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Unique and trusted film picks
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The best new, cult and classic cinema all in one place
The New Boy
Cate Blanchett is mesmerising as a feverish nun, in Warwick Thornton’s striking tale of spiritual worlds colliding in 1940s Australia.
- Drama
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2023
- 96 mins
- Warwick Thornton
Starve Acre
Dark and sinister forces invade a couple’s home in this wildly eerie British folk horror, with unflinching performances from Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark.
- Horror
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2023
- 98 mins
- Dan Kokotajlo
Sleep
A recently married couple find their lives turning upside down as a result of the husband’s nocturnal behaviour.
- Horror
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2023
- 94 mins
- Jason Yu
Point Break
Kathryn Bigelow’s pulse-pounding action thriller and heady bromance, with Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.
- Action and Adventure
- Police drama
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1991
- 122 mins
- Kathryn Bigelow
Tangerine
A big-hearted film shot on a small phone, this LA tale of two transgender working girls out for vengeance fizzes with wild energy.
- Comedy
- Drama
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2015
- 88 mins
- Sean Baker
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Ang Lee’s exquisitely choreographed Oscar-winning epic, starring Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh and Ziyi Zhang on a quest to recover a stolen sword.
- Martial arts
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2000
- 120 mins
- Ang Lee
Certain Women
Kristen Stewart, Lily Gladstone and Jared Harris star in Kelly Reichardt's acclaimed portmanteau of women's stories; winner of Best Film at BFI London Film Festival 2016.
- Drama
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2015
- 107 mins
- Kelly Reichardt
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
Radu Jude’s follow-up to the Golden Bear-winning Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn is a pin-sharp, caustically funny critique of workplace culture and oppression.
- Comedy
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2023
- 163 mins
- Radu Jude
Run Lola Run
Tom Tykwer’s breathtaking time-loop thriller, with a terrific Franka Potente as the titular runner attempting to save her boyfriend.
- Drama
- Thriller
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1998
- 80 mins
- Tom Tykwer
Cop Secret
Two Icelandic cops forced to work together become more than just buddies in this enjoyably explosive send-up of action movies.
- Comedy
- Drama
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2021
- 100 mins
- Hannes Þór Halldórsson
Way of the Dragon
Bruce Lee faces off against Chuck Norris in his only completed directorial work, and arguably his most personal film.
- Drama
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1972
- 99 mins
- Bruce Lee Siu-lung
A Bittersweet Life
A hitman becomes the target in this ultra-stylish neo noir from Kim Jee-woon.
- Action and Adventure
- Crime
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2005
- 120 mins
- Kim Jee-woon and Doo Hong Jung
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Movies to rent, including premieres fresh from cinemas
Timestalker
Alice Lowe's time-jumping fantasy rom-com is a colourful, darkly funny treat.
- Comedy
- Fantasy
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2024
- 89 mins
- Alice Lowe
Kneecap
Fantastically outlandish biopic about the anarchic Belfast rap trio and their fight to save the Irish language.
- Drama
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2024
- 105 mins
- Rich Peppiatt
Girls Will Be Girls
Teenage romance simmers in a strict Himalayan boarding school in this sublime coming-of-age tale. Winner of a 2024 Sundance audience award
- Drama
- Romance
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2024
- 119 mins
- Shuchi Talati
Night Courier (Mandoob)
A desperate delivery driver gets caught up in the dark underworld of Riyadh in Ali Kalthami’s gripping, pitch-black satire.
- Comedy
- Thriller
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2023
- 112 mins
- Ali Kalthami
About Dry Grasses
Turkish Palme d’Or-winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan returns with an icy portrait of a teacher whose life unravels following an accusation of inappropriate behaviour.
- Romance
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2023
- 198 mins
- Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Kensuke's Kingdom
Michael Morpurgo’s beloved novel is brought to life in this delightful, animated tale of a young castaway who discovers he’s not alone.
- Animation & Artists Moving Image
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2023
- 84 mins
- Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry
My Favourite Cake
Life begins at 70 for Mahin, who decides to shake her life up in this charming, quietly subversive tale from Iran.
- Romance
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2024
- 97 mins
- Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha
Close To You
Simmering apprehensions surround a family get-together as Elliot Page’s Sam returns home for the first time since transitioning, in this highly collaborative feature.
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2023
- 99 mins
- Dominic Savage
Wilding
A dying landscape is healed against all odds, going on to thrive in astonishing ways, in this hopeful story of ecological regeneration.
- Documentary
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2023
- 75 mins
- David Allen
Unicorns
Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd have created a moving romance between an Essex mechanic and a South Asian drag queen.
- Romance
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2023
- 120 mins
- Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd
Chuck Chuck Baby
A chicken factory worker rekindles a childhood romance in this joyous musical-drama set in North Wales.
- Drama
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2022
- 102 mins
- Janis Pugh
Love Lies Bleeding
Rose Glass’s gripping and gory follow-up to Saint Maud finds a lesbian couple drawn into a web of violence in 1980s small-town New Mexico.
- Romance
- Thriller
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2023
- 104 mins
- Rose Glass
Rentals
1000s of films restored by the BFI National Archive and our partners
Armistice
Take your seat for an Armistice concert by military bands playing a medley of songs commonly sung during WWI.
- Musical
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1929
- 16 mins
Pontypridd Armistice Day Parade and Service 1952 and Coronation Festivities 1953
‘The Brave Don’t Cry’ shouts a poster advertising a film of the title, as Pontypridd citizens march past, commemorating the dead of WW1 and II. By contrast, the Coronation is fun.
- Amateur film
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1952
- 30 mins
Armistice Day Poppies
Newsreel tribute to the WWI fallen on the 10th anniversary of the war's end.
- Non-Fiction
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1928
- 0 mins
Damaged Goods
A tragic story is played out by porcelain figurines residing in a bric-a-brac shop.
- Animation & Artists Moving Image
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2008
- 9 mins
The Strange Case of Penny Allison
Imelda Staunton and Hugh Laurie as you've not quite seen them before: in a comedy training video for Britain’s National Blood Service.
- Government sponsored film
- Training film/TV programme
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2002
- 18 mins
LFF Trailer 1995
Aardman turn the cinema screen into a mirror and offer this delightful portrait of the typical film festival audience
- Animation & Artists Moving Image
- Documentary
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1995
- 1 mins
Jack Johnson Paying a Visit to Manchester Docks
The legendary world heavyweight boxing champion, John Arthur 'Jack' Johnson, visits Manchester.
- Non-Fiction
- 2 mins
Shippam's Sandwichmakers
Boring sandwiches get a tasty Shippam's make-over in this classic comedy commercial from the 70s starring the legendary Roy Kinnear
- Advert
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1981
- 1 mins
Life in Her Hands
Kathleen Byron - of Black Narcissus fame - stars in one of the most ambitious recruitment films ever made.
- Instructional film/TV programme
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1951
- 55 mins
Poet Goes North
A long-lost BBC documentary of John Betjeman reflecting, in his unhurried manner, his sense that something vital was being lost and singling out what should be preserved.
- Documentary
- Instructional film/TV programme
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1968
- 26 mins
Outlying
A documentary on one of Scotland’s most isolated and breathtaking islands, where all 35 residents prepare for the remarkable roll-out of fibre-optic broadband.
- Documentary
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2019
- 11 mins
Everywhere is a Wildlife Park
No need to queue, and nothing to pay. All you need is a good pair of eyes ... because ‘everywhere is a wildlife park’.
- Amateur film
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1970
- 19 mins