Best new British Movies in 2021 & 2020 (Netflix, Prime, Hulu & Cinema List)
List of the latest British movies in 2021 and the best British movies of 2020 & the 2010's. Top British movies to watch on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+ & other Streaming services, out on DVD/Blu-ray or in cinema's right now.
New British movies in 2021 in Cinema & on VOD
Top movies up for release in 2021 in cinema and on VOD
DIRECTOR: Ben Sharrock CAST: Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai & Ola Orebiyi
Syrian refugees have just arrived on a small Scottish island where they seek asylum. Among them is the young musician Omar who has brought with him an oud that belonged to his grandfather. Separated from his family and awaiting his asylum request, Omar tries to make the best of his situation in this wryly comedic and tender take on the refugee experience. Written and directed by Ben Sharrock, this mixture of comedy and drama stars Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Ola Orebiyi, Kwabena Ansah, Kenneth Collard, Kais Nashef, and Sidse Babett Knudsen. Read more Watch the trailer of Limbo
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DIRECTOR: Eva Riley CAST: Frankie Box, Alfie Deegan & Billy Mogford
Leigh (Frankie Box) is a talented teenager for being an aspiring gymnast. Despite living on the outskirts of Brighton with her her less encouraging father, she still works hard on her gymnastics to prove herself in an upcoming competition. Her life takes an unexpected turn, however, with the arrival of an older half-brother she never knew she had. She soon finds that she doesn’t lead such a lonely life with someone bringing a bit of energy and joy to her otherwise grinding life of isolated accomplishments.
Read more Watch the trailer of Perfect 10 Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
DIRECTOR: Aneil Karia CAST: Ben Whishaw, Ellie Haddington & Ian Gelder
Joseph (Ben Whishaw of Paddington fame) is a man seeking to prove himself by doing whatever is necessary to fight for his self-liberation. Doing so means he’ll have to go on bold journey throughout London over the course of 24 hours. But can he achieve such a goal in such a short amount of time? This exciting thriller comes from director Aneil Karia and additionally stars Ellie Haddington (Ordinary Lies), Ian Gelder (Game of Thrones), and Jasmine Jobson (Top Boy).
Read more Watch the trailer of Surge
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DIRECTOR: Martin Owen CAST: Raff Law, Michael Caine & Lena Headey
Charles Dickens' classic novel of Oliver Twist is given a modern makeover in this engaging crime drama directed by Martin Owen. Oliver is an orphan who finds it hard to make his way in the world until a slew of misfits take him to teach him how crime can pay. But for how long can a kid continue on with such a racket. This updated rendition of the Dickens’ story features a cast that includes Rafferty Law, Michael Caine, Lena Headey, Rita Ora, and Sophie Simnett.
Read more Watch the trailer of Twist
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DIRECTOR: Sarah Townsend CAST: Judi Dench, James D'Arcy & Jim Broadbent
In the summer of 1939, various families occupying Nazi Germany seek to expand their reign to other nations via their children. For this plan, they send their daughters off to an English finishing school to act as socialist ambassadors. Although a teacher does take notice of what’s going on, it may be too late as nobody will believe him. This period piece drama comes from director Andy Goddard with a co-writing credit from Eddie Izzard Read more Watch the trailer of Six Minutes to Midnight
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Best British movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+ or DVD in 2021
2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 and the 2010's best rated British movies out on DVD, Bluray or streaming on VOD (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+ & More).
DIRECTOR: Sarah Gavron CAST: Bukky Bakray, Kosar Ali & D'angelou Osei Kissiedu
Olushola (Bukky Bakray), also known as Rocks, is having a tough time as a teeanger with the burdens placed on her shoulders. Since her mother abandons her and her brother Emmanuel (D’angelou Osei Kissiedu), she finds herself struggling on the streets of London. But thanks to some loyal friends, they may just make it on the streets as they try to avoid being taken in by the cops and surviving another day in this bittersweet coming-of-age drama from director Sarah Gavron (Suffragette). Read more Watch the trailer of Rocks
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DIRECTOR: Ken Loach CAST: Kris Hitchen, Debbie Honeywood & Rhys Stone
Ken Loach is back with a new film after the highly successful 'I, Daniel Blake'. 'Sorry We Missed You' is another gripping social-realist tale about a parcel delivery driver who has trouble keeping his head above water in the so-called 'gig economy'. Read more Watch the trailer of Sorry We Missed You
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DIRECTOR: Craig Roberts CAST: Sally Hawkins, Alice Lowe & David Thewlis
Aspiring model Jane suffers a great mental blow when she loses an important beauty contest. 20 years later, she is still suffering from schizophrenia and other mental problems. When she meets the eccentric musician Mike online, she finally connects with someone again. Read more Watch the trailer of Eternal Beauty
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DIRECTOR: Brian Welsh CAST: Laura Fraser, Amy Manson, Gemma McElhinney, Kevin Mains
A movie in black and white about a bunch of teenagers discovering rave culture in 1990's Scotland. Somewhere between 'Trainspotting' and 'Kids'. Read more Watch the trailer of Beats
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DIRECTOR: Dome Karukoski CAST: Lily Collins, Mimi Keene, Nicholas Hoult, Pam Ferris
With so many biopics about famous writers being released lately, it was about time a proper movie about the father of 'Lord of the Rings' universe was being made. 'Tolkien', which stars Nicolas Hault, focusses on the formative years of the young writer. Read more Watch the trailer of Tolkien
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DIRECTOR: Dominic Cooke CAST: Saoirse Ronan, Emily Watson, Samuel West
Based on Ian McEwan eponymous novella from 2007, 'On Chesil Beach' tells the story of a young couple on their honeymoon in 1962. Their future looks promising, but it soon becomes clear that both are held back by their fears of intimate relationships. A stylish and somewhat moody drama. Read more Watch the trailer of On Chesil Beach RATING: 82/100
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DIRECTOR: Ken Loach CAST: Dave Johns
Hayley Squires
Sharon Percy
With 'I, Daniel Blake', social-realist director Ken Loach won his second Palm D'Or last spring. And deservedly so; 'Daniel Blake' is a heartfelt and poignant film about the hardships that fall upon the incapacitated in the UK. Read more Watch the trailer of I, Daniel Blake RATING: 80/100
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DIRECTOR: Esther May Campbell CAST: Sophie Burton
James Stuckey
Mike Wright
A charming, little coming of age film about a young girl trying to reunite her estranged family during a hot summer day. A dreamy and visually overwhelming debut. We're very much looking forward to what director Esther Campbell will do next! Read more Watch the trailer of Light Years RATING: 63/100
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DIRECTOR: Sharon Maguire CAST: Renée Zellweger
Gemma Jones
Jim Broadbent
Expectations were low, but 'Bridget Jones's baby' is truly a triumphant return. Older, but definitely not wiser, in this part our heroine gets knocked up. But by whom? Read more Watch the trailer of Bridget Jones’s Baby RATING: 67/100
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DIRECTOR: Ben Wheatley CAST: Alice Lowe
Kenneth Hadley
Steve Oram
Even though Wheatly is still a new kid on the block in English cinema, it feels he’s already an established name. Given the years he has been active as a film maker, his output has been quite high. Which is a good thing, because his dark yet fresh films are quite something. We could easily have chosen any of his other features from the 2010’s, but picked Sightseers, as it embodies what Wheatley stands for the best. A darkly humourous, twisted film about a seemingly ordinary couple in a camper on a rampage through England. Please make sure to check his other films too! Read more Watch the trailer of Sightseers RATING: 65/100
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DIRECTOR: Jonathan Glazer CAST: Scarlett Johansson
Jeremy McWilliams
Lynsey Taylor Mackay
In 2004, Jonathan Glazer directed Birth, a reincarnation drama with Nicole Kidman which was met with mixed results. For years it was silent around Glazer, up to a point where it wasn’t clear whether he would ever shoot a movie again. Thank God he did. Under the Skin, which stars Scarlett Johansson in probably her most interesting role since Lost in Translation, is a small cinematic wonder. Johansson plays an alien seductress who preys on men in Scotland. Under the Skin is sexy, enigmatic and visually overwhelming. Please, make sure to watch this one on a big screen. Comparisons have been drawn to Stanley Kubricks’ work, which for once isn’t an overstatement. One of the more innovative and best British films of the last few years. Read more Watch the trailer of Under the Skin RATING: 63/100
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DIRECTOR: Richard Ayoade CAST: Jesse Eisenberg
Mia Wasikowska
Wallace Shawn
Again Richard Ayoade. Well, you could easily say he’s our favorite new British director. With The Double, which is loosely based on Dostoyevski’s famous novella,he’s in for something entirely different than Submarine. The result is daring and fascinating and ultimately better. Jesse Eisenberg, who is going through somewhat of a renaissance after a few disappointing roles, is Simon James, a colorless employee of a nondescript Soviet-like workstation. The events take a surprising turn when all of a sudden his doppelgänger, James Simon (played by Eisenberg as well) shows up. James is his, however, his opposite in literally everything, which makes Simons’ life even harder than it already was. The Double is both visually stunning and dazzling story-wise. A British film for which the word ‘kafka-esque’ seemed to be invented. Read more Watch the trailer of The Double RATING: 65/100
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DIRECTOR: Steven Knight CAST: Tom Hardy
Olivia Colman
Ruth Wilson
Locke isn’t the first film that takes entirely place in a single space. Recently we’ve seen Buried (a coffin) and All is Lost (a yacht). In Locke, we follow Tom Hardy in a power house role as Ivan Locke, a construction foreman determined to come to terms with something he did in the recent past. The entire film takes place in a car and the only thing we see and hear is Locke making phone calls via his speakers which unravels his recent past and his current plan bit by bit to the viewer. A single location film is always tricky, as it either becomes a gimmick or just plain boring. Stephen Knights’ clever and economically written script however, makes this British film a standout in the subgenre. Read more Watch the trailer of Locke RATING: 71/100
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DIRECTOR: Stephen Frears CAST: Judi Dench
Steve Coogan
Sophie Kennedy Clark
Philomena stole the hearts of many last year. At one point, it even seemed to have a serious chance at winning the Best Foreign Film oscar. It didn’t, which is a good thing, considering the films it was competing with. Still, Philomena is a really enjoyable and moving film. Steve Coogan, who seems to become a better actor every year, is brilliant as a cocky politician turned journalist who’s determined to unravel a simple Irishwoman’s (even more brilliantly and atypically portrayed by Judi Dench) past. Read more Watch the trailer of Philomena RATING: 76/100
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DIRECTOR: Scott Graham CAST: Chloe Pirrie
Michael Smiley
Joseph Mawle
Out of nowhere came Scott Graham, a young and very promising Scottish director. Shell is a small, intimate coming of age story about a girl who lives with her lonely, surly father in a secluded area somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. They own a gas station and the passing drivers are about the only people who connect her to the world outside theirs. Dialogues are sparse in this film, as father and daughter merely communicate without talking, fastknit but opressive as their relationship has grown. Read more Watch the trailer of Shell RATING: 64/100 Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
DIRECTOR: James Watkins CAST: Daniel Radcliffe
Janet McTeer
Ciarán Hinds
Nobody seemed to expect much of Daniel Radcliffe’s acting skills upon finishing the Harry Potter series. In The Woman in Black, he proved he is pretty solid and he actually keeps on proving it in all the latest features he is in. The Woman in Black (produced by legendary horror company Hammer!) is a nice, old-fashioned haunted house tale about a young widowed lawyer who has to arrange the sale of an old house, located on a remote island. This film doesn’t really offer anything new, but James Watkins’ atmospheric gothic flick proves that a horror film full of cliches and archetypes can still be scary as hell. Read more Watch the trailer of The Woman in Black RATING: 64/100
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DIRECTOR: Sally Potter CAST: Elle Fanning
Alice Englert
Annette Bening
There are a few pretty good films out there that show that the free (sexual) spirit of the sixties and seventies wasn’t always that great, like Lukas Moodyssons’ Together (2000) and Dorotheé van den Berghe’s My Queen Karo (2009). Ginger & Rosa is one of those films too. Elle Fanning impressively plays a young girl whose world is turned upside down when her best friend is starting an affair with her father. The film starts out as a mediocre coming of age film, but soon evolves into a poignant portrait of a time in which intellectuals could use the free spirit for their own benefits. Read more Watch the trailer of Ginger & Rosa RATING: 63/100
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DIRECTOR: Rufus Norris CAST: Charlie Booty
Lily James
Tim Roth
And yet another debut. And again a book adaptation; family drama film Broken is loosely based on Harper Lee’s masterpiece To Kill a Mockingbird. Broken‘s tone is a lot darker, but it shares the book’s core. Skunk is an eleven year old girl who, like in so many coming of age stories, loses her innocence during a summer, after she’s confronted with a fair amount of injustice. Director Norris succeeds wonderfully in translating a classic Southern Gothic tale to a modern day story in England, but the films’ greatest asset is young Eloise Laurence, who portrays Skunk in such a nuanced way. Read more Watch the trailer of Broken RATING: 73/100
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DIRECTOR: Andrew Haigh CAST: Tom Cullen
Chris New
Jonathan Race
We already discussed this one earlier, but Weekend is simply too good to leave it out here. The set up is simple and brilliantly effective. Two gay guys meet each other and fall in love over the course of a weekend. Russell is an introvert guy, who still hasn’t completely come to terms with his sexuality while Glen is outgoing and slightly rebellious, but somehow the chemistry is enormous. The sad thing is however, Glen leaves for the United States after the weekend. Weekend is achingly beautiful and provokes a feeling so strong you can almost taste it. Read more Watch the trailer of Weekend RATING: 77/100
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DIRECTOR: Andrea Arnold CAST: Kaya Scodelario
James Howson
Solomon Glave
Andrea Arnold left her mark with her previous efforts Red Road (2007) and Fish Tank (2009). Wurthering Heights, a remarkable take on the well known and often adapted book is something different, while at the same time Arnold maintains her distinctive raw and poetic style, reminiscent of Terence Malick’s best work. It’s daring how she made a so often told story her own. A refreshing little gem amongst that endless list of well crafted but often boring Brontë and Austen adaptations. Read more Watch the trailer of Wuthering Heights RATING: 61/100
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DIRECTOR: Mark Romanek CAST: Keira Knightley
Carey Mulligan
Andrew Garfield
‘Read the book first’, is what people always say when you’re about to watch an adaptation of a novel. I’m not quite sure if that goes for British-Japanese novelist Kazuo Ishiguro’s works too, as Remains of the Day is a much better film than a book. Never Let Me Go, based on a Ishiguro novel too, is quite impressive, which makes me wonder how much I’ll like the book. It’s a dystopian romance story, set in a boarding school in an alternate time. It would be a waste to spoil the unexpected twist in the plot, but lets say it gives you a clear idea of the horrific ‘side effects’ of cloning. Read more Watch the trailer of Never Let Me Go RATING: 72/100
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DIRECTOR: Paddy Considine CAST: Peter Mullan
Archie Lal
Jag Sanghera
Another promising debut film marking a bright future for British cinema. Tyrannosaur can be placed in a long English tradition of social-realist drama, the films Ken Loach and his followers have patented. It tells the unlikely story of Joseph, a lower class widower with some serious anger issues and Hannah, a devote Christian who has her domestic problems of her own. Both wounded souls in their own respect, Joseph and Hannah find comfort in each others’ company. Considine shows that these typical raw British lower class stories never wear out, providing that you tell them craftfully. Read more Watch the trailer of Tyrannosaur RATING: 76/100
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DIRECTOR: Richard Ayoade CAST: Craig Roberts
Sally Hawkins
Paddy Considine
Before directing his debut film Submarine, Richard Ayoade was a recognisable face in Britain already, albeit as an actor. He was part of the cast of popular cult comedy series The Mighty Boosh and The IT crowd, which made his directorial debut all the more anticipated. Submarine, an adaptation of the novel with the same name is an excellent, off beat coming of age dramedy about a young Welsh boy who’s destined to lose his virginity and to save his parents’ marriage. Arctic Monkey’s frontman Alex Turner was asked to write an original score for the film, which lifts the film to an even higher level. Read more Watch the trailer of Submarine RATING: 73/100
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DIRECTOR: Mike Leigh CAST: Jim Broadbent
Ruth Sheen
Lesley Manville
Mike Leigh is certainly no stranger to directing honest films, inhabited by utterly real people. At the centre of Another Year is an elderly couple blessed with a large circle of friends. Friends with all sort of problems, who all, to a greater or lesser extent depend on them. You don’t need to expect big plot twists here. Another Year follows a group of friends in the autumn of their lives during four seasons. Nice things happen, awful things happen. There aren’t that much directors, however, who are able to make that worth your while. Another impressive achievement by one of England’s most beloved directors. Read more Watch the trailer of Another Year RATING: 73/100
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DIRECTOR: Guy Ritchie CAST: Charlie Hunnam
Hermione Corfield
Katie McGrath
Brilliant British filmmaker Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Lock Stock) took on the job of directing an adaptation of Shakespeare legendary epic. Sounds interesting, even more so because with this project, Ritchie seems to move away from his comfort zone. Read more Watch the trailer of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword RATING: 78/100
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DIRECTOR: Hope Dickson Leach CAST: Ellie Kendrick
David Troughton
Jack Holden
This debut feature film about a young vet (Ellie Kendrick, Game of Thrones) returning to the village of her childhood after the tragic death of her brother stirred critics and audiences alike at several festivals. Shot in the flat, bleak surroundings of Somerset, this story about neglected family ties in an unforgiving rural setting is easily one of the best movies in 2017. Read more Watch the trailer of The Levelling RATING: 88/100
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DIRECTOR: Michael Pearce CAST: Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn, Geraldine James, Olwen Fouéré
A troubled woman living in an isolated community finds herself pulled between the control of her oppressive family and the allure of a secretive outsider suspected of a series of brutal murders. Read more Watch the trailer of Beast
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