This film is part of Rentals
This film is certified
- Contains infrequent references to suicide and one use of mild language
The Lunchbox
Mismatched lunchboxes lead to an unlikely romance in this exquisite Indian drama, brimful of tantalising food and elegantly delivered wisdom.
Drama 2013 105 mins
Director: Ritesh Batra
Overview
Mismatched lunchboxes lead to an unlikely romance in the Indian drama that’s enchanted festival audiences around the globe, winning an audience award at Cannes and a Best Film nomination at the London Film Festival. A lonely Mumbai office worker receives the wrong packed lunch after a mix-up by the city’s famous dabbawala couriers, and is so impressed by its wonderful cuisine that he returns a note to its sender - a neglected housewife trying to rouse her husband’s affections.
So begins a letter-based romance in the vein of such classics as Shop Around the Corner. But this deceptively simple set-up belies an intelligent, beguiling and understated (no Bollywood songs) drama packed with delicious looking food and delightful insight. Bolstered with winning performances from veteran actors Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi) and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, first-time director Ritesh Batra has reworked the classic ingredients of the ‘meet cute’ romantic comedy into a disarmingly original concoction to tantalise the taste-buds and warm the heart.
Contains infrequent references to suicide and one use of mild languageRelated
Drama
Pain and Glory Pain and Glory
Drama 2019 113 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
In one of his most personal works, Pedro Almodóvar presents a vivid portrait of a filmmaker confronting age-related anxieties.
Phoenix Phoenix
Drama 2018 86 mins Director: Camilla Strøm Henriksen
Camilla Strøm Henriksen’s astute and atmospheric adolescent drama follows a young girl having to grow up quickly in an intensely adult world.
120 BPM (Beats per Minute) 120 BPM (Beats per Minute)
Drama 2017 143 mins Director: Robin Campillo
Pulsating with life and pounding with urgency, Robin Campillo’s extraordinary account of 1990s AIDS activism is a rousing, sensual and heart-breaking celebration of personal and political resistance.
Premature Premature
Drama 2019 90 mins Director: Rashaad Ernesto Green
Budding writer Ayanna’s life is transformed over the course of one hot Harlem summer, when a handsome and mysterious stranger walks into her life.
Animals Animals
Comedy 2019 109 mins Director: Sophie Hyde
Sophie Hyde's joyous ode to female friendship stars Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat as two 30-something women navigating booze, boyfriends, wild nights and blurry mornings.
Dirty God Dirty God
Drama 2019 104 mins Director: Sacha Polak
A young mother (Vicky Knight) tries to recover from an acid attack in Sacha Polak's vivid and vital drama.
Cannes Film Festival selects
A Touch of Sin A Touch of Sin
Drama 2013 125 mins Director: Jia Zhangke
Jia Zhangke’s state-of-the-nation report on contemporary China is comprised of four stories about shocking acts of violence.
Inside Llewyn Davis Inside Llewyn Davis
Drama 2012 100 mins Director: Joel Coen
The Coen brothers’ funny, melancholic elegy to early 1960s folk music follows a struggling songwriter through a winter’s worth of misdeeds, mishaps and lost cats.
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Crime 2011 151 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
A modern masterpiece from major filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, following police and prosecutors as they escort a murderer through the bleak Anatolian steppes in search of a buried body.
Beyond the Hills Beyond the Hills
Drama 2012 152 mins Director: Cristian Mungiu
Cristian Mungiu's scarily plausible drama about a nun's friend suffering for her love in a nunnery; obsession and superstition wreak havoc.
Rust and Bone Rust and Bone
Drama 2012 123 mins Director: Jacques Audiard
Rust and Bone is as punchy and abrasive as its title suggests – but intensely moving and surprisingly poetic too.
Like Father, Like Son Like Father, Like Son
Drama 2013 121 mins Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
A touching and acutely observed story of two boys switched at birth having to readjust to their natural parents, from Japan’s modern maestro Hirokazu Koreeda.
New
The Shiny Shrimps The Shiny Shrimps
Comedy 2018 103 mins Director: Cédric Le Gallo
After making a homophobic remark on live TV, an Olympic champion swimmer is given a chance at redemption by coaching a water polo team to the world’s biggest LGBTQ+ sporting event, the Gay Games.
Pain and Glory Pain and Glory
Drama 2019 113 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
In one of his most personal works, Pedro Almodóvar presents a vivid portrait of a filmmaker confronting age-related anxieties.
Phoenix Phoenix
Drama 2018 86 mins Director: Camilla Strøm Henriksen
Camilla Strøm Henriksen’s astute and atmospheric adolescent drama follows a young girl having to grow up quickly in an intensely adult world.
Sea Sorrow Sea Sorrow
Documentary 2017 73 mins Director: Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave makes her directorial debut with this impassioned documentary about the ongoing refugee crisis.
Honeyland Honeyland
Documentary 2019 86 mins Director: Ljubomir Stefanov
When a nomadic family move in and break Honeyland’s basic rule, the last female wild beekeeper in Europe must save the bees and restore natural balance.
120 BPM (Beats per Minute) 120 BPM (Beats per Minute)
Drama 2017 143 mins Director: Robin Campillo
Pulsating with life and pounding with urgency, Robin Campillo’s extraordinary account of 1990s AIDS activism is a rousing, sensual and heart-breaking celebration of personal and political resistance.
Extras
Director Ritesh Batra on The Lunchbox (Q&A)
Bollywood Star Irrfan Khan Discusses His Career (Q&A)
