A working-class family in London's East End is struggling to stay afloat during the recession under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's premiership. Only the mother Mavis is working; father Frank and the couple's two sons Colin, a timid, chronically shy individual and Mark, an outspoken, headstrong young man, are on the dole. This situation is contrasted by the presence of Mavis's sister Barbara, and her husband John, whose financial and social loftiness appears to be a comfortable facade over the unspoken soreness of a lackluster marriage.

High Hopes

1988

English

7.4

♡ 10

92%

Mike Leigh Director

Phil Davis as Cyril

Lesley Manville as Lætitia

Philip Jackson as Martin

Jason Watkins as Wayne

Slice-of-life look at a sweet working-class couple in London, Shirley and Cyril, his mother, who's aging quickly and becoming forgetful, mum's ghastly upper-middle-class neighbors, and Cyril's pretentious sister and philandering husband. Shirley wants a baby, but Cyril, who reads Marx and wants the world to be perfect, is reluctant. Cyril's mum locks herself out and must ask her snooty neighbors for help. Then Cyril's sister Valerie stages a surprise party for mum's 70th birthday, a disaster from start to finish. Shirley holds things together, and she and Cyril may put aside her Dutch cap after all.

A Running Jump

2012

English

6.2

♡ 6

Action

Comedy

Mike Leigh Director

Samantha Spiro as Debbie

Robert Putt as Derek

Ben Batt as Footballer

Eddie Marsan as Perry

Gary attempts to buy a second-hand car. What should be a straightforward task is turned into something of a quest by various people, including dodgy East End car dealer Perry, Perry's taxi-driver dad, a garage owner called Derek, Perry's wife Debbie and couple of twins.

The Short & Curlies

1987

English

6.6

♡ 2

67%

Action

Comedy

Mike Leigh Director

Alison Steadman as Betty

Wendy Nottingham as Charlene

David Thewlis as Clive

Sylvestra Le Touzel as Joy

A short comedy by Mike Leigh about the romance between a young woman and a man who communicates only through jokes and humor...

Vera Drake

2004

English

7.6

♡ 22

93%

Mike Leigh Director

Lesley Manville as Mrs. Wells

Tom Ellis as Police Constable

Leo Bill as Ronny

Imelda Staunton as Vera

Abortionist Vera Drake finds her beliefs and practices clash with the mores of 1950s Britain – a conflict that leads to tragedy for her family.

Bleak Moments

1971

English

6.9

♡ 3

71%

Action

based on play or musical

Mike Leigh Director

Donald Sumpter as Norman's friends

Joolia Cappleman as Pat

Liz Smith as Pat's mother

Linda Beckett as Remedial trainees

Moments from the uncompromisingly bleak existence of a secretary, her intellectually disabled sister, aloof and uneasy teacher boyfriend, bizarre neighbor and irritating workmate.

Topsy-Turvy

1999

English

7.3

♡ 11

90%

Mike Leigh Director

Lesley Manville as Lucy Gilbert

Alison Steadman as Madame Leon

Richard Coyle as Mr. Hammond

Jonathan Aris as Wilhelm

After their latest production, "Princess Ida", meets with less-than-stunning reception, Gilbert and Sullivan's relationship is strained to the breaking point. Their friends and associates attempt to get the two to work together again, which bares the path to "The Mikado", one of the duo's greatest successes.

Life Is Sweet

1990

English

♡ 25

94%

Mike Leigh Director

Timothy Spall as Aubrey

Jane Horrocks as Nicola

David Thewlis as Nicola's Lover

David Neilson as Steve

Just north of London live Wendy, Andy, and their twenty-something twins, Natalie and Nicola. Wendy clerks in a shop, Andy is a cook who forever puts off home remodeling projects, Natalie is a plumber and Nicola is jobless. This film is about how they interact and play out family, conflict and love.

Career Girls

1997

English

7.1

♡ 6

88%

Mike Leigh Director

Joe Tucker as Adrian

Andy Serkis as Mr. Evans

Mark Benton as Richard 'Ricky' Burton

Goran Kostic as Student

A young college student in London moves into a flat and becomes best friends with a flatmate; the former moves into her own flat 4 years later but 6 years after their parting, the former returns to London to pay the latter a visit.

Mr. Turner

2014

English

6.8

♡ 24

96%

Mike Leigh Director

James Norton as Clarinettist

Leo Bill as JE Mayall

Lesley Manville as Mary Somerville

Tom Wlaschiha as Prince Albert

Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.

BBC2 Playhouse Grown-Ups

1980

English

7.6

♡ 5

Action

Drama

Mike Leigh Director

Lindsay Duncan as Christine Butcher

Brenda Blethyn as Gloria

Lesley Manville as Mandy

Janine Duvitski as Sharon

Dick and Mandy, a young working class couple, move into a council house in Canterbury, and find Mr. Butcher, one of their former teachers, living next door. Mandy's unmarried sister, Gloria, is constantly dropping in, and will not take any hints that the couple would prefer to be left alone, until her presence finally goads them to action.

All or Nothing

2002

English

7.5

♡ 7

82%

Mike Leigh Director

Daniel Ryan as Crash Driver

Lesley Manville as Penny

Sally Hawkins as Samantha

Leo Bill as Young Man

Penny works at a supermarket and Phil is a gentle taxi-driver. Penny’s love for Phil has run dry and they lead joyless lives with their two children, Rachel, a cleaner, and Rory, who is unemployed and aggressive.

Peterloo

2018

English

6.5

♡ 30

67%

Mike Leigh Director

Leo Bill as John Tyas

Karl Johnson as Lord Sidmouth, the Home Secretary

Philip Whitchurch as Magistrate Col Fletcher

Philip Martin Brown as Mill Owner

An epic portrayal of the events surrounding the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where a peaceful pro-democracy rally at St Peter’s Field in Manchester turned into one of the bloodiest and most notorious episodes in British history. The massacre saw British government forces charge into a crowd of over 60,000 that had gathered to demand political reforms and protest against rising levels of poverty.

Naked

1993

English

7.7

♡ 46

88%

Mike Leigh Director

David Thewlis as Johnny

Susan Vidler as Maggie

Toby Jones as Men at Tea Bar

Deborah MacLaren as Woman in Window

An unemployed Brit vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.

Secrets & Lies

1996

English

8.0

♡ 41

95%

parent child relationship

reunion

secret

socially deprived family

Mike Leigh Director

Alison Steadman as Dog Owner

Clare Perkins as Hortense's Sister-in-Law

Phyllis Logan as Monica Purley

Lesley Manville as Social Worker

After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cynthia, a working class white woman.