British & Irish Films

Ricky Gervais’ After Life: To be or not to be, that’s one of the questions

By David Walsh, 9 May 2020

Tony Johnson (Gervais) is devastated by the death of his beloved wife Lisa (Kerry Godliman) from breast cancer. He finds it difficult to carry on with life and frequently contemplates suicide.

Michael Apted’s 63 Up: The ninth film in the remarkable series

By Kevin Martinez, 3 February 2020

The British documentary “Up” series has followed the lives of a group of Britons from age seven up to the present, when they are now all 63. The latest film provides insights into not only their lives, but the nature of the postwar period.

Wild Rose and Yesterday: A Scottish singer seeks country music fame and a world without the Beatles

By Joanne Laurier, 22 July 2019

Two recent British-made films delve into the field of popular music. Works about such a subject can be a means of getting at social life from an unusual and unorthodox point of view.

Mike Leigh’s Peterloo: A drama of the British working class

By David Walsh, 5 April 2019

The opening of Peterloo in the US this week and next is an event of some importance. The film was inspired by important ideas and created with great seriousness and artistry.

An interview with Mike Leigh, director of Peterloo: “You don’t run out of steam if what you do…is to literally hold the mirror up to nature”

By David Walsh, 5 April 2019

The WSWS spoke to British filmmaker Mike Leigh during the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2018.

Film Review

“Grenfell changed everything”—Failed by the State: The Struggle in the Shadow of Grenfell

By Paul Bond, 14 December 2017

A new three-part documentary shows how the Grenfell Tower inferno exposed the realities of class oppression and social inequality in the most brutal way.