50 Best British Movies on Amazon Prime

50 Best British Movies on Amazon Prime

February 6, 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.

21. Under The Greenwood Tree (2005)

7.8

Genres

Drama, Romance, TV Movie

Director

Nicholas Laughland

Actors

Ben Miles, James Murray, Keeley Hawes, Richard Leaf

Moods

Dramatic, Easy, Funny

2005 was a banner year for British period dramas, apparently: first, there was Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice (still arguably the genre’s crowning achievement), and then came Under the Greenwood Tree, a delightful made-for-Christmas-TV romance loosely based on the eponymous Thomas Hardy novel. Anyone familiar with the author’s typically tragedy-tinged stories — think Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Far From the Madding Crowd — will find themselves surprised by the light, pleasant tone of this one, in which the closest anyone gets to violent revenge is sabotaging a church organ by pouring a flagon of cider into it.

The romance here is threefold: when Keeley Hawes’ spinster schoolteacher Fancy Day (genuinely her name) arrives in an English village, she ignites a rivalry between wealthy farmer Shiner (Steve Pemberton), haughty clergyman Parson Maybold (Ben Miles), and James Murray’s die-hard romantic Dick Dewy (again: the names in this are a choice). The trio’s simultaneous attempted courting of Fancy doubles as both the entertaining will-she-won’t-she stuff of romantic dramas and a conduit through which the movie explores the class dynamics in England during the 19th century. It’s this deft intertwining of satisfying romantic period drama tropes with genuine reflection on the historical period itself — all while remaining lighthearted — that makes this underseen adaptation worth watching.

22. Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin (2019)

7.8

Genres

Documentary

Director

Werner Herzog

Actors

Bruce Chatwin, Elizabeth Chatwin, Karin Eberhard, Marcus Wheeler

Moods

Gripping, Instructive, Mind-blowing

The sooner you adjust your expectations for Nomad—and realize that this isn’t a travel documentary but Werner Herzog’s own wonderfully offbeat way of remembering his dear friend—the better. Any uneven moments in this film’s construction are smoothed over by the sheer authenticity of what Herzog puts on screen, from his own distinctive narration, to gorgeous excerpts from Bruce Chatwin’s writings, to the sounds and images that make up the strange worlds that both men were fascinated in. No mysteries are solved here, but just being closer to the strange and surreal becomes a way for Herzog to come to terms with the strangest and most surreal of life’s realities: death.

23. Touch (2024)

7.7

Genres

Drama, Romance

Director

Baltasar Kormákur

Actors

Akshay Khanna, Benedikt Erlingsson, Egill Ólafsson, Eiji Mihara

Moods

Character-driven, Emotional, Heart-warming

With the internet able to connect people from miles away, the concept of the one that got away has become unromantic– after all, with instant messaging, their distance just means that you’ve been ghosted. But for the longest time, romance stemmed from the fated circumstances that kept or lost love, and this is excellently portrayed in Touch, a surprising romantic drama from writer-director Baltasar Kormákur best known for his action thrillers. Kormákur infuses the drama with a delicate touch, much more focused on the moments of connection between immigrants from different cultures, with the freedom of the late 60s that marks Kristófer’s youth versus the urgency of the world’s restrictions and Kristófer’s memory. Touch remembers the real romance of the one that got away.

24. You Were Never Really Here (2018)

7.6

Genres

Crime, Drama, Mystery

Director

Female director, Lynne Ramsay

Actors

Alessandro Nivola, Alex Manette, Christian Reeve, Claire Hsu

Moods

A-list actors, Dark, Intense

The performance of a pot-bellied Joaquin Phoenix is nothing short of perfection. He brilliantly portrays a hitman down on his luck who happens to rescue a kidnapped teenage girl. It’s a tight movie, running a short 89 minutes. It makes a point that sticks. Pure entertainment, pure acting, and amazing directing by Lynne Ramsay (who also directed We Need to Talk About Kevin).

25. Croupier (1998)

7.6

Genres

Drama, Thriller

Director

Mike Hodges

Actors

Alex Kingston, Alexander Morton, Barnaby Kay, Clive Owen

Moods

A-list actors, Suspenseful, Thrilling

Clive Owen stars as a struggling writer who reluctantly accepts a lucrative offer to work as a croupier at a London casino. His characteristic aloofness, hatred of gambling, and sharp observational skills allow him to remain uncompromised and able to catch any attempt at cheating within his field of vision. But when a savvy professional gambler he shares an attraction with asks him to participate in a heist in an uncompromised way, he’s forced to consider playing the angles. Owen’s coolly detached performance is a marvel, and the depiction of the London casino scene is detailed and gritty, both of which make for compelling British noir.

26. Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life (1995)

7.6

Genres

Drama

Director

Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay

Actors

Alice Krige, César Saratxu, Daniel Smith, Gottfried John

Moods

Challenging, Dark, Original

Upon the first few minutes of Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life, it’s obvious that the Brothers Quay’s first live-action film is highly unusual. First, it’s entirely black and white, with embellished, serif subtitles translating the initial German. Second, many of the film’s shots take the form of moody, gothic close-ups, reminiscent of 1920s silent films, like when Johannes examines his new pupil’s health, or when Lisa directs Jakob with an animal’s hoof next to his cheek. And third, the plot itself is strange, as the students are taught not to think anything of themselves, with only Jakob questioning their instruction. But there’s a certain beauty in the surreal approach the Brothers Quay takes in adapting the Swiss-German novel, a certain intuitive feel that allows the story to expand past its stilted movement, restrained frames, and the school’s oppressive tutelage. Institute Benjamenta is bizarre, but it’s undeniably a fascinating film, even at its most disturbing.

27. Much Ado About Nothing (1993)

7.5

Genres

Comedy, Drama, Romance

Director

Kenneth Branagh

Actors

Alex Lowe, Andy Hockley, Ben Elton, Brian Blessed

Moods

A-list actors, Feel-Good, Funny

Far from feeling like English literature homework, this version of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy of errors fizzes with vitality and wit. Kenneth Branagh directs and stars in his own sumptuous adaptation, which also features a banquet of dashing talent in their prime, including Emma Thompson and a winning Denzel Washington.

Even amongst the film’s superlative ensemble (which also features a melodramatically villainous Keanu Reeves and Michael Keaton as a farcically inept policeman), Thompson stands out for her instinctive grasp of Shakespeare’s genius and easy ability to lift it off the page and give it sparkling life. As Beatrice, she deals out wry cut-downs of Branagh’s vain Benedick, all while trying to suppress the roiling romantic tension that nevertheless persists between them. It might not be set to the music of ABBA, but with Patrick Doyle’s radiant score, an intoxicatingly beautiful Tuscan setting, and an infectious, non-stop party vibe, the joyous Much Ado About Nothing feels more akin to Mamma Mia than any of cinema’s other Shakespeare adaptations.

28. Foe (2023)

7.5

Genres

Drama, Mystery, Romance

Director

Garth Davis

Actors

Aaron Pierre, David Woods, Jordan Chodziesner, Paul Mescal

Moods

A-list actors, Dramatic, Emotional

Director Garth Davis (who worked with Jane Campion on Top of the Lake) adapts Iain Reid’s novel Foe with little concern about realism and veracity. The psychologically dense event at the film’s centre—an impending separation of husband and wife—renders the whole world around them meaningless. Saoirse Ronan stars as the self-assured Henrietta (Hen) and Paul Mescal, as the belligerent Junior, two of the last remaining people in rural and farm areas. The year is 2065 and Earth is unrecognizable (peak Anthropocene) and life can be reduced to the impossibility of letting go. One fine day, a stranger comes to visit (Aaron Pierre), informing the couple that Junior has been drafted not to the military, but to a space colonization mission. A most curious triangle forms when Pierre’s character decides to stay in the family guest room: there is no telling where Foe will take you, but it will be a long, hard fall; either to the pits of despair or desire, ambivalence galore. 

29. Lore (2012)

7.5

Genres

Drama, Thriller, War

Director

Cate Shortland, Female director

Actors

Antonia Holfelder, Claudia Geisler-Bading, Eva-Maria Hagen, Franziska Traub

Moods

Challenging, Character-driven, Discussion-sparking

What would you do if your parents were Nazis? Based on the second novella of Rachel Seiffert’s The Dark Room, Lore tells the story of a Nazi officer’s children travelling together after the Allied victory. It’s a harrowing journey, of course, given the end of the war. But writer-director Cate Shortland takes that journey even further, as she pushes the children through terrible situations in such stunning naturalistic shots. The contrast makes it seem that while everything has gone right for the world, it’s only inevitable to dish out societal shunning towards them, but Shortland still manages a tightrope balance between empathizing with the kids, while still acknowledging the natural weight of the guilt, the shame of having benefitted, even if not complicit, in one of the world’s worst atrocities ever committed. It’s because of this that Lore is such an intriguing, complex, but necessary movie to watch.

30. Triangle (2009)

7.4

Genres

Horror, Mystery

Director

Christopher Smith

Actors

Bryan Probets, Emma Lung, Henry Nixon, Jack Taylor

Moods

Intense

A woman joins some acquaintances on a sailing trip only to get caught in a storm. They are rescued by a seemingly empty cruise ship and struggle to make sense of the mysteries that unfold. Definitely one of those “The less you know the better” type of films. If you like well-written creepy thrillers with a nice amount of gore, you will most likely enjoy this.

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