50 Best British Movies on Amazon Prime

50 Best British Movies on Amazon Prime

April 24, 2025

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Just as there’s no such thing as one type of American, European, Latin, or Asian cinema, British film can look just as varied while still offering something unique outside the Western mainstream. And given the British film industry’s influence and reach, there are many more British productions or co-productions out there than you may realize. So if you’re looking for all the different forms UK cinema can take, the expansive library of Amazon Prime is a great place to start—and since we at agoodmovietowatch look for lesser-known but high-quality films approved by critics and audiences alike, the selection we’ve gathered below should have good surprises in store for curious viewers.

11. Nowhere Boy (2010)

best

8.4

Genres

Drama

Director

Female director, Sam Taylor-Johnson

Actors

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Andrew Buchan, Angela Walsh, Angelica Jopling

Moods

Character-driven, Sunday, Sweet

In a different change of pace, this biopic focuses on John Lennon’s reckless adolescence and family life instead of his soon-to-be iconic music. It brings an epic rockstar many of us have known our entire lives down to a more relatable level. The young Aaron Taylor-Johnston gives a very angsty performance which feels a little over the top at times. Anne-Marie Duff does comes off too flirtatious for a newly formed mother-son relationship but Kristin Scott Thomas outshines them all with her steely demeanor.

12. Anomalisa (2016)

best

8.3

Genres

Animation, Comedy, Drama

Director

Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson

Actors

David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan

Moods

Character-driven, Depressing, Mind-blowing

Putting the inherent eeriness of stop motion animation to perfect use, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s Anomalisa create a legitimately disturbing experience of a man’s paranoid delusions, as he tries desperately to make a real human connection while perceiving everyone around him as the same person. It’s that (unfortunately) rare animated film that understands that this medium can tell complex, even terrifying, stories for grown-ups while respecting their intelligence. And it’s still gorgeously put together, with seamless movements from the character puppets and evocative lighting and cinematography that puts the film firmly in the uncanny valley. It’s a tougher watch than it looks, but the depth of feeling it captures is nothing short of totally human.

13. Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)

best

8.2

Genres

Adventure, Animation, Comedy

Director

Mark Burton, Richard Starzak

Actors

Andy Nyman, Emma Tate, John Sparkes, Justin Fletcher

Moods

Easy, Feel-Good, Funny

Through positively adorable characters and zero dialogue whatsoever, Shaun the Sheep Movie reminds viewers young and old of the sheer artistry that goes into a truly great children’s cartoon. Animated by British stop motion godfathers Aardman Animations, the film delivers one excellent visual joke after another, while still telling a coherent story that arrives at surprisingly tender places touching on the importance of community and home. In an animation industry that’s constantly trying to innovate, a movie like Shaun the Sheep stands as a reminder that there are certain fundamentals in storytelling that deserve to be preserved and passed down to every new generation. It’s the loveliest thing around.

14. Ne le Dis à Personne (Tell No One) (2006)

best

8.1

Genres

Crime, Drama, Mystery

Director

Guillaume Canet

Actors

Alexandra Mercouroff, André Dussollier, Anne Marivin, Brigitte Catillon

Moods

Intense, Smart, Thrilling

Francois Cluzet, who you may remember from The Intouchable, plays a man whose wife is killed and is accused of murdering her. To make matters even more confusing, signs that his wife is actually still alive surface. This well thought out thriller is at all times the furthest thing from boring and has, among other great components, well crafted chase scenes as the protagonist looks for 8 years of unanswered questions.

15. All or Nothing (2002)

best

8.1

Genres

Comedy, Drama

Director

Mike Leigh

Actors

Alan Williams, Alex Kelly, Alison Garland, Badi Uzzaman

Moods

Character-driven, Depressing, Slice-of-Life

Grounded by Lesley Manville and Timothy Spall’s powerhouse performances, this gut-wrenching family drama from Mike Leigh is an acting juggernaut. Penny and Phil are a working-class couple whose marriage is rapidly deteriorating and pushed to the brink when their son, played by a young James Corden, is hospitalized. 

While Manville and Spall are centered as the leads, Leigh draws a staggering amount of depth from Corden as well as a young Sally Hawkins who plays a neighbor. Despite being one of Leigh’s grimmest films, there is still a profound sweetness lingering at the edges as the story teeters between despondency and hope.

16. Broken (2013)

best

8.0

Genres

Drama

Director

Rufus Norris

Actors

Alicia Woodhouse, Andrew Frame, Bill Milner, Charlie Booty

Moods

Character-driven, Thrilling, Warm

Remember the name Rufus Norris. “Broken” is his directorial debut and he handles it like a seasoned pro. Also keep an eye out in the future for its young star, Eloise Laurence, who shows all the natural ability of a young Natalie Portman or Jodie Foster. Laurence plays “Skunk”, a twelve year old trying to make sense of life – and whose task isn’t made any easier by her own family’s internal struggles, or the other families living in the peaceful-looking cul-de-sac where much of the action takes place. We’re informed from the get-go that some sort of tragedy will befall the girl, but we don’t know what shape it will take, or what the outcome of it will be. The tension builds from there, with a little relief along the way, thanks to her often-amusing performance as she witnesses the confusing actions of her elders. Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy are also in good form, both of whom seem happy to complement Laurence’s presence rather than try to upstage her. “Broken” is equal parts cute, frightening, and brutally tense. It’s well worth checking out.

17. American Animals (2018)

best

8.0

Genres

Crime, Documentary, Drama

Director

Bart Layton

Actors

Al Mitchell, Ann Dowd, Barry Keoghan, Ben McIntire

Moods

Gripping, Suspenseful, Thrilling

This crazy heist movie is told in a very original way. Because it’s based on a true story, the movie (with actors and a story) is sometimes interrupted by the people it’s about. The opening scene even reads: “this movie is not based on a true story, it is a true story”. Two friends decide to rob their local library from rare books worth millions. They’re driven by money but also by wanting something different than their monotonous everyday lives in Kentucky. The need for a change is a big theme in this movie, but the story and the way it’s told never cease to be breathtakingly thrilling. American Animals stars amazing actors like Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk), Evan Peters (Kick-Ass), and many more; but perhaps equally as notable is the director: Bart Layton, who is fresh from his amazing 2012 sleeper-hit The Imposter.

18. Raising Victor Vargas (2003)

best

8.0

Genres

Drama, Romance

Director

Peter Sollett

Actors

Donna Maldonado, Jeff Knite, Joe Rosario, Judy Marte

Moods

Funny, Romantic

This small-scale but incredibly fun 88-minute drama from 2003 is about a group of Latino teenagers who grow up in New York’s Lower East Side.

Victor lives with his eccentric grandmother, which sometimes gets in the way of him pursuing Judy, his dream girl.

The actor who plays Victor is called Victor Rasuk, the one who plays Judy is called Judy Marte. This is a film so personal that both main characters needed to be named after the actors who play them.

19. Argentina, 1985 (2022)

7.9

Genres

Crime, Drama, History

Director

Santiago Mitre

Actors

Agustín Rittano, Alejandra Flechner, Alejo Garcia Pintos, Antonia Bengoechea

Moods

Discussion-sparking, Dramatic, Smart

Argentina, 1985 is a legal drama about how a prosecutor and his young team were able to mount evidence—despite all threats and odds—against the officials behind a brutal military dictatorship. The public trial is supposedly the first of its kind in Latin America, a marker of true democracy that made a hero out of Julio Strassera and Moreno Ocampo, who both led the case.

Despite the presence of very serious themes, there are moments of lighthearted humor here that work to stress the film’s underlying message of goodwill and perseverance. Argentina, 1985 competed at major festivals this 2022, and it’s Argentina’s official entry at the 2023 Academy Awards.

20. Hidden Agenda (1990)

7.9

Genres

Drama, Thriller

Director

Ken Loach

Actors

Bernard Archard, Bernard Bloch, Brad Dourif, Brian Cox

Moods

A-list actors, Dramatic, Gripping

In Ken Loach’s conspiracy thriller, an American human rights activist (Frances McDormand) and a no-nonsense UK police officer (Brian Cox) work tirelessly to uncover the truth behind a suspicious death — but this is no rousing triumph of good over evil, only a bitter pill about corruption and complicity. Human rights lawyer Paul (Brad Dourif) and girlfriend Ingrid (McDormand) are in Troubles-era Belfast wrapping up their report into the UK government’s shoot-to-kill policy when Paul is shot dead by mysterious assailants while on his way to speak to an informant. Police investigator Kerrigan (Cox) is flown in from England to look into the death; Cox plays him as a stickler for the rules and fierce agent of justice, inspired by a real-life official who was abruptly suspended from the police before he could deliver his findings into the UK government’s alleged death squad in Northern Ireland.

But the network of high-level corruption that Kerrigan and Ingrid uncover poses a direct challenge to those values, ultimately forcing him to choose between revealing the conspiracy — and risk destroying his life — or concealing the truth and betraying his ethics. A fascinating look at the slippery slope to complicity, this is a gripping, unabashedly ideological conspiracy thriller blending Hollywood polish with gritty reality.

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