Rentals

Features

21st Century British Cinema is in rude health. Internationally acclaimed, with success at festivals and the box office, the BFI is proud to support the breathtaking range of the UK’s filmmaking talent.

The BFI has supported some of the most original and distinguished British films in recent years. Powerful debuts by the likes of Clio Barnard, Tom Shkolnik and Scott Graham tell incisive stories about modern Britain, while established filmmakers like Fernando Mierelles and Michael Winterbottom have taken their ambitious visions to the global stage. Works from filmmakers with new perspectives, such as Andrea Arnold, Ayub Khan Din , Noel Clarke and Max & Dania illustrate the richly diverse range of British stories to be told.

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'71 '71

Thriller 2014 99 mins Director: Yann Demange

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

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3 Steps to Heaven 3 Steps to Heaven

Drama 1995 87 mins Director: Constantine Giannaris

Edgy mixture of black comedy and urban drama about a woman uncovering the hidden truths about her dead lover.

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360 360

Drama 2012 110 mins Director: Fernando Meirelles

Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Anthony Hopkins lead an ensemble cast in a sleek thriller exploring the way our lives interconnect across the world.

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45 Years 45 Years

Drama 2015 95 mins Director: Andrew Haigh

One of the most acclaimed British features of recent years, starring Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay as a couple rocked by news from the past.

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8 Minutes Idle 8 Minutes Idle

Comedy 2012 86 mins Director: Mark Simon Hewis

Quirky British call-centre comedy about whose life is disrupted when he has to start living in his office.

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American Honey American Honey

Drama 2016 163 mins Director: Andrea Arnold

Andrea Arnold dazzles with a sun-soaked and tune-filled epic about door-to-door teenage magazine sellers (led by Shia LeBeouf) traversing the American highways.

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Apostasy Apostasy

Drama 2018 95 mins Director: Dan Kokotajlo

A deeply religious family must decide whether to stick by their relation or abandon her, in this striking debut from Daniel Kokotajlo.

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The Angelic Conversation The Angelic Conversation

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1985 81 mins Director: Derek Jarman

The Angelic Conversation sees Derek Jarman conjure an evocative and radical visualisation of Shakespeare’s love poems.

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Attack the Block Attack the Block

Crime 2011 88 mins Director: Joe Cornish

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.

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Berberian Sound Studio Berberian Sound Studio

Drama 2012 92 mins Director: Peter Strickland

In 1970s Italy, a timid British sound engineer joins the crew on a violent horror film. But the disturbing world of the film soon seeps into reality.

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Beast Beast

Drama 2018 106 mins Director: Michael Pearce

The hunt for a Jersey serial killer sparks a dangerous awakening in a young woman in this astonishing psycho-sexual thriller.

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Bend it Like Beckham Bend it Like Beckham

Sport 2002 112 mins Director: Gurinder Chadha

Gurinder Chadha’s smash hit about an Asian girl with an undying love for football.

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Bill Bill

Comedy 2015 94 mins Director: Richard Bracewell

The Horrible Histories team’s take on Shakespeare’s ‘lost years’, following the hopeless lute player as he leaves his home to follow his dream.

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Brakes Brakes

Comedy 2017 85 mins Director: Mercedes Grower

Breakups have never been funnier, as Mercedes Grower's all-star, ensemble comedy charts the end of various affairs. With Julian Barratt, Steve Oram, Julia Davis and Noel Fielding.

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Broken Broken

Drama 2013 91 mins Director: Rufus Norris

A compelling drama of splintered families and warring neighbours, with a stunning debut from young Eloise Laurence. With Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy.

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Calvary Calvary

Drama 2013 101 mins Director: John Michael McDonagh

Brendan Gleeson and writer-director John Michael McDonagh combine again for a powerful story of a rural priest threatened with death in seven days.

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Brooklyn Brooklyn

Romance 2015 112 mins Director: John Crowley

Saoirse Ronan shines as a woman who journeys from post-war small-town Ireland to New York, in Nick Hornby’s adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s best-selling novel.

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Bunny & the Bull Bunny & the Bull

Comedy 2009 97 mins Director: Paul King

Anarchic comedy from the director of Paddington and The Mighty Boosh, following an odd-couple’s wild European adventure.

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Caravaggio Caravaggio

Biopic 1986 93 mins Director: Derek Jarman

Derek Jarman’s unique biopic of the 17th century Italian artist Michelangelo da Caravaggio is a powerful meditation on sexuality, criminality and art.

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Catch Me Daddy Catch Me Daddy

Thriller 2015 112 mins Director: Daniel Wolfe and Matthew Wolfe

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

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The Comedian The Comedian

Drama 2013 79 mins Director: Tom Shkolnik

Touching drama about a thirtysomething comedian looking for happiness.

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Dark River Dark River

Drama 2018 89 mins Director: Clio Barnard

Clio Barnard follows The Selfish Giant and The Arbor with this searing and eloquent Yorkshire-set drama exploring the fragility of familial relationships.

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Daphne Daphne

Drama 2017 87 mins Director: Peter Mackie Burns

Emily Beecham stars in a powerful character study about a 31-year-old chef who's drifting through her London life, until she witnesses a shocking event…

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Death Defying Acts Death Defying Acts

Drama 2008 93 mins Director: Gillian Armstrong

The great illusionist Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) meets his match when the charming and manipulative Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) magically appears in his life.

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The Deep Blue Sea The Deep Blue Sea

Drama 2011 99 mins Director: Terence Davies

Buried passions boil over in a buttoned-up postwar Britain in Terence Davies acclaimed adaptation of Rattigan's play, starring Rachel Weisz.

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Departure Departure

Drama 2016 108 mins Director: Andrew Steggall

Andrew Steggall’s deft and delicate drama about a teenage dreamer who falls for the rough beauty of a local boy while staying in France.

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Donkey Punch Donkey Punch

Thriller 2008 95 mins Director: Olly Blackburn

Nichola Burley and Jamie Winstone star in the yacht-set shocker, in which a teen sex party turns into a deadly fight for survival.

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The Duke of Burgundy The Duke of Burgundy

Drama 2015 104 mins Director: Peter Strickland

Peter Strickland’s visually and aurally intoxicating tale of sadomasochistic power-play is a daringly erotic sensory feast.

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The Double The Double

Drama 2014 93 mins Director: Richard Ayoade

Richard Ayoade’s stylish and sinister adaptation of Dostoevsky’s story stars Jesse Eisenberg in a dual-role as a timid office clerk confronted by his confident, scheming doppelganger.

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Dreams of a Life Dreams of a Life

Documentary 2011 91 mins Director: Carol Morley

The power of kinship is explored in Carol Morley’s drama-documentary, drawn from real life and resonant with the way we live now.

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Exhibition Exhibition

Drama 2014 105 mins Director: Joanna Hogg

Joanna Hogg's sleek and minimalist comedy about a pair of artists and their emotional attachment to their ultra-modernist apartment.

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Early Man Early Man

Animation & Artists Moving Image 2018 89 mins Director: Nick Park

In Aardman’s latest animated adventure, Caveman Dug and his pet hog, Hognog, must unite their tribe if they're are to survive the threat of pompous tyrant Lord Nooth.

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An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn

Comedy 2018 108 mins Director: Jim Hosking

Lulu Danger's (Aubrey Plaza) unsatisfying marriage takes a turn for the worse when a former lover comes to town in this strange and surreal comedy.

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Friendship's Death Friendship's Death

Science Fiction 1987 72 mins Director: Peter Wollen

Tilda Swinton plays an extra-terrestrial android discussing life’s big questions in this unique sci-fi by influential film theorist Peter Wollen.

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Fast Girls Fast Girls

Sport 2012 91 mins Director: Regan Hall

The four young runners on the Team GB women's relay team battle to overcome rivalries and personal demons in time for the World Athletics Championship.

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Fish Tank Fish Tank

Drama 2009 118 mins Director: Andrea Arnold

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.

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God's Own Country God's Own Country

Drama 2017 105 mins Director: Francis Lee

A troubled young sheep farmer falls for a hired hand in this stunning debut from Francis Lee.

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Frank Frank

Comedy 2014 95 mins Director: Lenny Abrahamson

Michael Fassbender is the man inside the papier-mâché head, in this fictionalised reimagining of the story of northern entertainer Frank Sidebottom.

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Free Fire Free Fire

Action and Adventure 2017 90 mins Director: Ben Wheatley

Ben Wheatley’s (High-Rise, Sightseers) all-guns-blazing bullet opera, starring Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy and Armie Hammer.

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The Greasy Strangler The Greasy Strangler

Comedy 2016 93 mins Director: Jim Hosking

A father-son love triangle unleashes the unstoppable urges of the Greasy Strangler, in this gloriously deranged hybrid of gross-out comedy and gonzo horror.

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Franklyn Franklyn

Fantasy 2009 98 mins Director: Gerald McMorrow

Eva Green, Ryan Phillippe and Sam Riley star in an intricate, ambitious sci-fi drama that follows four parallel realities, each based around characters searching for salvation.

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Ginger & Rosa Ginger & Rosa

Drama 2012 90 mins Director: Sally Potter

Teenage friendship is torn apart when Rosa finds love in the wrong place, in Sally Potter's acute, 60s-set drama.

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The Guard The Guard

Comedy 2011 92 mins Director: John Michael McDonagh

Brendan Gleeson plays the Garda sergeant reluctantly pitted on the trail of a major drug-smuggling ring, in John Michael McDonagh’s wild comedy.

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Great Expectations Great Expectations

Drama 2012 129 mins Director: Mike Newell

Pip, a poor blacksmith's apprentice, becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor. A BAFTA-nominated telling of the Dickens' classic.

Currently unavailable

Grow Your Own Grow Your Own

Comedy 2007 97 mins Director: Richard Laxton

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

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High-Rise High-Rise

Science Fiction 2016 119 mins Director: Ben Wheatley

Ben Wheatley's savage and brilliant adaptation of JG Ballard's dystopian satire, starring Tom Hiddleston.

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Harry Brown Harry Brown

Crime 2009 103 mins Director: Daniel Barber

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

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Happy-Go-lucky Happy-Go-lucky

Comedy 2008 118 mins Director: Mike Leigh

Sally Hawkins shines in her breakout role as the perpetually sunny Poppy, in Mike Leigh’s charming drama about the power of optimism.

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I, Daniel Blake I, Daniel Blake

Drama 2016 100 mins Director: Ken Loach

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.

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Hyena Hyena

Crime 2015 112 mins Director: Gerard Johnson

In this stylish, dark crime thriller, a policeman’s complex web of underworld relationships is threatened by an internal affairs investigator.

Currently unavailable

I Am Not a Witch I Am Not a Witch

Drama 2017 93 mins Director: Rungano Nyoni

Welsh-raised, Zambian-born Rungano Nyoni delivers a dazzling debut with this darkly satirical fairy tale about a little girl accused of being a witch.

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The Iron Lady The Iron Lady

Drama 2012 105 mins Director: Phyllida Lloyd

Meryl Streep delivers an extraordinary performance as Margaret Thatcher in a provocative portrait.

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The Invisible Woman The Invisible Woman

Biopic 2014 111 mins Director: Ralph Fiennes

Ralph Fiennes directs and stars in this adaptation of Claire Tomalin’s book about the long-standing affair between Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan.

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Iona Iona

Drama 2016 85 mins Director: Scott Graham

Scott Graham’s follow-up to Shell follows a woman whose return to a Scottish island arouses dormant passions.

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The King's Speech The King's Speech

Historical drama 2011 113 mins Director: Tom Hooper

Oscar-winning tale of the relationship between King George VI (Colin Firth) and the Australian speech therapist who treated his stammer.

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Journeyman Journeyman

Drama 2018 92 mins Director: Paddy Considine

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.

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Kill List Kill List

Crime 2011 92 mins Director: Ben Wheatley

Ben Wheatley’s ultra-violent second feature, invoking both The Wicker Man and Apocalypse Now.

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Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth

Period drama 2017 89 mins Director: William Oldroyd

Florence Pugh shines in this exceptional British debut of a young wife's need for freedom, whatever the cost.

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The Levelling The Levelling

Drama 2016 84 mins Director: Hope Dickson Leach

Hope Dickson Leach's hugely impressive first feature about a middle class farming family’s crisis, set against the backdrop of the Somerset floods.

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Lila Says Lila Says

Drama 2007 87 mins Director: Ziad Doueiri

Ziad Doueiri’s provocative Lila Says is a sun-drenched romance full of sensuality, secrets, and tragedy.

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Lilting Lilting

Drama 2014 86 mins Director: Hong Khaou

Ben Whishaw stars in an intimate portrait of two strangers brought together by the common language of grief.

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The Lighthouse The Lighthouse

Drama 2015 102 mins Director: Chris Crow

Based on a true story, Chris Crow’s atmospheric chamber piece follows the dark and dire fortunes of two men trapped on a lighthouse for months on end.

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The Lobster The Lobster

Science Fiction 2015 118 mins Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Colin Farrell, Ben Whishaw and Rachel Weisz star in this bleakly hilarious dystopian drama from Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth).

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London Road London Road

Musical 2015 92 mins Director: Rufus Norris

Daring, startling and wholly original: a musical based on the infamous Ipswich murders of 2006, adapted by National Theatre director Rufus Norris.

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Madagascar Skin Madagascar Skin

Drama 1995 91 mins Director: Christopher Newby

John Hannah stars as a painfully shy gay man who escapes the city in Chris Newby’s extraordinary second feature.

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Mindhorn Mindhorn

Comedy 2017 88 mins Director: Sean Foley

Julian Barratt is hilarious as the washed-up actor forced to reprise his 80s TV role as a sleuth with a robotic truth-telling eye, to help catch a deranged killer.

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Norfolk Norfolk

Drama 2016 83 mins Director: Martin Radich

A father and son dwelling in a remote wasteland wage a war against a gang of local revolutionaries, in Martin Radich’s unsettling rural drama.

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Neds Neds

Crime 2011 124 mins Director: Peter Mullan

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.

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Possum Possum

Horror 2018 85 mins Director: Matthew Holness

"Can you spy him deep within? Little Possum. Black as sin." The reliably deranged Sean Harris is plagued by an evil puppet in this dark, brooding fable from Matthew Holness.

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Queen and Country Queen and Country

Comedy 2015 115 mins Director: John Boorman

John Boorman’s follow up to Hope and Glory finds 18-year-old Bill called up for National Service against the backdrop of the Korean War.

Currently unavailable

Pride Pride

Comedy 2014 120 mins Director: Matthew Warchus

The smash culture-clash comedy tells the incredible true story of how miners and a Gay Pride support group come together to fight a common cause.

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Remainder Remainder

Drama 2016 103 mins Director: Omer Fast

Omer Fast’s gripping puzzle-box thriller about an amnesiac reconstructing his elusive past.

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The Selfish Giant The Selfish Giant

Drama 2013 91 mins Director: Clio Barnard

Two Yorkshire tearaways struggle with life and friendship in this challenging, compassionate growing-up tale by the director of The Arbor.

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Sightseers Sightseers

Comedy 2012 88 mins Director: Ben Wheatley

Young lovers Chris and Tina turn their first holiday together into a rural killing spree in Ben Wheatley's priceless black comedy.

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Slow West Slow West

Western 2015 84 mins Director: John Maclean

A teenage boy treks through a harsh American west accompanied by a bounty hunter of dubious morality, in this indie western that’s dripped with blood and drenched in style.

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Streetdance Streetdance

Musical 2010 98 mins Director: Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini

A streetdance crew are forced to take in some ballet dancers in order to compete at their UK finals. With performances by Diversity and Flawless.

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Spaceship Spaceship

Comedy 2017 90 mins Director: Alex Taylor

British teen cinema gets an injection of hallucinogenic imagination, plus a few unicorns and aliens, in Alex Taylor’s unclassifiable debut feature.

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The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers

Animation & Artists Moving Image 2016 95 mins Director: Ben Rivers

Britain’s brilliant experimental filmmaker Ben Rivers (Two Years at Sea) presents this haunting desert parable which follows a filmmaker’s abduction and ritual humiliation.

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Trap for Cinderella Trap for Cinderella

Drama 2013 100 mins Director: Iain Softley

Emilia Fox delves into Tuppence Middleton’s repressed childhood memories, in Iain Softley’s erotic and elaborate psycho-thriller.

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Submarine Submarine

Comedy 2011 97 mins Director: Richard Ayoade

Richard Ayoade’s sweet and quirky directorial debut about a Swansea teen’s travails with his distant girlfriend and warring parents.

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Testament of Youth Testament of Youth

Drama 2015 130 mins Director: James Kent

Alicia Vikander brings to life the extraordinary life of Vera Brittain, whose affair with a dashing friend (Kit Harington) is cruelly cut short by the onset of war.

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Trishna Trishna

Drama 2012 114 mins Director: Michael Winterbottom

Tragedy befalls a young Indian woman when she falls in love with a rich British man in Michael Winterbottom's sharp Thomas Hardy update.

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Traveller Traveller

Drama 1981 81 mins Director: Joe Comerford

Reluctant newlywed travellers Angela and Michael try to smuggle goods across the border in this lyrical Irish road movie written by Neil Jordan.

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Trespass Against Us Trespass Against Us

Crime 2017 99 mins Director: Adam Smith

Brendan Gleeson and Michael Fassbender are the father and son outlaws in this exhilarating crime drama with a Chemical Brothers soundtrack.

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A United Kingdom A United Kingdom

Drama 2016 111 mins Director: Amma Asante

Amma Assante (Belle) directs this impassioned drama starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike depicting an interracial romance that changed the world.

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Tyrannosaur Tyrannosaur

Drama 2011 92 mins Director: Paddy Considine

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

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Under the Skin Under the Skin

Horror 2014 108 mins Director: Jonathan Glazer

An alien Scarlett Johansson prowls the streets of Glasgow in Jonathan Glazer’s astonishing, mind-bending mixture of existential sci-fi and inner-city realism.

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Viceroy's House Viceroy's House

Drama 2017 106 mins Director: Gurinder Chadha

Gurinder Chadha channels David Lean for this sweeping romance set during the last days of the Raj, with Hugh Bonneville and Gillian Anderson as Lord and Lady Mountbatten.

Currently unavailable

Venus Venus

Comedy 2007 95 mins Director: Roger Michell

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.

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Vera Drake Vera Drake

Drama 2005 120 mins Director: Mike Leigh

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

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Wittgenstein Wittgenstein

Biopic 1993 72 mins Director: Derek Jarman

Wittgenstein is a bold, offbeat biography, exploring the politics and sexuality of the great, troubled philosopher.

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The Violators The Violators

Drama 2016 96 mins Director: Helen Walsh

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.

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We Need to Talk About Kevin We Need to Talk About Kevin

Drama 2011 112 mins Director: Lynne Ramsay

Tilda Swinton gives a BAFTA-nominated performance as the mother of a teenager who commits a high school massacre. With Ezra Miller and John C. Reilly.

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You Were Never Really Here You Were Never Really Here

Thriller 2017 90 mins Director: Lynne Ramsay

Lynne Ramsay journeys with Joaquin Phoenix into the mind of an ex-soldier gun-for-hire whose own demons are as brutal as the actions of his adversaries.

Currently unavailable

Wuthering Heights Wuthering Heights

Drama 2011 129 mins Director: Andrea Arnold

Andrea Arnold's bold re-imagining of the Emily Brontë classic.

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