This film is part of Rentals
The BFG
Steven Spielberg’s luminous Roald Dahl adaptation boasts an enchanting performance from Mark Rylance as the Big Friendly Giant who befriends a little girl (Ruby Barnhill).
Fantasy 2016 117 mins
Director: Steven Spielberg
Overview
Steven Spielberg’s lush, luminous fantasy takes its place as one of the great adaptations from Britain’s beloved children’s author, Roald Dahl. Acclaimed actor Mark Rylance (who won an Oscar for Spielberg’s Bridge Of Spies) delivers an enchanting performance as the Big Friendly Giant who enlists the help of Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) in his struggle against mean-spirited brethren: a gang of even bigger giants with malevolent plans.
Rylance’s wonderfully expressive performance, rendered using the latest motion-capture technology, brings a warm humanity to Dahl's fantastical creation, who speaks in a charming, gobbledygook language that comes across like a kind of weird West-Country patois. Spielberg is, of course, utterly at home in this milieu; a tale of strange creatures and heart-warming friendship scripted by his E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial screenwriter, Melissa Mathison. Sadly this would be their final project together but result is a marvel of late Spielbergian craft; a beguiling family treat boasting a truly exceptional central performance.
Mild threatAccessibility
Related
Fantasy
The Wandering Jew
Fantasy 1934 102 mins Director: Maurice Elvey
After spitting on Christ on the way to crucifixion, a Jewish man is cursed with immortality
The Bespoke Overcoat
Fantasy 1955 38 mins Director: Jack Clayton
A clerk in a cold warehouse wants one of the warm sheepskin coats stacked around him.
The Untamed
Horror 2016 98 mins Director: Amat Escalante
Amat Escalante follows Heli with a boundary-pushing, mind-blowing mix of sex, sci-fi and social drama.
Spaceship
Comedy 2016 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.
Dream Demon
Fantasy 1988 89 mins Director: Harley Cokliss
A young woman becomes haunted by terrifying dreams, which soon begin to pull people around her into a nightmarish netherworld.
How to Get Ahead in Advertising
Fantasy 1989 94 mins Director: Bruce Robinson
Richard E. Grant and director Bruce Robinson’s companion piece to Withnail and I is a dark satire about an ad-man who grows a second head.
Family Films
Pop Pirates
Children's 1984 58 mins Director: Jack Grossman
Home taping almost kills music as a schoolboy band's dreams of talent show glory may be scuppered by video piracy.
Skid Kids
Children's 1953 49 mins Director: Don Chaffey
Young 'Swanky' Clarke, leader of the Burton Bullets Cycle Speedway Club, foils bicycle thieves on the streets of 1950s Bermondsey.
Runaway Railway
Children's 1965 55 mins Director: Jan Darnley-Smith
A pre-Porridge Ronnie Barker plays a dim-witted train robber up to no good in this steam-era comedy adventure for kids
The Belstone Fox
Drama 1973 103 mins Director: James Hill
Based on David Rook’s 1970 novel, The Belstone Fox tells the heartwarming and funny story of Tag, a fox saved from the woods and raised by huntsman Asher.
Tarka the Otter
Drama 1976 92 mins Director: David Cobham
The classic family film, based on Henry Williamson’s beloved book, follows the titular animal’s wild adventures as narrated by Peter Ustinov.
Friend or Foe
Children's 1981 70 mins Director: John Krish
Two evacuee boys from London sent to live on a farm face a tough decision when a German plane is shot down.
Directed by Steven Spielberg
The Post
Drama 2017 116 mins Director: Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed, gripping and timely drama about the publishing of the Pentagon Papers, featuring Tom Hanks and an Oscar-nominated performance from Meryl Streep.
E.T. The Extra-terrestrial
Science Fiction 1982 114 mins Director: Steven Spielberg
Often hailed as one of the great family films, Steven Spielberg’s enduring classic tells the story of a stranded alien who befriends a young boy.
New
Mifune : The Last Samurai
Documentary 2016 80 mins Director: Steven Okazaki
The on and off-screen character of Toshiro Mifune, Japan’s first international movie star, is explored in this illuminating documentary exploring the life and legacy of this mercurial icon.
Sauvage
Drama 2018 99 mins Director: Camille Vidal-Naquet
The daily misfortunes of a lonesome rent boy are laid bare in this tough but tender portrait of life on the fringes of society.
Wildlife
Drama 2018 105 mins Director: Paul Dano
Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal play a couple on the rocks in Paul Dano’s directorial debut, an elegant 1950s-set melodrama.
Bergman: A Year in a Life
Documentary 2018 117 mins Director: Jane Magnusson
A fascinating and unflinching study of the brilliance of Ingmar Bergman’s extraordinary career, crafted around one of his most prolific and creatively fruitful years.
Girl
Drama 2018 106 mins Director: Lukas Dhont
Lukas Dhont's breathtaking debut feature encompasses the heartache, courage, and punishing training of a ballerina transitioning in her teenage years.
Peterloo
Drama 2017 154 mins Director: Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh orchestrates a superb ensemble cast in this rousing tale of working class uprising and its violent suppression in Manchester in 1819.