Subscription
Most Popular Films of 2019
The classics that cut through in 2019 – here are the year’s most popular subscription titles.
Highlights include titles from some of the BFI's big 2019 seasons - Nineties (Festen), Musicals! (Once), Antonioni (La Notte) and Weimar (The Blue Angel) - while our annual focus on women filmmakers also provides a few entries, including the #1 spot.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Appropriate_Behaviour_1920x1080.jpg?itok=eMWxQnLg)
Appropriate BehaviourAppropriate Behaviour
Comedy201586 minsDirector: Desiree Akhavan
Desiree Akhavan directs and stars in this witty, razor-sharp and fearless comedy following the sexual misadventures of a bisexual Brooklynite.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/cara2.jpg?itok=pjKIJedd)
CaravaggioCaravaggio
Biopic198693 minsDirector: Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman’s unique biopic of the 17th century Italian artist Michelangelo da Caravaggio is a powerful meditation on sexuality, criminality and art.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/viva-2_0.jpg?itok=E89mTgZh)
VivaViva
Sex comedy2008116 minsDirector: Anna Biller
Anna Biller's outrageous sexploitation satire follows bored housewife Barbi as she searches for adventure in predatory 1970s Los Angeles.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/obsession4.jpg?itok=1KKdy3O2)
ObsessionObsession
Romance197698 minsDirector: Brian De Palma
High melodrama, creeping insanity and barely contained delirium abound in this dizzying tribute to the high tension thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock from director Brian De Palma.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/lavventura-1.jpg?itok=nxHnz-Uf)
L'avventuraL'avventura
Drama1960137 minsDirector: Michelangelo Antonioni
Antonioni’s masterpiece of modern alienation, with Monica Vitti as the young woman searching for her friend who's inexplicably disappeared.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/3_0.jpg?itok=J5SCBFAp)
PulsePulse
Horror2001119 minsDirector: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's dark and apocalyptic J-Horror foretells how technology serves to isolate us as it grows more important to our lives.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/salon-kitty-1920x1080.jpg?itok=2sofu8XO)
Salon KittySalon Kitty
Drama1976133 minsDirector: Tinto Brass
Before Caligula, Italian provocateur Tinto Brass directed this controversial and transgressive drama, inspired by the true story of a Nazi-run brothel in 30s Berlin.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Evolution_1920x1080.jpg?itok=P13Zcr8c)
EvolutionEvolution
Drama201582 minsDirector: Lucile Hadzihalilovic
The long-awaited second feature from Lucile Hadžihalilović (Innocence) is a gorgeously surreal coming-of-age tale laced with bizarre body-horror.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Love_is_the_devil_1920x1080.jpg?itok=vR6hB9U6)
Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis BaconLove Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
Biopic199887 minsDirector: John Maybury
Derek Jacobi and Daniel Craig star as artist Francis Bacon and his muse George Dyer in John Maybury’s darkly exquisite biopic.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/30fa11b37e4d3174e102fcd90f1020df.jpg?itok=RnY7GAh_)
Fidelio, Alice's JourneyFidelio, Alice's Journey
Drama201597 minsDirector: Lucie Borleteau
When Alice takes a job as a ship’s engineer her fidelity towards her shore-bound fiancé is tested when she discovers a former lover is the ship’s captain.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/the_blue_angel.jpg?itok=hFTcj5o3)
The Blue AngelThe Blue Angel
Drama1930103 minsDirector: Josef von Sternberg
Marlene Dietrich is sensational in her breakthrough role as Lola Lola, star attraction of The Blue Angel beer hall.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/promo259518859.jpg?itok=NIKMleSX)
HyenaHyena
Crime2015112 minsDirector: Gerard Johnson
In this stylish, dark crime thriller, a policeman’s complex web of underworld relationships is threatened by an internal affairs investigator.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/kiss_of_the_damned_1920x1080.jpg?itok=4XHowIiU)
Kiss of the DamnedKiss of the Damned
Drama201295 minsDirector: Xan Cassavetes
A cool and contemporary take on the vampire myth, steeped in atmosphere and brooding contemplation.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/la-notte-1.jpg?itok=KCnDW2xf)
La notteLa notte
Drama1961122 minsDirector: Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni's masterpiece stars Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau as a couple re-examining their emotional bonds.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Proposition_1920x1080_v4.jpg?itok=J0auPZkC)
The PropositionThe Proposition
Western2006104 minsDirector: John Hillcoat
John Hillcoat and Nick Cave's brilliant, brutal bushranger western, with Guy Pearce as the outlaw tasked with tracking down his psychopathic elder brother (Danny Huston).
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/mysterious-skin4.jpg?itok=545epCUO)
Mysterious SkinMysterious Skin
Drama2004105 minsDirector: Gregg Araki
Gregg Araki's provocative story of two boys haunted by disturbing events one summer when they were eight years old, adapted from Scott Heim's cult indie novel.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/6-crop_0-white%2520lines%2520removed.jpg?itok=MC_BHhyU)
OnceOnce
Musical200787 minsDirector: John Carney
The unique, charming musical about the whirlwind romance between an Irish street musician and a Czech immigrant; winner of an Oscar® and a major prize at Sundance Film Festival.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/festen1-reupload.jpg?itok=0Rgl0HVy)
FestenFesten
Drama1998101 minsDirector: Thomas Vinterberg
A family reunion turns both incredibly dark and unexpectedly hilarious, in the infamous first film of the Dogme 95 movement initiated by director Thomas Vinterberg and Lars von Trier.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/594241950ff233423f9055102a1a75c7.jpg?itok=-XbMHY98)
OrphéeOrphée
Drama195096 minsDirector: Jean Cocteau
Magical retelling of the Orpheus myth by poet, playwright, artist and filmmaker Jean Cocteau.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/somersault1.jpg?itok=MauBCFE3)
SomersaultSomersault
Drama2004102 minsDirector: Cate Shortland
This intoxicating drama about an adolescent girl's sexual awakening launched the careers of both its star Abbie Cornish and director Cate Shortland.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/La-Dolce-vita-1.jpg?itok=AaxT5DUg)
La dolce vitaLa dolce vita
Drama1960175 minsDirector: Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini’s masterpiece depicting seven hedonistic days in the life of a tabloid journalist (Marcello Mastroianni) as he searches for the sweet life.