40 Best British Movies on Netflix UK

40 Best British Movies on Netflix UK

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You might not realize it, but so many movies out there are actually British productions and co-productions—a reminder of how large and influential the British film industry actually is, even if they might not announce themselves as loudly as Hollywood does. And on Netflix UK, you’ll be able to find more than enough of these British films that still only scratch the surface of what kinds of films the country tends to finance and produce. One could say that they’re typically smaller in scale, more understated, and more willing to take risks outside of the Hollywood formula, but there’s still a large variety among them that keeps them unpredictable.

40. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)

7.2

Country

United Kingdom, United States of America, USA UK

Director

Eliza Hittman, Female director

Actors

Brian Altemus, Carolina Espiro, Christian Clements, David Buneta

Moods

Challenging, Discussion-sparking, Intense

This difficult movie is about a seventeen-year-old from the U.S. underclass who has to deal with an unplanned pregnancy. Autumn is creative, reserved, and quiet, but those are not qualities that her environment in rural Pennsylvania seems to value. On the opposite, she is surrounded by threats, including disturbing step-father and boss characters. 

Dangers escalate as Autumn decides to travel to New York to have an abortion. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is about unplanned pregnancies as much as it is about just how dangerous it is to be a teenage girl living in America.

39. Wild Rose (2019)

7.3

Country

Canada, UK, United Kingdom

Director

Tom Harper

Actors

Aly Bain, Ashley Shelton, Atta Yaqub, Benny Young

Moods

Easy, Feel-Good, Inspiring

A simple movie about a Scottish country singer with a dream to go to Nashville, U.S.A and reach stardom. It starts with her leaving prison to return to her mom’s house, where her kid was being raised in her absence. Heavy stuff, but this girl is determined to let nothing get in the way of realizing her dreams. Will she make it? At what cost? Wild Rose answers those questions with a warm script that’s designed to make you feel good without completely misleading you. Think of it as a more grounded A Star is Born.

38. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

7.3

Country

Ireland, U, UK

Director

Yorgos Lanthimos

Actors

Alicia Silverstone, Anita Farmer Bergman, Barry G. Bernson, Barry Keoghan

Moods

A-list actors, Weird, Well-acted

This is a really weird movie starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman. They play a wholesome and well-off couple where Farrell is a heart surgeon. The movie starts with him taking care of a teenager called Martin, who’s not related to him or seems to have any real connection with him. It later turns out that Martin shares a special bond with the surgeon, a bond that will threaten his family in unexpected ways. The camera work and direction by Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Favourite) offset the weirdness to offer an intriguing experience.

37. Hot Fuzz (2007)

7.3

Country

France, UK, United Kingdom

Director

Edgar Wright

Actors

Adam Buxton, Alice Lowe, Anne Reid, Ben McKay

Moods

Easy, Funny, No-brainer

One of the many good movies from director Edgar Wright – if you loved Shaun of the Dead, then this Buddy-Cop Homage will make you double over (and question humanity – or lack, thereof) just as much. Sandford is a small English village with the lowest crime and murder rates, so when overachieving police Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) gets sent there because he was so good he intimidated those around him, he just about loses it. From car-chasing, bone-thrilling, head-blowing action, he graduates to swan-calling, thrill-seeking, sleep-inducing madness. But all that’s about to change – for the worse? For the better? You decide. An obscenely funny flick that has an intriguing plot and an even greater set of characters, Hot Fuzz wasn’t named the best film of the Cornetto trilogy for nothing, clearly cementing Pegg and Nick Frost as the ultimate action duo of the genre.

36. Kilo Two Bravo (2014)

7.3

Country

UK, United Kingdom

Director

Paul Katis

Actors

Ali Cook, Andy Gibbins, Benjamin O'Mahony, Bryan Parry

Moods

Raw, Suspenseful, Thrilling

Kilo Two Bravo (Originally named Kajaki) is a must-watch for anyone who likes war dramas. It tells the true story of British soldiers in the Afghanistan war who find themselves trapped in a minefield during a mission, with their rescue team coming in a helicopter that might set off mines if it lands. It’s a slow, dialogue driven film that is interested in taking you to the war zone more than it cares about entertaining you. Ultimately, it becomes an essay on the horrors of war, and an anti-war war film. Because of this and given the blood and gore, this movie is definitely not for those who would feel nauseated at sight of blood. Great setting, good cinematography, realistic acting and script all do justice to the true story. It’s a film that will grip your senses and keep you at the edge of the seat throughout.

35. Atonement (2007)

7.3

Country

France, UK, United Kingdom

Director

Joe Wright

Actors

Ailidh Mackay, Alfie Allen, Alice Orr-Ewing, Anthony Minghella

Moods

Emotional, Thrilling, Well-acted

Atonement is a tribute to cinematography, an epic film that might just remind you why you fell in love with movies to begin with. A young girl and aspiring writer has a crush on the man her older sister loves, so the young sister indulges her imagination to accuse the man of a crime he didn’t commit. The two are separated and the latter is then sent away to prison and after joins the army.  As the young girl grows up and realizes the true consequences of her actions, what can she do, what can anyone do, to remedy such a wrong? Winner of two Golden Globes and nominated to 6 Academy Awards.

34. The Bank Job (2008)

7.3

Country

Australia, UK, United Kingdom

Director

Roger Donaldson

Actors

Alistair Petrie, Alki David, Andrew Brooke, Angus Wright

Moods

Suspenseful, Well-acted

A thrilling and fun film about a British working class bunch who find themselves in confrontation with the rich and powerful. This happens when their once-in -a-lifetime job lands them not on ly the expected money and jewelry, but documents with big secrets. The phrase “the good version of Jason Statham” applies not only to the actor but to the whole film – as it is enjoyable like all similar heist movies but adds that sadly forgotten thing called character. If you liked The Italian Job, The Town, or even films like Argo; you will love The Bank Job.

33. Eye in the Sky (2015)

7.4

Country

d, UK, United Kingdom

Director

Gavin Hood

Actors

Aaron Paul, Aisha Takow, Alan Rickman, Armaan Haggio

Moods

A-list actors, Thought-provoking, Well-acted

Is an innocent child’s life worth millions of other civilian casualties? In a modern-day drone warfare led by Colonel Katherine Powell, played by the very versatile Helen Mirren, she is conflicted to order the target of the Somali terrorist organization when she spots Alia, a young girl who just happens to be selling bread within the premises of the Kill Zone. Her icy exterior, however, is a far cry from Lieutenant General Frank Benson’s profound sympathy, the portrayal of the late Alan Rickman in his last onscreen role being one of his most remarkable ones to date. Eye in the Sky is a thriller that will have you questioning your morals while gripping your seats in what appears to be a battle of the best choice and the only one. Do the ends always justify the means?

32. Rocks (2019)

7.5

Country

Germany, UK, United Kingdom

Director

Female director, Sarah Gavron

Actors

Afi Okaidja, Anastasia Dymitrow, Bukky Bakray, D’angelou Osei Kissiedu

Moods

Dramatic, Emotional, Heart-warming

It’s rare now to hear the phrase “girl power” without being immediately suspicious of its intentions, reduced as it were to cheesy adspeak and empty platitudes. But in the case of Rocks—a movie helmed by a predominantly female crew and co-written by the teenage cast themselves—the slogan fits. There is power in this type of girlhood: open, collaborative, and supportive, and that’s just what happens off-screen. 

On-screen, what unfolds is even more complex and beautiful. As Rocks struggles to take care of her younger brother all on her own, as she’s forced to grow up and face ethical dilemmas normally reserved for adults, she is backed unwaveringly by her friends Sumaya, Agnes, Yawa, Khadijah, and Sabina. It’s their specific bond, unsentimental but deeply considerate and loyal, that keeps the film as solid and grounded as the title suggests.

31. Beats (2019)

7.6

Country

UK, United Kingdom

Director

Brian Welsh, Chris Robinson

Actors

Amy Manson, Anthony Anderson, Ashley Jackson, Brian Ferguson

Moods

Character-driven, Slice-of-Life

This drama is about two friends attempting to rave in 1994 Scotland, after a recent Thatcher-era law banned the act and all music “characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats”.

Johnno and Spanner, one living in fear of his older brother and the other of his stepfather, want to turn things around by joining their first and probably last rave. They’re introduced to the world of illegal parties, a movement as influential as punk, that in the 1990s was born in reaction to the U.K.’s oppressive policies.