Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £6.99 a month
The Ice Storm
An impressive ensemble cast populate Ang Lee’s riveting portrait of family life in 1970s America.
Director: Ang Lee
Overview
Ang Lee’s exceptional period drama recreates life for a pair of families caught up in the turbulence and wayward morality of 1970s America. Neighbours and friends in a sleepy Connecticut hamlet, the Hood and Carver families prepare for approaching Thanksgiving. As an ice storm stirs, the adults try to lose themselves in joyless hedonism while their children attempt to emulate their behaviour.
As the investigation into the Watergate scandal reaches its dramatic conclusion and the trickle-down impact of the previous decade’s change in attitude to sex and drugs makes its way into the country’s more conservative communities, Lee’s film presents a snapshot of a world conflicted by a radical change in values. James Schamus’ stunning adaptation of Rick Moody’s novel, featuring an outstanding ensemble cast, finds Ang Lee at the top of his game, creating a devastating portrait of family life that is all-too-relevant in our current climate.
Related
Chicken Town Chicken Town
Comedy 2025 90 mins Director: Richard Bracewell
Two old schoolfriends join forces with an elderly neighbour to fence a shed full of weed, in this sprightly, easy-going British comedy.
Parasite Parasite
Drama 2019 132 mins Director: Bong Joon-ho
Bong Joon Ho's Oscar®-winning box-office sensation is a darkly comic, twisty rollercoaster ride.
Sister Midnight Sister Midnight
Comedy 2024 107 mins Director: Karan Kandhari
A genre-bending comedy about a frustrated and misanthropic newlywed who discovers certain feral impulses that land her in unlikely situations.
Holy Cow Holy Cow
Comedy 2024 92 mins Director: Louise Courvoisier
In the heart of the French Alps, a wayward teen finds his purpose in cheese – and discovers that maturity isn’t just for Comté.
Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea
Comedy 1977 90 mins Director: Jindrich Polák
A deliciously demented Czech time-travel romp that's both hilariously silly and impressively ingenious.
Trees Lounge Trees Lounge
Comedy 1996 91 mins Director: Steve Buscemi
Venerable character actor Steve Buscemi steps behind the camera in this profound study of a lonely, alcoholic, and unemployed mechanic.
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
Documentary 1975 46 mins Director: Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog’s moving portrait of a record-breaking ski jumper.
Fanny and Alexander Fanny and Alexander
Drama 1982 311 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Bergman’s magisterial and sumptuous portrait of a 20th-century Swedish family, presented in its full-length TV version.
Wild Strawberries Wild Strawberries
Drama 1957 88 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Victor Sjöström is magnificent as the crabby professor taking a nostalgic road trip with his daughter-in-law, in Ingmar Bergman's elegiac masterpiece.
Watership Down Watership Down
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 92 mins Director: Martin Rosen
An apocalyptic vision pushes a group of rabbits to abandon their warren in search of a new home, in this landmark British animation.
Hundreds of Beavers Hundreds of Beavers
Comedy 2024 109 mins Director: Mike Cheslik
Stranded in a surreal winter landscape, a drunken applejack salesman must become North America's greatest fur trapper in Mike Cheslik’s gloriously anarchic slapstick comedy.
Rouge Rouge
Drama 1987 98 mins Director: Stanley Kwan Kam-pang
Gorgeous romantic melodrama from queer cinema master Stanley Kwan about the haunting power of lost love starring the late Cantopop singer Anita Mui.
Manhunter Manhunter
Crime 1986 124 mins Director: Michael Mann
Michael Mann’s chilling and stylish adaptation of Thomas Harris’ bestseller introduced Hannibal Lecktor to cinema audiences for the first time.
Malpertuis Malpertuis
Fantasy 1971 125 mins Director: Harry Kümel
Orson Welles stars in this labyrinthine mythological fantasy set in a baroque mansion, from the director of Daughters of Darkness.
Daughters of Darkness Daughters of Darkness
Horror 1970 100 mins Director: Harry Kümel
A newlywed couple is entangled by the spellbinding aura of a vampire in Harry Kümel’s seductive horror.
Godland Godland
Drama 2022 143 mins Director: Hlynur Pálmason
Breathtakingly inventive and ambitious historical epic about a young Danish priest travelling to a remote Icelandic outpost to establish a church.
Eureka Eureka
Drama 2023 147 mins Director: Lisandro Alonso
Multi-stranded meditation on the experiences of indigenous communities across the Americas, from Argentinian filmmaker Lisandro Alonso.
Dragon's Return Dragon's Return
Drama 1968 85 mins Director: Eduarda Grecnera
A reclusive potter nicknamed ‘Dragon’, exiled from his isolated homestead, returns years later, aiming to win back the trust of the villagers.
Battleship Potemkin (Music by Pet Shop Boys) Battleship Potemkin (Music by Pet Shop Boys)
Historical drama 1925 75 mins Director: Sergei M. Eisenstein
Marking the centenary of Sergei Eisenstein’s landmark film, with thrilling music by Pet Shop Boys.