupert Graves are at the centre of a sordid love triangle in this pulpy melodrama about seedy shenanigans in 1950s suburbia.

Drama
1997
99 mins
Philip Goodhew

Riff-Raff

Robert Carlyle plays a homeless construction worker who falls for an unemployed pop singer in Ken Loach's hilarious yet potent paean to working class London life.

Comedy
Drama
1991
96 mins
Ken Loach

Scrubbers

The borstal drama – billed as the female Scum – features Amanda York and Kathy Burke as inmates of a ruthless women’s prison.

Drama
1982
93 mins
Mai Zetterling

Quadrophenia

The ultimate Mods vs Rockers clash, based on The Who’s double-album rock opera, stars Phil Daniels as a mod on an odyssey to Brighton.

Drama
1979
120 mins
Franc Roddam

Hummingbird

An alcoholic ex-special forces soldier (Jason Statham), down on his luck, assumes another man’s identity and pursues redemption.

Thriller
2013
100 mins
Steve Knight

Babymother

Neeta and her crew rise to dancehall fame in North West London's Caribbean community, in the first Black British musical.

Musical
1998
77 mins
Julian Henriques

Sparrows Can't Sing

Barbara Windsor’s first starring role is a paean to East End life.

Drama
1963
97 mins
Joan Littlewood

The L-shaped Room

Bryan Forbes directs the Oscar-nominated story of a French woman (Leslie Caron) moving to London while unmarried, pregnant, and alone.

Drama
1962
126 mins
Bryan Forbes

Lunch Hour

Shirley Anne Field stars in this stylish, highly enjoyable story of simmering tensions and sexual conflict in the work place.

Drama
1962
63 mins
James Hill

John Schlesinger makes his feature film debut with this adaptation of Stan Barstow’s novel about a factory worker (Alan Bates) and his complicated relationship to a typist (June Ritchie) who he doesn’t fully love.