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Kermode introduces
The UK's best-known film critic Mark Kermode gives exclusive introductions to films selected from subscription
Each one probes the making and meaning of the film, and explains why it's essential viewing.
Daisies Daisies
Comedy 1966 73 mins Director: Věra Chytilová
Two self-confessed hedonists wreak wanton havoc in Věra Chytilová's visually spectacular neo-dadaist farce.
Heathers Heathers
Comedy 1989 103 mins Director: Michael Lehmann
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater star in the endlessly quotable cult black comedy that subverted expectations of teen movies forever.
Female Human Animal Female Human Animal
Drama-documentary 2018 74 mins Director: Josh Appignanesi
Josh Appignanesi's art-world psycho-thriller blends reality and fiction to delirious effect, in its tale of an exhibition curator pursued by a mysterious figure.
The Battle of Algiers The Battle of Algiers
Drama 1966 121 mins Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
Gillo Pontecorvo’s masterpiece about the last years of French colonial rule in Algeria, seen from the perspective of both the revolutionaries and the French authorities.
Island of the Hungry Ghosts Island of the Hungry Ghosts
Documentary 2018 98 mins Director: Gabrielle Brady
A therapist helps traumatised refugees detained on a remote island where powerful natural and tribal rituals prevail, in this extraordinary mix of fact and fiction.
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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A Cambodian Spring A Cambodian Spring
Documentary 2018 127 mins Director: Chris Kelly
Filmed over 6 years, Chris Kelly's BAFTA-nominated documentary follows the lives of three people caught up in violent land-rights protests, in this illuminating record of a neglected tragedy.
The Old Dark House The Old Dark House
Comedy 1932 72 mins Director: James Whale
A group of weary travellers arrive at a spooky mansion with a madman on the loose, in this classic horror-comedy from James Whale (Bride of Frankenstein)
A Northern Soul A Northern Soul
Documentary 2018 73 mins Director: Sean McAllister
Acclaimed filmmaker Sean McAllister (A Syrian Love Story) returns to his hometown of Hull to profile local resident Steve Arnott, a struggling warehouse worker who harbours his own creative dream of breaking into hip-hop.
La notte La notte
Drama 1961 122 mins Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni's masterpiece stars Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau as a couple re-examining their emotional bonds.
Fanny and Alexander Fanny and Alexander
Drama 1982 311 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Bergman’s magisterial and sumptuous portrait of a 20th-century Swedish family, presented in its full-length TV version.
The Kreutzer Sonata The Kreutzer Sonata
Drama 2010 96 mins Director: Bernard Rose
Bernard Rose updates Tolstoy's tale about the corrupting power of sex and jealousy, with Danny Huston as the wealthy husband of a beautiful, famous pianist (Elisabeth Röhm).
Love Exposure Love Exposure
Comedy 2008 237 mins Director: Sion Sono
Japanese cinema's enfant terrible, Sion Sono, unleashes this demented, whirlwind tale of cults, love, violence and perversion.
8½ 8½
Drama 1963 138 mins Director: Federico Fellini
Fellini triumphantly conjured himself out of writer's block with this magnum opus about a film director experiencing his own creative crisis.
La Grande Bouffe La Grande Bouffe
Comedy 1973 130 mins Director: Marco Ferreri
Marco Ferreri's provocative and controversial satire about four friends who retreat to a country mansion with the intention of eating themselves to death.
Suspiria Suspiria
Horror 1977 101 mins Director: Dario Argento
Dario Argento’s phantasmagoric gothic nightmare blends operatic violence, disorienting dream logic and hyper-real visuals to create a horror classic.
Trans-Europ-Express Trans-Europ-Express
Thriller 1966 95 mins Director: Alain Robbe-Grillet
This stylish, cult 1966 erotic thriller stars French New Wave icons Jean-Louis Trintigant and Marie-France Pisier.
Successive Slidings of Pleasure Successive Slidings of Pleasure
Drama 1974 106 mins Director: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet’s serpentine erotic mystery presented as a surreal investigation into a woman with feared sexual powers.
Listen Up Philip Listen Up Philip
Drama 2014 109 mins Director: Alex Ross Perry
Jason Schwartzman is a hotshot writer with pathological intimacy problems in this caustic comedy of over-achievement.
Dark Water Dark Water
Horror 2002 101 mins Director: Hideo Nakata
A single mother desperately tries to shield her daughter from hidden terrors in her apartment block, in Hideo Nakata's chilling masterpiece.
Second Coming Second Coming
Drama 2015 105 mins Director: debbie tucker green
What if an immaculate conception took place in a South London household? Idris Elba stars in a subtle, thought-provoking and original family drama.
The Artist and the Model The Artist and the Model
Drama 2012 105 mins Director: Fernando Trueba
Fernando Trueba's deeply moving meditation on the artistic process and the nature of humanity, with Jean Rochefort as an ageing artist inspired to paint once more.
Heaven Knows What Heaven Knows What
Drama 2014 97 mins Director: Joshua Safdie and Benny Safdie
From the directors of Good Time, this electrifying drama about a homeless addict on the streets of New York pulsates with a dark, raw energy.
Suture Suture
Thriller 1994 96 mins Director: Scott Mcgehee and David Siegel
David Siegel and Scott McGehee's sumptuously shot neo-noir is a moody, monochrome meditation on race and identity politics.
Almost Heaven Almost Heaven
Documentary 2017 72 mins Director: Carol Salter
Carol Salter's award-winning portrait of a young Chinese woman training to become a mortician is a tender and reflective elegy on death and the fragility of life.
Irma Vep Irma Vep
Drama 1996 99 mins Director: Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas' sexy and stylish ode to the madness of filmmaking, with Maggie Cheung as the Hong Kong star playing a Catwoman-style anti-heroine.
The Ninth Configuration The Ninth Configuration
Horror 1979 118 mins Director: William Peter Blatty
From the writer of The Exorcist, one of the ultimate cult film experiences: William Peter Blatty's unclassifiable blend of unhinged psychological thriller and anarchic comedy.
The Green Ray The Green Ray
Drama 1986 99 mins Director: Eric Rohmer
Eric Rohmer's masterpiece about a woman chasing romance and adventure during a long, hot summer.
Matinee Matinee
Comedy 1993 99 mins Director: Joe Dante
Joe Dante (Gremlins) directs this affectionate homage to 1950s sci-fi cinema, with John Goodman as a cigar-chomping B-movie producer trying to cash in on the Cuban missile crisis.
Metropolis Metropolis
Science Fiction 1927 150 mins Silent Director: Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang’s expressionist, dystopian vision is one of the first science fiction feature films, and is arguably the most influential.
Betty Blue Betty Blue
Drama 1986 185 mins Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix
Jean-Jacques Beineix’s story of a volatile, highly sexual relationship was one of the most successful French films of the 1980s.
A Hard Day's Night A Hard Day's Night
Musical 1964 88 mins Director: Richard Lester
The Beatles’ freewheeling film debut remains the pinnacle of rock-n-roll cinema; still deliriously entertaining 50 years on.
Hotel Salvation Hotel Salvation
Drama 2016 99 mins Director: Shubhashish Bhutiani
This gentle, tender and award-winning Indian comedy follows the ordeal of an over-worked modern son forced to accompany his 77-year-old father to the holy city of Varanasi, where he plans to end his days.
Kwaidan Kwaidan
Horror 1964 183 mins Director: Masaki Kobayashi
This stunningly beautiful anthology of Japanese ghost stories is one of the most meticulously crafted supernatural films ever made.
Welcome to Leith Welcome to Leith
Documentary 2015 86 mins Director: Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker
What would you do if a Nazi moved next door? This chilling documentary follows the white supremacist takeover of a tiny Dakotan town.
Room 237 Room 237
Documentary 2012 103 mins Director: Rodney Ascher
Rodney Ascher's enigmatic essay film weaves together the contrasting theories of five different narrators who believe Stanley Kubrick deliberately buried hidden messages in his 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s novel.
In a Better World In a Better World
Drama 2010 113 mins Director: Susanne Bier
Susanne Bier’s sumptuous, Oscar-winning drama explores the duality of a doctor working in a Sudanese refugee camp and his troubled family life in rural Denmark.
The Seventh Seal The Seventh Seal
Fantasy 1957 96 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman’s best-known film is a brilliant allegorical drama starring Max von Sydow as a knight trying to elude his own death.
Frozen River Frozen River
Crime 2008 93 mins Director: Courtney Hunt
Nominated for two Oscars (Best Actress – Melissa Leo - and Best Original Screenplay) Frozen River is a riveting thriller that raises questions about the borders we construct, between countries, communities and each other.
Mademoiselle Chambon Mademoiselle Chambon
Drama 2009 100 mins Director: Stéphane Brizé
When a happily married man decides to volunteer at his son’s school, he begins to form a romantic bond with a teacher in this intimate French drama.
Bypass Bypass
Drama 2015 105 mins Director: Duane Hopkins
Duane Hopkins’ follow up to Better Things is a striking, poetic drama about a young man on the edge.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Fantasy 2010 109 mins Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong's Cannes prizewinner, about an ailing man revisiting his past, is a measured, lyrical evocation of mysterious beauty and quiet humanity
Spanking the Monkey Spanking the Monkey
Comedy 1994 95 mins Director: David O. Russell
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) made his feature debut in 1994 with this biting black comedy, which caused a stir with its incestuous subplot and portrayal of adolescent restlessness.
The Beast The Beast
Comedy 1975 98 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
An outrageous classic of erotic cinema, Walerian Borowczyk’s playful and subversive fantasy finds a horny heiress courting the ravenous desires of a wild beast.
The Housemaid The Housemaid
Thriller 2010 107 mins Director: Im Sang-soo
An enigmatic housemaid and her wealthy, totalitarian employer begin an affair that will have disastrous consequences for them both.
Wake in Fright Wake in Fright
Drama 1971 109 mins Director: Ted Kotcheff
In this classic, broiling Australian thriller, an exasperated schoolteacher finds himself stranded in the dusty outback town of Bundanyabba, where the growing isolation and unhinged locals begin to eat away at his sanity.
The Passion of Joan of Arc The Passion of Joan of Arc
Biopic 1928 80 mins Silent Director: Carl Th. Dreyer
An incontestable masterpiece of silent cinema, Carl Dreyer's moving biopic features one of the most powerful performances ever captured on film.
Half Nelson Half Nelson
Drama 2006 107 mins Director: Ryan Fleck
Ryan Gosling received his first Oscar nomination for his performance as an inspirational inner city high school teacher, in this moving story of redemption in an unforgiving world
Carancho Carancho
Film noir 2010 107 mins Director: Pablo Trapero
A lawyer who works as a ‘carancho’ – an ambulance chaser – falls for a doctor he meets during a late night search for potential clients.
Paris, Texas Paris, Texas
Drama 1984 145 mins Director: Wim Wenders
The late, great Harry Dean Stanton's finest role came as the near-mute Travis, on a journey across America to reunite his family, in Wim Wenders' moving tale of loss and redemption.
Donnie Darko Donnie Darko
Drama 2001 113 mins Director: Richard Kelly
Richard Kelly's astounding debut feature is a mix of stylish eighties veneer and existential horror starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the troubled teen who is haunted by a giant rabbit prophesying the apocalypse.
A Syrian Love Story A Syrian Love Story
Documentary 2015 76 mins Director: Sean McAllister
The inspiring journey towards freedom of Raghda and Amer, a couple brought together by the turmoil of the Syrian Civil War.
Mystery Road Mystery Road
Crime 2013 121 mins Director: Ivan Sen
An Aboriginal cop returns to his hometown to solve the brutal murder of a teenage girl, uncovering a web of corruption and a growing body count, in Ivan Sen's acclaimed Australian riff on the Western genre.
Fantastic Planet Fantastic Planet
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1973 72 mins Director: René Laloux
René Laloux and Roland Topor’s surreal, psychedelic sci-fi animation imagines a world in which humanoid creatures are kept as pets by a race of giants.
M M
Crime 1931 111 mins Director: Fritz Lang
Peter Lorre is unforgettable as the compulsive child murderer on the run from both police and criminals alike, in Fritz Lang’s seminal crime film.
Computer Chess Computer Chess
Comedy 2013 91 mins Director: Andrew Bujalski
Andrew Bujalski’s hilarious and surreal comedy about the birth of computer culture, set in an early 1980s conference where primitive programmers take on chess masters.
The Shout The Shout
Drama 1978 83 mins Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Cannes’ Grand Jury Prize was awarded to this unnerving drama about a man who claims to be able to kill people with a ‘terror shout’ learned from an Aboriginal shaman.
Court Court
Drama 2014 116 mins Director: Chaitanya Tamhane
Hailed as a modern classic channelling the spirit of Satyajit Ray, Chaitanya Tamhane's film is an absurdist portrait of injustice in contemporary India.
Napoléon Pt 1 Napoléon Pt 1
Biopic 1927 177 mins Silent Director: Abel Gance
Abel Gance’s silent epic, one of the most magnificent spectacles in all cinema is finally restored in this stunning new digital restoration.
Napoléon Pt 2 Napoléon Pt 2
Biopic 1927 156 mins Silent Director: Abel Gance
Abel Gance’s silent epic, one of the most magnificent spectacles in all cinema is finally restored in this stunning new digital restoration.
Great Expectations Great Expectations
Period drama 1947 118 mins Director: David Lean
The first of David Lean’s two Dickens adaptations is one of the finest British literary interpretations and one of the most acclaimed of all British films.
White of the Eye White of the Eye
Thriller 1987 111 mins Director: Donald Cammell
British visionary Donald Cammell directs this kaleidoscopic, highly stylised thriller about a series of brutal murders in an isolated community.
A Moving Image A Moving Image
Drama 2017 74 mins Director: Shola Amoo
The gentrification of London’s Brixton is examined in this probing and stylistically ambitious debut feature.
Whisky Galore! Whisky Galore!
Comedy 1949 83 mins Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Ealing's thirstiest comedy: "the longest unsponsored advertisement ever to reach cinema screens"?
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Thriller 1969 97 mins Director: Dario Argento
Dario Argento's hugely influential thriller, about a murder witness who becomes amateur detective, added sex and style to the murder-mystery and kick-started Italy's 'giallo' genre.
London Symphony London Symphony
Documentary 2017 72 mins Director: Alex Barrett
A poetic journey through the capital, presenting an artistic snapshot of London as it stands today, and a celebration of its rich diversity of culture, architecture and religion.
The Headless Woman The Headless Woman
Drama 2008 86 mins Director: Lucrecia Martel
A woman is plagued by paranoia after she hits something – or someone – with her car in Lucrecia Martel’s acclaimed psychological thriller.
The Third Man The Third Man
Thriller 1949 105 mins Director: Carol Reed
Carol Reed's timeless classic, one of the greatest British films, lavishly marries a perfect script, an unforgettable theme tune and the star power of Orson Welles.
The Mask of Satan The Mask of Satan
Horror 1960 86 mins Director: Mario Bava
Italian horror classic from acclaimed Italian horror auteur Mario Bava, about a beautiful witch Asa (Barbara Steele) who rises from her grave to take revenge upon her enemies.
By the Time It Gets Dark By the Time It Gets Dark
Drama 2016 106 mins Director: Anocha Suwichakornpong
Anocha Suwichakornpong's mesmerising and innovative treatise on memory, politics and cinema.
Tokyo Story Tokyo Story
Drama 1953 136 mins Director: Yasujirō Ozu
A fixture in critics' polls, Yasujirō Ozu's most enduring masterpiece is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret.
Quatermass and the Pit Quatermass and the Pit
Horror 1967 94 mins Director: Roy Ward Baker
One of Britain’s finest sci-fi films, based on Nigel Kneale’s masterful script, about the discovery of ancient alien craft beneath central London.
The Goob The Goob
Drama 2015 84 mins Director: Guy Myhill
A teen seeks meaning as an East Anglian summer and a violent outsider threaten to overwhelm.
Electricity Electricity
Drama 2014 96 mins Director: Bryn Higgins
Agyness Deyn stars in a powerful story seen through the eyes of a young woman whose epilepsy brings extraordinary hallucinations.
Belle de Jour Belle de Jour
Drama 1967 100 mins Director: Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel's provocative classic about a bored and neglected housewife (Catherine Deneuve) risks her reputation to take up a daring new hobby.
A Hijacking A Hijacking
Thriller 2012 103 mins Director: Tobias Lindholm
Tobias Lindholm’s thriller refreshes the genre as a ship's cook, Somali pirates and a CEO negotiate an endgame.
Further Beyond Further Beyond
Biopic 2016 88 mins Director: Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor
Desperate Optimists' deliriously deconstructed biopic of the extraordinary Ambrosio O'Higgins, who left Ireland to become the captain general of Chile in the Spanish Empire.
Blancanieves Blancanieves
Drama 2011 105 mins Director: Pablo Berger
Pablo Berger’s imaginative black-and-white ‘silent’ movie relocates the story of Snow White to 1920s Spain – complete with bullfighting dwarfs
The Reflecting Skin The Reflecting Skin
Horror 1990 96 mins Director: Philip Ridley
Stunningly photographed drama about a young American boy caught up in the nightmare of a sinister rural community.
Night Moves Night Moves
Thriller 2013 113 mins Director: Kelly Reichardt
Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning star in a taut political thriller about radical environmentalists planning to commit an act of eco-terrorism.
Delicatessen Delicatessen
Comedy 1990 100 mins Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Jeunet and Caro's endlessly inventive and wildly enjoyable post-apocalyptic black comedy, about a sinister butcher and the circus clown who becomes his nemesis.
Victim Victim
Drama 1961 100 mins Director: Basil Dearden
This thought-provoking classic stars Dirk Bogarde as a homosexual lawyer who risks his career to hunt down a blackmailer.
The Tree of Wooden Clogs The Tree of Wooden Clogs
Period drama 1978 186 mins Director: Ermanno Olmi
Ermanno Olmi’s Palme d’Or-winner, about the hardships faced by peasants in late 19th-century Lombardy, is a masterpiece of neorealism.
Edith Walks Edith Walks
Documentary 2017 61 mins Director: Andrew Kötting
Andrew Kötting undertakes a pilgrimage in honour of Edith Swan Neck, first wife of King Harold, in this eccentric odyssey in search of English identity.
Gomorrah Gomorrah
Crime 2008 132 mins Director: Matteo Garrone
Matteo Garrone's unnervingly authentic Naples crime drama won the Grand Prix at Cannes before inspiring a hit TV series.
Amour Fou Amour Fou
Period drama 2014 92 mins Director: Jessica Hausner
Jessica Hausner’s long-awaited follow-up to Lourdes is a devilish anti-Rom-Com in which a German poet seeks mates for a suicide pact.
Bicycle Thieves Bicycle Thieves
Drama 1948 89 mins Director: Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica’s story of a father and son searching for a stolen bicycle on the streets of Rome is a classic of post-war Italian cinema.
The Host The Host
Science Fiction 2006 115 mins Director: Bong Joon-ho
Bong Joon-ho's barnstorming yet highly original monster movie follows an eccentric family's attempts to rescue the daughter snatched by a huge amphibious creature.
Brick Lane Brick Lane
Drama 2007 97 mins Director: Sarah Gavron
Sarah Gavron’s subtle and intelligent adaptation of Monica Ali’s acclaimed novel charts the experiences of a Bangladeshi woman in London.
The Hunt The Hunt
Drama 2012 111 mins Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Mads Mikkelsen stars in a distressing examination of a false indictment, and the collective hysteria that ensues, in this electrifying drama from Festen director Thomas Vinterberg.
Billy Liar Billy Liar
Comedy 1963 98 mins Silent Director: John Schlesinger
Tom Courtenay is the clerk whose overactive fantasies compensate for a dull provincial life, in this classic film from the British New Wave.
The Devil's Backbone The Devil's Backbone
Horror 2001 108 mins Director: Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo Del Toro’s elegant and chilling ghost story, set in an orphanage for victims of the Spanish Civil War, which is haunted by the spectre of young boy.
Immoral Tales Immoral Tales
Anthology 1974 103 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Walerian Borowczyk presents four stories of sexual taboos throughout the ages, in his highly controversial classic of 1970s erotic cinema.
Ran Ran
Drama 1985 154 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa’s visually spectacular epic transplants Shakespeare’s King Lear from Celtic Britain to feudal Japan.
Breathless [À bout de souffle] Breathless [À bout de souffle]
Film noir 1960 90 mins Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard’s extraordinary debut feature, an insouciant and iconoclastic crime film that paved the way for the French New Wave.
Fear Eats the Soul Fear Eats the Soul
Melodrama 1974 93 mins Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fassbinder’s international breakthrough, this unconventional love story combines lucid social analysis with devastating emotional power.
Symptoms Symptoms
Drama 1976 91 mins Director: José R. Larraz
The official British Palme d'Or entry at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, Symptoms is a sophisticated modern gothic horror film exploring the themes of sexual repression and psychosis.
Mother Mother
Thriller 2009 129 mins Director: Bong Joon-ho
Acclaimed Korean actor Kim Hye-ja is outstanding as a mother who will do anything to protect her son, in Bong Joon Ho’s fourth feature.
Love and Death on Long Island Love and Death on Long Island
Comedy 1998 89 mins Director: Richard Kwietniowski
John Hurt stars in Richard Kwietniowski’s comedy of fame and obsession about an older man (Hurt) who becomes infatuated with a young Hollywood actor (Jason Priestley), and proceeds to track him down.
Amores perros Amores perros
Drama 2000 148 mins Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu's (Birdman, The Revenant) gripping debut feature is a savagely brilliant triptych around the theme of animalistic desires.
The Railway Children The Railway Children
Period drama 1970 109 mins Director: Lionel Jeffries
The beloved children’s classic about a London family who move near a Yorkshire railway station; one of the classiest examples of British period nostalgia.
Peeping Tom Peeping Tom
Drama 1960 101 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s dark, disturbing, once controversial tale of a shy camera technician who films women as he kills them is now rightly deemed a classic.
Le Mépris Le Mépris
Drama 1963 103 mins Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard conducts an autopsy of love and the creative process, as a boorish film producer dismantles a seemingly strong marriage.
The Elephant Man The Elephant Man
Biopic 1980 124 mins Director: David Lynch
David Lynch's moving true-life tale of the severely deformed Joseph Merrick and his rescue from the hell of a Victorian circus sideshow.
Red Desert Red Desert
Drama 1964 117 mins Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Antonioni's mid-career masterpiece stars Monica Vitti as an emotionally anguished young woman embarking on a tentative affair with a businessman (Richard Harris).
Short Term 12 Short Term 12
Drama 2013 97 mins Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
A care-worker is confronted by a troubled teen whose case history provokes an unwelcome reminder of her own concealed and traumatic past.
Face Face
Crime 1997 101 mins Director: Antonia Bird
Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone are members of a criminal gang that tears itself apart after a heist goes wrong, in Antonia Bird’s stylish thriller.
Things to Come Things to Come
Science Fiction 1936 97 mins Director: William Cameron Menzies
H.G. Wells' chilling vision of the future, which imagines the 20th Century as a near-endless war and struggle against tyranny, remains a key milestone in British science fiction.
A Personal Journey... Part 1 A Personal Journey... Part 1
Documentary 1995 72 mins Director: Martin Scorsese and Michael Henry Wilson
The first part of Martin Scorsese's 'personal journey' through American Cinema.
The Immigrant The Immigrant
Comedy 1917 24 mins Silent Director: Charles Chaplin
One of Chaplin’s most famous early shorts finds the Little Tramp aboard a ship bound for America, mistakenly accused of being a pickpocket.
By Our Selves By Our Selves
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2015 80 mins Director: Andrew Kötting
The latest psycho-geographical excursion from Andrew Kötting and Iain Sinclair
For Those in Peril For Those in Peril
Drama 2013 92 mins Director: Paul Wright
An intense and mysterious drama about the lone survivor of a strange fishing accident who’s outcast and persecuted by his fellow villagers.
Distant Voices, Still Lives Distant Voices, Still Lives
Biopic 1988 84 mins Director: Terence Davies
Terence Davies' debut feature is a remarkable evocation of working-class family life in the 40s and 50s and a visionary exploration of memory.
Within Our Gates Within Our Gates
Drama 1919 74 mins Silent Director: Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Micheaux’s startling silent classic – the earliest surviving feature from an African-American director.
My Brother the Devil My Brother the Devil
Drama 2012 107 mins Director: Sally El Hosaini
Sally El Hosaini's feature debut tells of the love and disenchantment of two British-Egyptian brothers as gangs, drugs and sexuality come between them.
Land and Freedom Land and Freedom
War 1995 105 mins Director: Ken Loach
Ken Loach’s passionate war drama follows an idealistic young Liverpudlian (Ian Hart) who fights for the international brigade during the Spanish Civil War.
Bullet Boy Bullet Boy
Drama 2005 86 mins Director: Saul Dibb
Ashley Walters impresses in the hard-hitting Hackney drama that’s still one of the best of Britain’s black urban crime films.
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Period drama 1925 91 mins Silent Director: Rupert Julian
'Man of a thousand faces' Lon Chaney stars in the first version of Gaston Leroux's oft-filmed novel.
Unrelated Unrelated
Drama 2008 96 mins Director: Joanna Hogg
On a Tuscan break a fortysomething woman finds herself drawn to the company of a group of partying teens, including a young Tom Hiddleston.
Las acacias Las acacias
Road movie 2011 83 mins Director: Pablo Giorgelli
Pablo Giorgelli's debut is a slow, touching Argentinian road-movie about a quiet trucker warming to a woman and child he reluctantly gives a lift to
Red Road Red Road
Thriller 2006 110 mins Director: Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold’s highly acclaimed film, winner of top prizes at Cannes and the BFI London Film Festival, is a haunting drama about a woman confronting past demons.
Dogtooth Dogtooth
Drama 2009 93 mins Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Yorgos Lanthimos' scary, witty tale of a dysfunctional Greek family is original, ingenious and sadly relevant as a study of parent-child relationships
Underground Underground
Romance 1928 93 mins Silent Director: Anthony Asquith
The BFI National Archive restoration of one of Anthony Asquith's finest silent films set in London's Underground, with a new score.
The Arbor The Arbor
Biopic 2010 90 mins Director: Clio Barnard
Clio Barnard's film about Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar mixes reconstruction, interviews (performed by actors) and scenes from the plays.
L'Age D'Or L'Age D'Or
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1930 63 mins Director: Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali unite for this masterpiece of cinematic surrealism remains as brilliantly witty and shocking as ever, more than 80 years on.
The Lady Vanishes The Lady Vanishes
Thriller 1938 96 mins Director: Alfred Hitchcock
An old woman disappears mysteriously on a busy train in Hitchcock’s delightful classic.
This Filthy Earth This Filthy Earth
Drama 2001 106 mins Director: Andrew Kötting
Andrew Kötting's tragic tale of passion and survival, following the existence of two sisters amidst a landscape of rural hardship and a community consumed with superstition
Hands of the Ripper Hands of the Ripper
Horror 1971 85 mins Director: Peter Sasdy
In Edwardian London, a series of gruesome murders match those of the Whitechapel Ripper, revealing an unlikely suspect.
Hadewijch Hadewijch
Drama 2009 102 mins Director: Bruno Dumont
A Catholic nun falls in with some young Arabs and embraces fundamentalist Islam in Bruno Dumont’s provocative film.
A Matter of Life and Death A Matter of Life and Death
Fantasy 1946 104 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s timeless romantic fantasy, with David Niven as an airman trapped between life and death.
The Ipcress File The Ipcress File
Crime 1965 108 mins Director: Sidney J. Furie
The coolest spy of all – Michael Caine’s Harry Palmer – makes his brilliant big screen debut in this landmark British spy thriller.
Celine and Julie Go Boating Celine and Julie Go Boating
Drama 1974 194 mins Director: Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette’s biggest commercial hit is an exhilarating combination of theatricality, paranoia and ‘la vie parisienne’, around an entrancing examination of making and watching films.
Blithe Spirit Blithe Spirit
Comedy 1945 96 mins Director: David Lean
A séance results in a man’s first wife returning from the dead in Noël Coward’s wonderful comedy.
Night Will Fall Night Will Fall
Documentary 2014 75 mins Director: André Singer
An unforgettable, compelling account of the production and subsequent restoration of a withheld film recording the liberation of Nazi concentration camps in 1945.
Pasolini Pasolini
Biopic 2014 84 mins Director: Abel Ferrara
Willem Dafoe plays the controversial filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini in this dark, daring drama about the director’s final days, from Abel Ferrara.
Countess Dracula Countess Dracula
Horror 1970 94 mins Director: Peter Sasdy
An ageing countess finds that if she bathes in the blood of virgins her youth is restored.
Elena Elena
Drama 2011 105 mins Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, Loveless) relates a taut, caustic tale of need and greed leading to desperate deeds; a bleak and brilliant study of contemporary Russian mores.
Battleship Potemkin Battleship Potemkin
Historical drama 1925 69 mins Silent Director: Sergei M. Eisenstein
A fixture in the critical canon almost since its premiere, Eisenstein’s film about a 1905 naval mutiny was revolutionary in both form and content.
Bad Timing Bad Timing
Drama 1980 122 mins Director: Nicolas Roeg
Nic Roeg's complex, elusive cult classic is a Vienna-set tale of all consuming passion, starring Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell and Harvey Keitel.
Genevieve Genevieve
Comedy 1953 83 mins Director: Henry Cornelius
Classic British comedy about two vintage automobile enthusiasts racing from Brighton to London.
Black & Narcissus Black & Narcissus
Drama 1947 101 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Tensions grow when a group of nuns open a convent in the Himalayas in Powell & Pressburger’s remarkable melodrama, starring Deborah Kerr.
I Am Divine I Am Divine
Documentary 2013 90 mins Director: Jeffrey Schwarz
A unique documentary about a unique person – follow Divine’s life from humble Baltimore beginnings to superstar status as the Queen of Cult.
The Company of Wolves The Company of Wolves
Fantasy 1984 95 mins Director: Neil Jordan
Angela Carter and Neil Jordan's magical, radical take on Little Red Riding Hood.
The Fall of the House of Usher The Fall of the House of Usher
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1982 16 mins Director: Jan Svankmajer
The first of Švankmajer's 'tactile experiments', chosen partly because the title was on an official list of 'approved' texts. In this version there are no humans, just a glimpse of a live raven as the camera roams around an eerie derelict house.
Rome, Open City Rome, Open City
War 1945 103 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s landmark of Italian neorealism often cited as one of the greatest films ever made.
Nosferatu Nosferatu
Horror 1922 89 mins Silent Director: F.W. Murnau
This influential Dracula adaptation contains some of the most famous images of expressionist film, and remains shocking and stylish after 100 years.
A Night to Remember A Night to Remember
Disaster 1958 123 mins Director: Roy Ward Baker
Widely regarded as the finest film account of the sinking of the Titanic, this moving seafaring disaster tale will grip you from start to finish.
Prick Up Your Ears Prick Up Your Ears
Biopic 1987 110 mins Director: Stephen Frears
A celebration of outrageous British playwright Joe Orton’s irreverent and charismatic talent, starring Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina.
The Valley (Obscured by Clouds) The Valley (Obscured by Clouds)
Drama 1972 105 mins Director: Barbet Schroeder
Different worlds collide when a chic young diplomat's wife meets an intriguing adventurer and his hippy friends in Barbet Schroeder's striking second feature.
The Draughtsman's Contract The Draughtsman's Contract
Period drama 1982 107 mins Director: Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway became a director of international status with this witty, stylised, erotic country house murder mystery.
Rashomon Rashomon
Crime 1950 88 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Credited with bringing Japanese cinema to worldwide audiences, Akira Kurosawa’s breakthrough tells the story of a murder in the woods from four differing perspectives.
Un Chien Andalou Un Chien Andalou
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1928 16 mins Silent Director: Luis Buñuel
A scabrous study of desire, the subconscious and anti-clericalism - Buñuel and Dalí’s provocative first film is a classic of Surrealist cinema.
Ordet. Ordet.
Drama 1955 125 mins Director: Carl Th. Dreyer
Carl Theodor Dreyer’s beautifully photographed tale explores the religious intolerance and familial tensions within a Danish farming family.
Interior. Leather Bar. Interior. Leather Bar.
2013 60 mins Director: James Franco and Travis Mathews
James Franco and Travis Mathews recreate explicit footage cut, rumoured to be lost, from one of the most notorious gay features ever made.
Brief Encounter Brief Encounter
Romance 1946 86 mins Director: David Lean
Noël Coward’s tale of a love affair, thrillingly played out with tight British reserve.
Highway Patrolman Highway Patrolman
Drama 1991 105 mins Director: Alex Cox
Alex Cox’s Mexican film follows the journey of a highway patrolman whose idealism eventually gives way to inevitable corruption.
Maitresse Maitresse
Drama 1976 113 mins Director: Barbet Schroeder
Gerard Depardieu plays the young innocent who falls for the mysterious maitresse Ariane (Bulle Ogier), a leather clad dominatrix, in Barbet Schroeder’s controversial film.
Radio On Radio On
Road movie 1979 100 mins Director: Chris Petit
A haunting blend of edgy mystery story and existential road movie.
Helen Helen
Thriller 2009 75 mins Director: Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor
An inventive and acclaimed British feature following the transformation of a teenager who agrees to portray her missing college friend in a highly detailed crime reconstruction.
Eyes without a Face Eyes without a Face
Horror 1959 90 mins Director: Georges Franju
Georges Franju’s gorgeous, poetic horror film about a surgeon’s dark obsession with restoring his daughter’s disfigured face.
That Sinking Feeling That Sinking Feeling
Comedy 1979 90 mins Director: Bill Forsyth
Before Gregory's Girl, Bill Forsyth mate this equally hilarious caper about a group of unemployed teenagers who hatch a plan to steal a job lot of stainless steel sinks.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire The Day the Earth Caught Fire
Science Fiction 1961 100 mins Director: Val Guest
The BFI’s HD remaster of the British sci-fi classic. A journalist discovers that the Earth has been knocked off its axis and is moving ever closer to the sun. Is the Earth doomed?
Capricorn One Capricorn One
Science Fiction 1977 123 mins Director: Peter Hyams
Stunning sci-fi thriller steeped in post-Watergate paranoia, following a hoaxed mission to Mars and a trio of astronauts' desperate flight for survival, with Elliott Gould, James Brolin and O.J. Simpson.
La Belle et la Bête La Belle et la Bête
Fantasy 1946 95 mins Director: Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau’s ravishingly restored 1946 film is a cinematic classic.
The Red Shoes The Red Shoes
Drama 1948 135 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Moira Shearer’s ballerina is torn between love and her career in Powell and Pressburger’s hugely influential melodrama.
Of Time and the City Of Time and the City
Documentary 2008 74 mins Director: Terence Davies
Brilliantly mixing archive film and music, Liverpool-born director Terence Davies reflects with wit and wisdom on a times of change, for good or ill
Fitzcarraldo Fitzcarraldo
Historical drama 1981 157 mins Director: Werner Herzog
Fitzcarraldo tells the story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, a fortune hunter who dreams of bringing opera to the Peruvian jungle.
Godzilla Godzilla
Horror 1954 92 mins Director: Ishiro Honda
The original Godzilla - arguably the definitive monster movie - both a bold metaphor for the atomic age and a thrilling powerhouse of pioneering special effects.
Dead Ringers Dead Ringers
Horror 1988 116 mins Director: David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg's award-winning thriller exploring the bizarre lives of identical twins Elliot and Beverly, both played by Jeremy Irons.
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
Crime 1926 91 mins Silent Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Ivor Novello plays a strange lodger who may be behind a number of Jack the Ripper-style killings in Alfred Hitchcock’s silent thriller.