100 Unmissable Film4 Movies

61. Starred Up (2014)

Rising star Jack O’Connell, known at the time for his show-stealing performance in the 2nd generation of Channel 4 TV teen drama ‘Skins’ (series 3-4), was brought under the stewardship of a director on an equal upward trajectory (David Mackenzie) for this drama about a volatile teenager thrust into adult prison and forced to fend for himself.

Director Mackenzie would become well-known and critically praised for his follow up Hell or High Water, released in 2016, but set the table for how that film would challenge the established order of things in this film, bringing the UK’s prison system into view and painting a picture of the systemic failure apparent in cases of young offenders.

O’Connell is at close to his career’s best here, offering the same inner turmoil evident in his performance in ‘Skins’ and rich with vulnerability just beneath the surface of anger. For his work, he was nominated for Best Actor at the BAFTA Scotland Film Awards, the British Independent Film Awards, and the Dublin Critics Circle Awards. The film was the winner of Best Feature Film, Best Writing (Jonathan Asser) and Best Directing at BAFTA Scotland, with Ben Mendelsohn winning a Supporting Actor award at the BIFAs (one of 8 nominations). JW


62. Frank (2014)

Aspiring musician Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) joins the struggling avant-garde band The Soronprfbs and is taken under the wing of the enigmatic papier-mâche mask-wearing frontman Frank (Michael Fassbender). Soon, bad blood in the band, Frank’s increasingly erratic behaviour, and the promise of imminent fame brings everything crashing down.

Frank makes for a rewarding and entertainingly zany watch, determinedly brushing aside convention and refusing to be pigeonholed. Like the titular character, Lenny Abrahamson’s film is mesmerising, compelling and elusive, saying as much about the contradictions of the music industry as it does about art, questionable genius and mental illness.

Frank was awarded Best Screenplay and Best Technical Achievement at the BIFAs, Best Supporting Actor for Gleeson and Best Director for Abrahamson in addition to Best Irish Film by the Dublin Film Critics Circle. SSP


63. 20,000 Days on Earth (2014)

Artists and filmmakers Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard made their feature directorial debuts with their unique celebration of enigmatic Australian musician Nick Cave, in the part-documentary and part-drama 2014 film 20,000 Days on Earth.

Mixing a staged day-in-the-life with observational documentary footage of Cave’s creative process, Forsyth and Pollard were able to paint a museum-like portrait of one of music’s most-respected names, earning themselves critical acclaim in the process. It’s a must-see for any fan of Nick Cave, or anyone hoping to expand upon their musical horizons, but the film’s general quality and imagination (as well as celebrity cameos from the likes of Kylie Minogue) ensure there are plenty of reasons to watch this unique docudrama whether you’re a fan or not. It has proven to be the inspiration for many similar films over the past decade.

This engrossing film was a nominee for Documentary Feature at the 2015 BAFTA Film Awards, the British Independent Film Awards, the Film Independent Spirit Awards, and the Sundance Film Festival (among others), with directorial duo Forsyth and Pollard earning BIFA’s Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Filmmakers. JW


64. ’71 (2014)

After making a name for himself as a director for television on the critically acclaimed series ‘Top Boy’, Yann Demange made his feature debut with the similarly praised ’71, a focused period war thriller about a British soldier (played by the star of earlier 2014 film Starred Up, Jack O’Connell) who has to survive the night in Belfast (1971) after he is accidentally abandoned by his unit.

The film’s key strength is in its pacing, which can be at times relentless and offer little room to breathe. O’Connell is also a highlight with his typically fiery demeanour; he uses his ability to hold pain and anger side-by-side to construct a protagonist you come to care about. He is supported by a who’s who of British and Irish actors, including a young Barry Keoghan and Mission: Impossible alum Sean Harris.

Yann Demange was given a special mention by the Berlin International Film Festival’s Ecumenical Jury, and was nominated for the Debut Film and Golden Bear categories at the same festival. At the BAFTAs, he was also nominated for Outstanding Debut, with ’71 being amongst the nominees for Best British Film. ’71 was a 9-time British Independent Film Award nominee, with Demange winning for Best Director, while O’Connell won Breakthrough Artist at the 2014 Irish Film Critics Circle Awards. JW


65. Mr. Turner (2014)

Mr. Turner documents the final years of celebrated English painter J.M.W. Turner (Timothy Spall) as he battles both health and personal problems, as well as an increasing dismissal of his later work.

Mike Leigh’s film is a masterful and absorbing biopic, a challenging character piece that is both funny and tragic, and a sharp critique of the narrow-mindedness and fickle nature of the art world. Leigh brings little moments in 19th Century English high society to life, and Spall and the supporting players inject humanity and flaws into real historical figures.

Aside from a Cannes Best Actor award for Spall, this didn’t get much in the way of awards recognition, but perhaps that’s appropriate for an outsider filmmaker adapting the life of another outsider artist. SSP


66. Ex Machina (2015)

Ex Machina Review

Lonely IT programmer Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), who works at a search engine company called Blue Book, is feeling pretty good about himself after winning a contest to spend the week at the isolated home of his eccentric CEO Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac). But Caleb soon discovers he is in over his head when Nathan reveals the real purpose for Caleb’s visit: he needs someone to administer a reversed Turing Test to his humanoid robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander), to determine if he thinks she is capable of human consciousness, despite knowing she is artificial intelligence. Completely shut off from the outside world, Caleb attempts this but slowly spirals into paranoia. Unable to fully trust Nathan or Ava, Caleb begins to question his own humanity.

With a tight script that has a firm grasp on the inner workings of AI technology, and outstanding performances from Gleeson, Isaac, Vikander and Sonoya Mizuno (who plays Nathan’s silent housekeeper Kyoko), as well as a nail-biting score from English band Portishead, the film is generally regarded as one of the best films of the 2010s and a worthy entry into the canon of modern science fiction.

The directorial debut of 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland, Ex Machina garnered a slew of accolades after its release in 2014. Garland was nominated for Best Screenplay at the 88th Academy Awards and the film itself went on to win Best Visual Effects. Ex Machina also won four British Independent Film Awards.

Ex Machina feels more timely now than it did when it was released given current fears surrounding AI technology, and the film seems to prophesize the moral and ethical dilemma we find ourselves in. A modern-day “Frankenstein”, Ex Machina explores the struggle between man and his creation as well as touching on themes of autonomy and women’s rights. MR

Recommended for you: Alex Garland Directed Films Ranked


67. The Duke of Burgundy (2015)

Arthouse British filmmaker Peter Strickland has long held a reputation for wholly cinematic dark tales akin to the European film movements of eras gone by, and his third feature film release The Duke of Burgundy is very much in that wheelhouse. Telling of a lesbian couple stretched to breaking point by the obsession of one partner towards the other, it is funny and at times sleazy, though not short of purpose and always holding just a hint of magic.

In the mid-2010s, there were a lot of very good British directors working quite regularly. A lot of them were working with Film4. But Strickland always stood out, not least because the tone of his pictures were always so off-kilter that they simply couldn’t be made by anyone else. The Duke of Burgundy has been described as “odd”, and it is this oddness that makes it so unique and interesting, and one of the high points in its director’s against-the-grain career.

With such unusual sensibilities and a budget of just $1million, The Duke of Burgundy wasn’t a big awards nominee, but it was in the selection for the London Film Festival’s Best Film in 2014, and composing duo Cat’s Eyes did win the European Film Award for European Composer. JW


68. 45 Years (2015)

Since his debut film Greek Pete in 2008, writer-director Andrew Haigh has gone on to establish himself as one of the most well-respected British filmmakers around. His 2015 film 45 Years, coming before critical hits Lean on Pete (2017) and All of Us Strangers (2023) – each still to come on this list – is a rich and moving relationship drama starring two of the all-time great British actors, Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay.

What is on the surface a slice of life drama about an ageing couple holds great dramatic purpose and can resonate with anyone. Courtenay plays a man discovering that the body of the girlfriend he lost in a glacier 50 years earlier has been found, her presence literally frozen like a memory resurfacing with all the potency that only trauma and grief can offer. Rampling plays his wife, whose support is dealt a blow by the news and whose long-running insecurities begin to fester. It isn’t a loud movie, nor one of Hollywoodised dramatic monologues explaining what the stakes are; it’s very British, and very Andrew Haigh.

45 Years was a huge critical success, earning the distinction as British/Irish Film of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards in 2016 and Best British Feature Film award from the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2015. The film was also nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, with both Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling earning acting wins. For her efforts, Rampling was also nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Film Award, while the film was nominated for 6 British Independent Film Awards in total. JW


69. The Lobster (2015)

The English-language debut of acclaimed Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (now known for The Favourite and Poor Things), The Lobster will be best remembered for the extremely off-kilter sensibilities that the director brought from his earlier international offerings, only with the star presences of Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz.

Typified by Lanthimos’ trademarked juxtaposition of mundane every day life with vicious, horrifying and/or brutal acts, The Lobster is one of the filmmaker’s most successful dark comedies that demands attention throughout each and every minute. It tells of a near future in which all single adults are sent to The Hotel to find a romantic partner. If they fail, they will be transformed into different creatures. It’s as wacky as it seems.

This beautifully photographed movie earned it a Best British Film nomination at the BAFTAs in 2016, and 7 British Independent Film Award nominations, winning only in the Supporting Actress category (Olivia Colman). Lanthimos was also honoured by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his writing, earning the film’s only Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay alongside writing partner Efthimis Filippou. JW


70. Carol (2015)

Todd Haynes handsomely adapts Patricia Highsmith’s scandalous novel about the affair between shop assistant Therese (Rooney Mara) and a closeted socialite Carol (Cate Blanchett).

It is impossible to split Blanchett and Mara’s performances as one cannot exist without the other – the reason both actors work so well on screen is because of how skilfully they play off each other’s performances, how sensitively they covey Carol and Therese’s passion. Haynes’ films are always good-looking, but here the delicate aesthetics and tasteful framing only highlight the honesty of the emotion.

Carol was nominated for 6 Oscars, 5 Golden Globes and 9 BAFTAs, taking away trophies for the central performances from several international festivals. Its omission from Best Picture at the Oscars did reignite the old debate about the Academy’s lack of enthusiasm for LGBTQ+ stories, however. SSP

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