100 Unmissable Film4 Movies

91. Titane (2021)

Titane Review

An exotic dancer with a metal plate in her head (Agathe Rousselle) goes on the run from the police and disguises herself as the long-lost son of a grieving firefighter (Vincent Lindon) while simultaneously undergoing a more nightmarish biotechnological transformation.

Titane is one of the most unique and vividly memorable films of the 2020s so far; a disturbing horror-thriller with unforgettable, searing imagery juxtaposed with a strangely earnest emotional throughline of unconditional love.

Only her second feature film, Titane won director Julia Ducournau the Cannes Palme d’Or (becoming the 2nd woman in history to do so) and Rouselle was also awarded Most Daring Performance by the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. SSP


92. Passing (2021)

The feature directorial debut of actress Rebecca Hall, Passing is a 1920s period drama that tells of two high school friends reunited at extremely different points in their life; one (Tessa Thompson) living proudly as a black woman and the other “passing” for white (Ruth Negga) and therefore avoiding the daily prejudices experienced by black people of the day.

The piece is partly a thriller, but it is most impactful in how it tells of an experience less often seen on screen – in this respect it’s very much of the ilk of the earliest Film4 projects. Released in the midst of an era of re-evaluation in the film industry (one in which representation was a key issue), Passing had a contemporary relevance despite its period setting.

Shot in beautifully contrasted black and white, which of course helped to emphasise the themes in the story, Passing looks like the art pictures of the day, but the performances and writing were most celebrated by awards bodies and academies. Passing was a 4-time BAFTA Film Award nominee in 2022, with Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga each being nominated for acting, the film being nominated for Best Film, and Rebecca Hall being nominated for Outstanding Debut. JW


93. Brian and Charles (2022)

Brian and Charles Review

Lonely inventor Brian (David Earl) makes a cabbage-loving robot friend called Charles Petrescu (Chris Hayward) out of junk and proceeds to teach him about the world. But desperate for stimulation beyond that of Brian’s Welsh village, Charles begins acting up and wandering off.

Definitely an acquired taste as far as the oddball tone and sense of humour goes, Brian and Charles is a full film developed from a strange live comedy show and could have gone very wrong, but it works more often than it doesn’t and it is certainly inventive and heartfelt in its exploration of friendship and being yourself.

Brian and Charles came away empty-handed during awards season but received nominations for Outstanding British Film at the BAFTAs and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. SSP


94. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

The Banshees of Inisherin Review

Banshees are mythical beings from Irish folklore that portent the coming of death when you hear them scream shrilly in the night. As the Irish Civil War draws to an end, it could be expected that those on the front lines will hear these ominous wails. However, it is a sleepy island off the west coast of mainland Ireland that calamitous change is being brought to.

Pádraic (Colin Farrell) is on his way to meet with his friend Colm (Brendan Gleeson) in the pub at 2pm, in what seems to be an almost daily ritual. However, this day, Colm doesn’t want to hang out with Pádraic – in fact, he doesn’t want to hang out with him ever again. Colm is a man who feels like his life is running through his fingers and is desperate to leave a mark on this world, perhaps through his music. In his heart of hearts, he feels that this is something he cannot achieve if he remains friends with Pádraic, whom he feels holds him back with his dullness. Pádraic is beyond hurt by Colm’s words and is in disbelief – regularly trying to ignite conversation with his old drinking pal to only be met with Colm’s refusal to yield. As Pádraic is only left with Dominic Kearney (Barry Keoghan), the island idiot, to hang out with, his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) tries to mediate on his behalf – she sees Colm’s refusal to compromise as a sign that he is deeply unwell. As Pádraic’s pestering persists, Colm resorts to extreme measures to end his friendship.

The Banshees of Inisherin was the comeback dream of the cinephile – after In Bruges captured lightning in a bottle with the trio of McDonagh, Gleeson and Farrell, fans were keen to see what they could achieve the next time they were together. Although the original inception of the movie was years in the making, the clash of the film’s production with the COVID pandemic proved to be artistically fortuitous. The setting on the remote islands off the West Coast of Ireland not only allowed for safe filming practices during the Pandemic, but the beautifully rugged and desolate settings conjured a tangible isolation of devastating relatability. It’s not a surprise that a film focused on loneliness would get a 15-minute standing ovation at the 2022 Venice Film Festival. 

Although it came home empty-handed, The Banshees of Inisherin was nominated for a staggering nine Oscars. Once again, McDonagh’s direction showcased the very best of Irish talent with both Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan (who has since shot to stardom with the likes of Saltburn) winning a BAFTA for their supporting roles.

Martin McDonagh has had to face severe standards with regards to his own filmmaking, a self-inflicted reality, as he had set the bar so high with the likes of Six Shooter and In Bruges. Despite the reunion of Gleeson and Farrell double act, The Banhsees of Inisherin is very much its own thing. Black Comedy seems too inappropriate a label – although it does have moments of levity, the film is persistently bleak. Most of McDonagh’s films share common themes, e.g. toxic masculinity and its impact on men’s mental health and violence towards women. These movies have succeeded in examining these themes, but none have so exquisitely captured the desolation and agony of a soul in isolation like The Banshees of Inisherin. There is no madcap or convoluted plot, there is no zany violence and gore for the sake of shock value – just two men unable to connect anymore.

Indeed, the Banshees will wail as the hope in both men’s lives has died; in turn we find ourselves screaming too, as all this horror and torment was avoidable. Not one healthy coping mechanism is seen on-screen; it can’t help but make you think of our own loved ones who hide themselves away and how it emboldens one to not let them get lost in their own Inisherin. KD

Recommended for you: Martin McDonagh Films Ranked


95. Living (2022)

Living Review

Japanese-British novelist turned filmmaker Kazuo Ishiguro adapted great Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film Ikiru for the English language, and anchored his piece on old age and illness around a truly magnetic performance from British film stalwart Bill Nighy (at this point in his 70s).

Living transports the action from post-war Japan to post-war Britain, with Bill Nighy playing an elderly civil servant who foregoes his repetitive day-to-day in search of a new meaning to life but is stopped in his tracks by awful news from his doctor. It is moving to a fault, with Nighy arguably at his very best in portraying the existentialism his character is going through – it is the kind of film an actor would appreciate and a writer would find inspiration in.

Kazuo Ishiguro was nominated for Adapted Screenplay at the British Independent Film Awards, the BAFTA Film Awards and the Oscars, while Bill Nighy was among the leading nominees at the 2023 BAFTAs and Oscars for Actor in a Leading Role. JW


96. Earth Mama (2023)

Former Team GB volleyball Olympian (at the London Games of 2012) Savanah Leaf made her feature directorial debut with this 2023 award winner about a pregnant single mother seeking to overcome the odds imparted on her by her circumstances and the systems tasked with upkeeping the status quo.

A dramatic adaptation of the 29-minute short documentary The Heart Still Hums by Leaf and Taylor Russell (Waves), Earth Mama seeks to personalise the tragic disadvantage that young single mothers are handed upon becoming pregnant, and offers a truthful insight into the systems that maintain the oppression these women suffer at the hands of. Visually eloquent, and rich in emotion and empathy, Earth Mama is a film that has maturity beyond its filmmaker’s experience.

Savannah Leaf won the award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer at the 2024 BAFTA Film Awards, while the film earned 3 British Independent Film Awards with Leaf winning the Douglas Hickox Award (Best British Debut Director). JW


97. How to Have Sex (2023)

How to Have Sex Review

Molly Manning-Walker’s coming-of-age drama explores the complexities of teenage life, friendship and sexual discovery. The film follows three British teenage girls – Tara, Skye, and Em – as they embark on a much-anticipated holiday in Malia, Crete. Excited for a summer of freedom and fun, the girls are eager to experience their first taste of adulthood, with Tara particularly focused on losing her virginity.

The film premiered at Cannes 2023 where it won the Un Certain Regard prize. Mia McKenna-Bruce, playing lead Tara, delivers a standout performance. She brings a nuanced vulnerability to the role which goes hand in hand with Walker’s direction and skilfully balances moments of joy with deeper, more uncomfortable truths. Walker’s command over the film results in its greatest strength: its refusal to glamorize the party scene or oversimplify the emotional stakes involved.

How to Have Sex offers a raw and honest portrayal of the challenges of growing up, exploring themes of consent, identity and the often unspoken fears that come with sexual awakening. While it will be a difficult watch for some, it is a film that delves into these aspects of teenage life with sensitivity and authenticity. GT


98. All of Us Strangers (2023)

All of Us Strangers Review

Taichi Yamada’s book is adapted with authorial intent by Lean on Pete writer-director Andrew Haigh, who tells of a screenwriter’s budding relationship to a younger man in his apartment building and the reconciliation the screenwriter is undergoing regarding his childhood and the fractured relationship he holds towards his parents as an adult.

Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal are immeasurably charismatic in their lead roles, each providing memorable moments of heartache and heartbreak, while Claire Foy and Jamie Bell offer impeccable support. One conversation between Scott and Bell is played so well that it is now well-known for how moving it is, and has thus transcended the film itself.

All of Us Strangers was nominated for 6 BAFTAs, including Best Casting and Outstanding British Film, and won 6 British Independent Film Awards, including Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Music Supervision and Best Supporting Performance (for Paul Mescal). JW


99. The Zone of Interest (2023)

The Zone of Interest Review

From Jonathan Glazer, the director behind the visionary Under the Skin (2013), The Zone of Interest tells of the World War II concentration camps of Auschwitz and specifically the day-to-day lives of a Nazi family that lives wall-to-wall with one of them. Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller are exceptional in the lead roles.

Glazer tells of the Holocaust from the perspective of the oppressor, and holds up a mirror to our contemporary society in doing so. This is a film about privilege, and the oppression that births that privilege. We too clasp at goods born of torture.

Director Glazer and his Oscar-nominated cinematographer Łukasz Żal observe the daily activities with a cold, disconnected lens and colour palette. Their work is entirely in service to the story and doesn’t feature any showy techniques; this film’s intention is to avoid any form of glorification.

This may be the best film released in the 21st century, and for its achievements it won the Cannes International Film Festival’s Grand Prize and FIPRESCI Prize, while musician Mica Levi won the award for Best Composer and Johnnie Burn earned the CST Artist – Technician Prize at the same festival. The Zone of Interest was also a 6-time European Film Award nominee (winning for Sound), a 5-time Academy Award nominee (winning for Sound and Best International Feature), and a 9-time BAFTA Film Award nominee (winning for Sound, Film Not In the English Language, and Outstanding British Film). JW

Recommended for you: Every Non-English Language Best Picture Nominee Ranked


100. Poor Things (2024)

Poor Things Review

In a fantastical Victorian era, reanimated Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) leaves her “father” Dr Godwin Baxter (Willem Defoe) to see the world and experience everything life can throw at her with the rakish Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo). But as Bella’s curious intelligence, independence and sense of self grows, she clashes with the patriarchal society determined to keep her in her place.

Yorgos Lanthimos continues to carve his own furrow with an utterly unique take on the world and its imbalances, but despite remaining incredibly provocative, this is probably his most accessible and easily his most visually stunning work to date. Emma Stone is a fearless force of nature here and the film’s early surreal frivolities gradually give way to reveal a much darker and more essential heart.

Poor Things was nominated for eleven Oscars, winning four – Best Actress for Stone, Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design and Costume Design. SSP

Recommended for you: 100 Unmissable BBC FIlms


Each entry in this list of 100 unmissable films released by Film4 is an award winner, a film that shifted movie culture, a movie that launched a career or a film that solidified one. If you are yet to see any of the films listed here, please bookmark this article and return to this list at a later date; use it as a watchlist – return to it time and time again to seek new paths through cinema.

If you feel inspired, let everyone know about it in the comments below. With so much great, challenging, perspective-widening, award-winning work to explore, there will surely be plenty to share.

If you liked this list, please follow @thefilmagazine across social media – particularly Facebook and X (Twitter) – for more insightful movie lists. And support the writers of this piece by following them on social media and taking a look at more of their work (available at the links to follow): Katie Doyle (KD), Martha Lane (ML), Margaret Roarty (MR), Sam Sewell-Peterson (SSP), George Taylor (GT), Joseph Wade (JW).

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Leave a Comment