Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month

The Painted Bird
Based on Jerzy Kosiński’s 1965 novel and a long time in the making, Václav Marhoul’s extraordinary The Painted Bird finds a lone Jewish boy on a dark odyssey towards home during wartime.
Drama 2019 169 mins
Director: Vaclav Marhoul
Overview
A boy (Petr Kotlár) is sent to his aunt to protect him from the Nazis; when she dies unexpectedly, he’s propelled on a bleak journey across Central Europe – from one brutal encounter to the next. Shot in starkly beautiful 35mm black and white by Kolya cinematographer Vladimír Smutný, The Painted Bird’s textures recall both the crispness of The Bicycle Thief and squalor of Aleksei German’s Hard to be a God. Featuring several standout cameos (Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgård, Udo Kier), Marhoul’s darkly magnificent Venice Film Festival competitor is sumptuously crafted, though rarely an easy watch, with scenes some will find distressing. A terrifying and highly relevant exploration of what humanity looks like when there is only vicious survival, with little space for compassion.

Related
Drama

Tony Takitani Tony Takitani
Drama 2004 76 mins Director: Jun Ichikawa
Award-winning film adapted from Haruki Murakami’s New Yorker tale of solitude and obsession.

Ava Ava
Drama 2017 103 mins Director: Sadaf Foroughi
Sadaf Foroughi's gripping debut about a young girl's coming-of-age in a strict, traditional society.

Hive Hive
Drama 2020 84 mins Director: Blerta Basholli
Director Blerta Basholli’s feature debut is a moving story of resilience and hope.

Charlatan Charlatan
Drama 2020 118 mins Director: Agnieszka Holland
Agnieszka Holland’s fascinating biopic of Jan Mikolášek, a 20th century Czech herbalist whose great success masked the grimmest of secrets.

Polisse Polisse
Police drama 2011 128 mins Director: Maïwenn Le Besco
Brutal, shocking and incredibly powerful, this close-up examination of the workings of a child protection police unit in Paris is hard-hitting and heart-stopping cinema.

Berberian Sound Studio Berberian Sound Studio
Drama 2011 92 mins Director: Peter Strickland
In 1970s Italy, a timid British sound engineer joins the crew on a violent horror film. But the disturbing world of the film soon seeps into reality.
BFI London Film Festival

The Handmaiden The Handmaiden
Period drama 2016 146 mins Director: Park Chan-wook
Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, Stoker) channels Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith, to create a sumptuous twisty psychological thriller full of erotic intrigue.

Ladyworld Ladyworld
Thriller 2018 94 mins Director: Amanda Kramer
Welcome to Ladyworld, a shadowy dwelling where tensions run high and nothing is ever quite what it seems.

After Love After Love
Drama 2020 90 mins Director: Aleem Khan
In this knockout feature debut from Aleem Khan, Bafta-winner Joanna Scanlan is the woman who discovers her late husband’s secrets.

County Lines County Lines
Drama 2019 90 mins Director: Henry Blake
Blistering thriller of a teen groomed to work for a brutal, organised drugs network.

The Prey The Prey
Action and Adventure 2018 93 mins Director: Jimmy Henderson
An innocent man sentenced to rot in a Cambodian jail is released for the sadistic pleasure of twisted trophy hunters and forced to fight – or die.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Comedy 2021 106 mins Director: Radu Jude
Berlin Golden Bear winner, Radu Jude’s scathing satire finds schoolteacher Emi threatened with dismissal when a private sex tape goes viral.
Featuring Udo Kier

Suspiria Suspiria
Horror 1977 101 mins Director: Dario Argento
Dario Argento’s phantasmagoric gothic nightmare blends operatic violence, disorienting dream logic and hyper-real visuals to create a horror classic.
New

Tony Takitani Tony Takitani
Drama 2004 76 mins Director: Jun Ichikawa
Award-winning film adapted from Haruki Murakami’s New Yorker tale of solitude and obsession.

Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story
Documentary 2018 101 mins Director: Steve Sullivan
Frank Sidebottom was a pillar of alternative comedy of the late 80s/early 90s, and this charming documentary remembers the man behind the papier-mâché head.

Ava Ava
Drama 2017 103 mins Director: Sadaf Foroughi
Sadaf Foroughi's gripping debut about a young girl's coming-of-age in a strict, traditional society.

Hive Hive
Drama 2020 84 mins Director: Blerta Basholli
Director Blerta Basholli’s feature debut is a moving story of resilience and hope.

Charlatan Charlatan
Drama 2020 118 mins Director: Agnieszka Holland
Agnieszka Holland’s fascinating biopic of Jan Mikolášek, a 20th century Czech herbalist whose great success masked the grimmest of secrets.

Polisse Polisse
Police drama 2011 128 mins Director: Maïwenn Le Besco
Brutal, shocking and incredibly powerful, this close-up examination of the workings of a child protection police unit in Paris is hard-hitting and heart-stopping cinema.