The 50 Best Movies Streaming on Netflix UK Right Now

Stop sitting there, endlessly scrolling through Netflix. How many times are you going to cycle through ‘New Releases’ without actually clicking on anything?

Too much choice isn’t actually a good thing. So we’re here to help. We’ve gone through the whole of Netflix, and picked out the really good films on there, so you don’t have to keep deliberating what to watch. We’re hand-picked 50 of the streaming service's very best offering so you’ll not waste an evening watching that virtual fireplace again. There’s action movies, comedies, gangster film, animation, some old, some new, some you’ve heard of, some you haven’t, but they’re all worth your time. Trust us.

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Director: Gavin O’Connor

Stars: Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton

It’s kind of strange that Warrior wasn’t a massive success on it’s first release. The UFC juggernaut keeps getting bigger and bigger, and this film is basically the MMA version of Rocky. Only in Warrior, there are two Rockys — two estranged brothers played brilliantly by Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton, who both come out of nowhere to get a shot at MMA stardom. To be honest, the film is totally ludicrous and melodramatic, but that’s not really a bad thing. The performances are fantastic, the fights are thrilling, and all in all it’s just a great feel-good old-school boxing movie given a modern twist.

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Stars: Samuel L Jackson, Bruce Willis, John Travolta

Quentin Tarantino’s breakthrough movie is effortlessly re-watchable. Each of the three interlocking story strands (boxer Bruce Willis refusing to throw a fight, hitmen Travolta and Jackson trying to dispose of a body, and Travolta taking his mob boss wife Uma Thurman out on a date) are so packed with detail that no matter how many times you’ve seen it, you always seem to spot something new.

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel

Stars: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara

This is not a film to put on when you’re just looking for something light and breezy, but if you’re willing to put the time and effort in it’s an important, rewarding watch. The three-hour German epic details the last few days in the life of Adolf Hitler, trapped deep in a bunker in Berlin. Its power comes from treating him not as monster, but as a three dimensional human, examining how one person could be so truly evil (It also gave us those ‘Hitler reacts’ videos that were all the rage a few years back, but don’t hold that against the film).

Director: Sergio Leone

Stars: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, James Woods

If you’ve already seen The Godfather, Goodfellas and Casino a million times, check out this sweeping crime epic from spaghetti Western legend Sergip Leone. It’s very long — nearly four hours — but spans 40 years, and Netflix is perfect for breaking it into two or three manageable chunks. Robert De Niro stars as Noodles, a young street kid in a 1920s ghetto, and the film follows him through to the 60s as he works his way up through the mob. His journey acts as a parallel to the growth of America across the twentieth century, and the film is a true American epic.

Director: John Carpenter

Stars: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall

John Carpenter was the master of late 70s/ early 80s low-budget action movies. Big Trouble In Little China was his biggest movie of his golden era — it wasn’t a financial success but it’s rightly become a cult classic. Kurt Russell is idiot truck driver Jack Burton, the bumbling ugly American who stumbles across a mysterious underworld beneath San Francisco’s Chinatown. Carpetner delivers the action and humour amongst some amazing practical special effects that take influence from Chinese legend and classic Shaw Bros. kung fu movies.

Director: Trey Parker

Starring: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, some puppets

It’s a sad reflection that this satire by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone is still as relevant as it was a decade ago. Ok, Kim Jong-il might be dead now, but American foreign policy hasn’t really changed. A brilliant, hilarious, foul-mouthed comedy, Team America takes the old puppet show Thunderbirds and turns it into a balls-to-the-wall Michael Bay style action movie.

Director: Ben Stiller

Stars: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell

Ben Stiller’s fashion world spoof is still on-point 15 years after its first release. The models-as-government-assassins plot doesn’t really all hang together, but that’s not the point, — it’s just a loose net for Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell to hang a series of nonsensical sketches, and mix in cameos from everybody from Billy Zane to David Bowie.

Director: John Lasseter

Stars: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen

Still arguably the greatest of the saga, Toy Story 2 builds on part one to add more characters, more adventure, and more emotion. This time, Woody is accidentally sold to a toy dealer, who wants to make mad dollar off him on eBay, and it’s down to Buzz and the rest to save him.

Director: David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker

Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty

Before Scary Movie, before Not Another Teen Movie, before Naked Gun, there was Airplane. Whereas modern spoof movies make their targets restrictively specific (ie 50 Shades of Black). Airplane though is just about a plane in trouble. It just riffs on disaster movies in general, meaning its humour is timeless. Plus it hits you with about a million jokes a minute, and at least 75% of them are killer.

Director: James Gunn

Stars: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler

Before he made Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn made this low-budget superhero film, and it is absolutely nothing like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Rainn Wilson plays an awkward divorced loser who decided to become a costumed crime fighter after a vision from god. Lacking any powers, he instead just batters people with a massive monkey wrench. It’s a unique film that lurches from wacky comedy to jet black humour. It also has a career best performance form Ellen Page as his deranged sidekick.

Director: John MacLean

Stars: Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-McPhee

This low-key Western has Kodi Smit-McPhee as young kid travelling across the Wild West to rescue his bae, accompanied by grizzled outlaw Michael Fassbender. It’s an intentionally odd, awkward film, a revenge movie where the characters aren’t cool badasses but weird oddballs. It all builds to an incredible tense AF shootout, and the whole thing looks beautiful as well.

Director: Joel & Ethan Coen

Stars: Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones

We could argue all day about what’s the best Coens Brothers movie. But their Oscar winning 2007 Western has got to be close to the top of the list. It eschews their usual humour for a dead serious, bloody tale of various parties battling over a hold-all full of cash in 80s West Texas. It’s both a gripping thriller and a meditation on human violence, and Javier Bardem is terrifying as hitman Anton Chigurh.

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Stars: Pam Grier, Samuel L Jackson, Michael Keaton

There’s a school of thought that Jackie Brown is QT best film. There’s definitely a case for it. Not only is it a fantastic, twisty-turny crime movie, but it’s also his most human film. It’s a film about adults, people who have made their choices in life, and it’s too late to go back. It’s bittersweet, touching and easily more personal than anything else Tarantino has ever done. It also has the last truly great Robert De Niro performance.

Director: Fernando Meirelles

Stars: Leandro Firmino, Alice Braga, Alexandre Rodrigues

City of God is nothing short of an experience, from the moment you’re thrust into the world of Rocket and his life in the favelas, we are given a no-holds bar into world that was known to only a few. Whilst knowledge of the narcotics trade and gang violence in Brazil was known on some-level, this film really provided the cutting edge look that no other film or documentary has come close to since. At times it can be funny and full of vibrant joy that Brazil is known for and within a millisecond we forced to view some of the harshest and most gut wrenching scenes of tragedy and violence due to the prevalent drug trade. Even crazier was the fact that most of the actor’s and actresses were all amateurs who were recruited from the favelas, including Alexandre Rodrigues, who plays the lead and is actually from The City of God.

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Stars: George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Juliette Lewis

If you’ve never seen it, and somehow you’ve managed to avoid finding out what happens, were not going to spoil it for you here. We’re just jealous that you get to experience it fresh. Based on a Tarantino script, George Clooney and Tarantino play two criminal brothers on the run trying to get to Mexico. And when they get there….

Director: William Friedkin

Stars: Gene Hackman, Roy Schneider

The French Connection is best known for having one of the greatest car chases of all time. And 40 years later, it still definitely holds up. But that’s far from all the movie has to offer. It’s one of the great New York thrillers, a true-life crime story about heroin being smuggled into the US, and the combination of Gene Hackman and Roy Schneider remain one of the coolest cop duos in movie history.

Director: Adam McKay

Stars: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes

When the two best detectives in the department (a perfectly cast Samuel L Jackson and The Rock) suffer a fate too funny to spoil here, it’s down to desk cops Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg to pick up their case. The Other Guys is the perfect meld between the usual surreal Will Ferrell comedy mode and all those buddy cop clichés, pushed over the line to perfection by a very game supporting cast including Steve Coogan, Michael Keaton and Eva Mendes.

Director: Wes Craven

Stars: Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Drew Barrymore

The horror film that defined the 90s. And forget about the multiple sequels, and parodies, and recent TV series, the late Wes Craven’s slasher satire still totally holds up. The set-up isn’t anything out of the ordinary—a small town is targeted by a mysterious killer. But Kevin Williamson’s razor sharp script perfectly skewers every horror cliché in the book. From Drew Barrymore’s opening-credits demise, to Jamie Kennedy reciting the rules of slasher movies, it’s the little moments that make this one so great.

Director: Matt Reeves

Stars: Lizzy Caplan, TJ Miller, Jessica Lucas

Found-footage movies get a bad rep, and that’s mostly because they’re usually boring and lazy. Cloverfield on the other hand is a clever re-invention of another genre film staple: the Godzilla movie. A giant monster attacks New York, but instead of the sweeping aerial shots of King Kong we see everything from street level, captured on a camcorder by a group of fleeing twenty-somethings. The fact we never get a clear shot of the monster just makes the sense of panic and confusion feel even more real.

Director: Jennifer Kent

Stars: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman

The break-out horror hit of last year, this Australian supernatural chiller went on to be one of the most acclaimed films of 2014 not just with genre fans, but with proper critics as well. It’s a simple, dark film that plays on childhood nightmares, and familiar elements — a small boy, a scary book, and monsters in the shadows. There are gorier films out there, there are more shocking horrors, but not many will leave you genuinely not wanting to switch off the bedroom lights, and reduce you to being a tiny little scared baby.

Director: Paris Barclay

Stars: Marlon Wayans,Shawn Wayans, Vivica A Fox

Don’t Be A Menance… parodies a very specific moment in movie history — the point in the early 90s when hood movies like Juice, Boyz n the Hood and Menace II Society were all the rage. You’d think that would make it horribly dated, but somehow it still totally stands up. Partly it’s because those hood clichés are still so ingrained in the culture (and have even had a comeback in Straight Outta Compton). But most it’s just because the jokes come so think and fast, in the tradition of the great movie spoofs like Airplane and Naked Gun, that it just can’t help to be funny.

Director: Abel Ferrara

Stars: Harvey Keitel, Paul Calderon

Harvey Keitel is one of the great American badass actors. For some reason he’s never quite hit the iconic status of, say, De Niro or Pacino, but he’s easily put in enough classic performance to match both of them. And Bad Lieutenant is probably his masterpiece. As the title suggests, he plays a bad cop. A very bad cop, snorting, gambling and fucking his way through New York on the trail of a dangerous rapist. It’s a firecracker performance, not for the fainthearted, but utterly, utterly riveting.

Director: Amy Heckering

Stars: Alicia Silverstone, Stacy Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd

20 years later, Clueless might still be the cleverest teen movie ever made. The film transplants Jane Austen’s novel Emma to Beverly Hills, with Alicia Silverstone’s peak-valley girl Cher attempting to turn clueless newcomer Brittany murphy into one of the popular kids. Every element of the film comes together perfectly: Amy Heckering’s script pops with razor sharp putdowns, the cast is fantasting (including a young Paul Rudd and Stacy Dash, before she became the world’s most terrible human being), and to top it all off, the clothes and soundtrack make it the ultimate 90s time capsule.

Director: Rob Zombie

Stars: Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sherri Moon Zombie

Somehow, Rob Zombie was able to top his crazy debut House Of 1000 Corpses with this follow-up. The best sequels take the characters in different directions. Instead of following the victims, The Devil’s Rejects takes the genius approach of making the Firefly family, the villains of House Of 1000 Corpses, the main protagonists of the film (we would say they’re the ‘heroes’, but they’re still murdering psychopaths). The family go on the run across the US, chased by police, ending in one of the most incredible finales in horror film history.

Director: Kevin Smith

Stars: Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson, Brian O'Halloran

Anyone who’s ever worked brain-numbing retail job will appreciate Kevin Smith’s debut flick. Shot in stark black and white, Smith paid for it by maxing out his credit cards and filmed in in the convenience store where he worked. Spanning one day in the life of the slackers who work there, it’s still one of the best films to truly capture the early 20s experience —old enough to be an adult, but still young enough not to have to choose your path in life yet. It’s crude, funny, meandering, and in its own way, strangely profound.

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson

Zombies are so played out right now that you really need to do something special to make us care. And Zombieland is something special. It’s more of a slacker comedy than a horror, where our hero Jesse Eisenberg just happens to find himself in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. It’s just an incredibly likable, smart film, with great characters and performances and a smart script, with the odd flesh-eating monster thrown in. And one of the best cameos of all time.

Director: Lynne Ramsay

Stars: Tilda Swinton, John C Reilly, Ezra Miller

Are people born evil, or does their upbringing make them that way? That’s what this adaptation of the awarding-winning novel examines (and totally goes down on the side of the former). When married couple John C Reilly and Tilda Swinton have their first child, it looks like they are the perfect family — but very quickly it turns out he’s basically a psychopath, and the film works its way backward from his final Columbine-style massacre. It also features a star-making turn from hot new thing Ezra Miller, soon to be seen as The Flash in Justice League.

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, Pete Postlethwaite

Old school DiCaprio is always a good shout. Forget Titanic, Leo’s best 90s performance is in Baz Luhrmann’s ADHD adaptation of Shakespeare’s most famous play. Luhrmann keeps the original language but shots everything like a big budget music video. Olden day Italy is replaced modern day LA,and guns take the place of swords. DiCaprio is as cool as he’s ever been, and the soundtrack is the most 90s thing ever.

Director: John Landis

Stars: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones

From Beverly Hills Cop to Trading Places to 48 Hrs​, in the mid 80s Eddie Murphy pumped out a streak of hits that's as strong as pretty much anyone ever in the history of Hollywood. And Coming To America is right there in that list. Murphy is at the peak of his powers as the heir to the throne of the fictional African country Zamunda, heading to Queens to find a bride.

Director: Sean Penn

Stars: Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Stewart

The true story of Christopher McCandless is a fascinating one; in 1992 the relatively well-off 24 year old decided to leave the modern world behind and ventured into the Alaskan wilderness to live a life of solitude, with little in the way of supplies or equipment. It didn’t end well. Sean Penn’s film brings the tale to life, anchored by great performance by Emile Hirsch as McCandless.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Stars: Daniel Day Lewis, Paul Dano

There Will Be Blood is quite simply one of the greatest movies of the modern era. The turn of the century epic has oil baron Daniel Plainview (a phenomenal, terrifying Daniel Day Lewis) feuding over land with Paul Dano’s meek preacher in a battle that spans nearly 30 years. It’s a masterclass in filmmaking, from the wordless opening 20 minutes to the instantly iconic “I drink your milkshake” finale.

Director: Martin Scorsese

Star: Leonardo Di Caprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Jon Favreau, Joanna Lumley

This Martin Scorsese epic sees Leonardo Di Caprio at his finest in the role of real life Wall Street scammer-artist Jordan Belfort. Simply put, The Wolf of Wall Street is one of those films you NEED to see, it’s an unapologetic account of one man’s greed, excess and talent for financial manipulation. With an equally strong cast including an on-fire Jonah Hill, Jon Bernthal and a scene-stealing cameo from Matthew McConaughey this biopic is littered with dark humorous tones that doesn’t mask the overall cautionary tale that Scorsese tries to tell.

Director: Gareth Evans

Stars: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian

When The Raid: Redemption came to our screens in 2011 it pretty much flew under the radar of any mainstream coverage but word of mouth propelled Cardiff-born director Gareth Evans’ to unprecedented cult-like status. By the time The Raid 2 came along it was already billed as one of the must-see martial arts/action films of the year. To describe The Raid 2 as a typical ‘lad’ film might be harsh but it does carry some truths, it makes no excuses for what type of viewing you’ll be in for as you’re strapped into two-hours and 30 minutes of mind-blowingly brutal fight scenes that’ll both excite you and make you wince with pain.

Director: Lau Kar-leung

Stars: Gordon Liu, Lo Leih

If you were ever wondering where the mighty Wu-Tang Clan got the majority of their Kung-Fu references from then look no further than this film. Whilst it might be dated by todays standards, it remains essential viewing for film lovers and hip-hop heads alike. OT sound effects and the hilariously poor dubbing may seen like a distraction to the untrained eye (or ear) – even corny, but it does nothing to detract from the amazing fights scenes that could probably outdo any modern day Hollywood in the cinemas now. You could even say that the questionable audio adds to the distinct charm that this film imposes and perhaps why Staten Island’s finest are so obsessed with it. It may never reach the heights that made Enter The Dragon ‘the best martial arts film ever’ but The 36th Chamber of Shaolin comes damn well close.

Director: Mamoru Oshii

Stars: Atsuko Tanka, Akio Otsuka, Kayumi Yamadera

Recently there’s been a shit-load of Japanese anime on Netflix, tall getting through all of them is impossible. Most of these are stellar series that if you do get time we recommend you binge (i.e. Attack on Titan, Psycho-Pass) but time is precious so if you’re after something of the feature length variety then Ghost in The Shell is right up your street. A classic in it’s own right the film follows Major Kusangi and her Section 9 division as they race against time to find the nefarious hacker known as the puppet master. The film is particularly important due to the fact that without GitS the Wachowski’s could never of made The Matrix as their concept of cyber hacking was inspired directly from the Oshii’s classic. As well as the obvious cyber/sci-fi inspirations Ghost in The Shell also inspired The Matrix’s philosophical look at the relationship between man and machine, it genuinely does probe the theories of Augmented Reality and A.I. It was also one of the first Manga’s to mix a painstakingly beautiful animation with CGI making it trailblazer in it’s own right.

Director: David O’Russell

Stars: Mark Walhberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo

When The Fighter was first released, the film was sold as a ports drama’ and for the duration of the runtime it is. The work that both Mark Walhberg and Christian Bale put in is as close to real as you can get , with each fight shot, cut and edited to look like a real sports broadcast. Walhberg himself went in full method acting role for the part of Micky Ward. However at it’s core The Fighter is about something else set well away from the boxing yet still closely linked by it’s effects, O’Russell’s exploration into toxic family environments and the obliviousness of addiction is amazingly depicted in Leo and Bale as Alice and Dicky Ward (a performance which won them both Supporting Actress and Actor awards at the Oscars). Walhberg himself is equally engrossing as a man trapped between family loyalty and his need to break free from the shackles of his families wants and needs. It’s unfortunate that his performance was overlooked by the Academy but who needs a blasted trophy to confirm that you’re watching a great film?

Director: Joss Whedon

Stars: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jnr, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddlestone, Jeremy Renner

If you tell people that you haven’t seen this film yet you’ll likely cause a) a mass aneurism and b) dagger-like death stares. Marvel’s big budget blockbuster was practically the game-changer in the superhero movie genre. With that success came proof that something as niche and obscure as comic books can excel in mainstream culture, while it’s true there have been countless successful superhero movies beforehand, what Whedon and co did was make near-accurate geek culture cool AF. But seriously though, if you haven’t seen this film yet try not to mention it at social gatherings as it may turn you into a social pariah.

Director: Jon Favreau

Stars: Jon Favreau, Sofia Vegara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffam

Jon Favreau pulls an all-star cast for this food based inspired comedy. Taking on the task of director, actor and writer is daunting as any job can be but Favreau does a brilliant job laying out the story of a failed chef who starts up his own food truck in order to get back his creative mojo. Chef is a genuine feel good comedy that you probably shouldn't watch on an empty stomach.

Director: Sofia Coppola

Stars: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Faris, Giovanni Ribsi

Prior to this film whenever some brought up Sofia Coppola’s name they immediately mentioned how she was to blame for the shortcomings of The Godfather Part III. That’s a pretty unfair assessment because that film was terrible in general and the director/her father Francis Ford Coppola knew it. But it was her that took most of the flack. When she debuted Lost in Translation (her only other directorial effort before that was well-received The Virgin Suicides) she went from hated child actor to celebrate director. To call Lost in Translation a love story would be limited and unjust, it’s more than that. It’s about the relationships we forge and the significance of making connections and communicating. It's anchored by the brilliant performances of Murray and Johansson, twoe foreigners in an unfamiliar setting who develop a heartwarming albeit temporary bond with each other, while being stuck in Tokyo.

Director: Walter Hill

Stars: Michael Beck, James Remar, David Patrick Kelly

One of the great New York movies, The Warriors is one of those action films that has a a simple, perfect set up. In 1970s NY, all the city's gangs meet to discussion a truce. But when the instigator of the truce is shot, Coney Island’s The Warriors are framed for the murder and have to get back to Coney and survive the night. It’s simply just one of the most exciting chase movies ever, with loads of crazy themed gangs, an impossibly funky 70s score, and a snapshot of a New York that no longer exists.

Director: Kinji Fukusaku

Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Aki Maeda, Chiaki Kuriyama

​And you thought Hunger Games was such an original idea. The Japanese cult classic was instantly controversial on its first release, due to its killer (pun intended) premise. At some time in the near future, a class of kids on a school trip are abducted, taken to an island, and forced to fight to the death. Beneath its gonzo violence, it works because taps into adolescent fears that we’ve all experienced.

Director: Justin Simien

Stars: Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Kyle Gallner, Dennis Haybert

Dear White People is one of the sharpest, smartest and most vital satires in recent movie history. Creed star Tessa Thompson is fantastic as Sam, a bi-racial student at the black house of a mostly white college, who runs a controversial radio that shares the film's title. After she is elected head of the house, what follows is an intricately plotted tale of blackface frathouse parties, reality TV manipulation, undercover reporters, naive idealism, young love and secret Taylor Swift fandom. The title might make it sound preachy, but nothing is safe from the film's lazer-sharp takedowns.

Director: Ryan Coolger

Stars: Michael B Jordan, Kevin Durand, Octavia Spencer

The Creed team of director Ryan Coolger and actor Michael B Jordan first came together for the real life story of Oscar Grant, a young African American shot and killed by police officers at the Bay Arena station that gives the film its title. The film imagines the last day of Grant’s life, and while the inevitable ending might make the film seem somewhat one-note — but in fact Jordan and Coolger bring so much humanity and energy to the story that the opposite is actually true (and only makes his death even more powerful).

Director: Michael Bay

Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie

A genuinely great Michael Bay film? Yes such a thing exists. This true story of bumbling bodybuilders moonlighting in kidnapping, extortion and murder is a crime comedy comparable to the Coen Brothers, both funny and strange, and featuring fantastic performances from Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Mackie and The Rock. It’s a film about the excess and corruption of the American Dream, and Michael Bay loves shooting expensive cars in the Miami sun, so he’s pretty much the perfect director for it.

Director: Oliver Stone

Stars: Woody Harrelson, Juilette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr

Based on a story by Quentin Tarantino, Oliver Stone’s young murderous lovers on the run tale was one of the most controversial films of all time when it first came out. And 20 years later, it’s genuinely still shocking. Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis are two mass murders who become TV darlings as they flee the law. A satire on media exploitation, the film’s audacious style mixes up everything from animation, to news reports, to trip-out scenes to even sitcom parody to get its message across.

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Stars: Daniel Craig, Michael Gambon, Sienna Miller

Layer Cake is pretty the reason that Daniel Craig got the James Bond job. Matthew Vaughn went from producing Guy Ritchie’s cockney gangster movies to directing one himself, but Vaughn ditches most of Ritchie’s wacky comedy to make a much grittier, tougher film, with Craig’s unnamed professional coke dealer planning to pull off one last deal. It’s not without its own stylistic flashes though, including a particularly violent café assault set to Duran Duran.

Director: Sidney Lumet

Stars: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe

Al Pacino regards this film as one his finest achievements — that’s quite a statement coming from a man who’s filmography reads like the ‘100 greatest movies ever’. Serpico stands out as an excellent piece of film due to Pacino’s raw performance. This isn’t the Pacino that’s seen bumbling around in Jack & Jill, this is a Pacino in his prime. His portrayal of the real life Frank Serpico, an undercover cop trying to expose corruption in the NYPD, you can really sense the undying determination of a man who’s fighting an almost unwinnable battle. A must watch for any film buff and Al Pacino fan.

Director: Andre Øverdal

Stars: Otto Jespersen, Hans Morten Hasen, Tomas Alf Larsen, Johanna Mørck

This one pretty much flew under the radar but over the years this Norwegian film as earned adoring cult status. Not be dismissed as ‘Europe’s version’ of Cloverfield or The Blair Witch Project, Andre Øverdal’s film brings a fresh new take on the whole ‘found footage’ genre. Mixing traditional monster/horror-flick styles with the mockumentary composition and combining Norwegian cultural elements with Hollywood cinematic flair this is one of those films that will grow on you if you stick with it’s slow burning pace.

Directors: Joel & Ethan Coen

Stars: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy Steve Buscemi

Before it became everyone’s favourite prime time TV-show, brothers Joel and Ethan Coen directed this masterpiece that was a essentially a character study and critique on the flaws and strengths of human nature. Doubling as both a crime drama and a dark comedy, Fargo is essential viewing for any respected filmophile, the story is amazingly intricate and the performances are nothing short of magnificent — particularly from the likes of William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi and Frances McDormand, with the latter winning an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Director: Lenny Abrahamson

Stars: Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal

Winning best screenplay at the BFI Awards in 2014 it’s clear to see why Frank is so endearing. Despite spending the entire film inside of a paper mache head, Fassbender manages to wrangle a performance that suits his natural gravitas. As a film Frank’s quirky nature works in a satirical manner, as a memoir, comedy bromance and simply because it’s so damn weird. It’s quirky trappings transcends itself with a heartfelt – and oddly thought-provoking story.