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.

31. 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.

32. 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.

33. Till (2022)

7.5

Genres

Drama, History

Director

Chinonye Chukwu, Female director

Actors

Al Mitchell, Bradley King, Brandon P. Bell, Brendan Patrick Connor

Moods

Character-driven, Dark, Depressing

Till is a very political film. It’s charged with the kind of rage and electricity that enables thousands to mobilize for a cause. But before it explodes into something grand, it begins with the small details of everyday life. A mother admires her son as he dances to his favorite song. She buys him a new wallet and goes over the things they’ll do over the summer. These things seem trivial, but they reveal the humanity that sometimes goes overlooked in telling epic stories such as these.

To be sure, Till is a necessarily brutal film about grief and justice, but it’s also about how political movements are borne out of small and personal devastation. This nuance, along with a jaw-dropping performance by Danielle Deadwyler, makes Till a standout: a powerful entry in a long line of social-issue dramas.

34. 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.

35. 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. 

36. Fighting with My Family (2019)

7.5

Genres

Comedy

Director

Stephen Merchant

Actors

Adam Maxted, Aqueela Zoll, Ashley Darkwood, Bobbi Tyler

Moods

Easy, Feel-Good, Lighthearted

Fighting with My Family manages to pull off a respectable pro wrestling movie with a lighthearted teen drama slant — a nice change of pace and a victory in itself. Saraya (Florence Pugh) and her family paint the movie with dorky crass jokes, but the film doesn’t seem to tread that line masterfully enough to where we look past her family’s obnoxiousness and find it purely charming instead. But there is more to like here than not: Vince Vaughn as levelheaded NXT coach Hutch Morgan, Dwayne Johnson as himself, and even the blonde girls posse were a little more than just clichés and added a sense of maturity to the portrayal of modern WWE.

37. 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.

38. 13 Assassins (2010)

7.5

Genres

Action, Adventure, Drama

Director

Takashi Miike

Moods

Action-packed, Challenging, Dramatic

It’s not so easy to get rid of an evil ruler. Sometimes, you have to resort to not one, not two, not even three assassins– you have to get thirteen of them. Remaking the 1963 jidaigeki film, which in turn is based on a real life feudal lord, Takashi Miike’s take brings his signature style to the samurai genre, wielding the sword slashing without any restraint, letting loose after building up the indignation garnered from the daimyo’s injustices and the careful planning the group had to make in response. Undoubtedly inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, 13 Assassins reintroduces the samurai genre to spectacular heights.

39. Spitfire (2018)

7.4

Genres

Documentary, History, War

Director

Ant Palmer, David Fairhead

Actors

Charles Dance, Mary Ellis

Moods

Easy, Instructive

A quiet documentary that was released to celebrate the British Royal Air Force’s centenary, Spitfire tells the story of the famous plane that younger audiences might only recognize from movies like Dunkirk or Darkest Hour. It features gorgeous footage of the last remaining planes in service flying over the British coast, testimonies from pilots who are still alive and a reminder of the key role that this plane once served. It feels like an attempt to capture and archive the importance of the plane, but also of its pilots, who for the most part were young kids with little training, but who, with time, learned valuable lessons from warfare. A must for aviation fans and a great option for anyone looking for a quiet movie to watch with their family (grandparents included). 

40. Fear of a Black Hat (1994)

7.3

Genres

Comedy, Mockumentary, Music

Director

Rusty Cundieff

Actors

Barry Shabaka Henley, Deezer D, Devin Kamin, Don Reed

Moods

Funny, Grown-up Comedy, Weird

Though it’s still very much a product of a time of certain jokes that haven’t aged well, it’s still remarkable how the humor and the satirical edge of this mockumentary has remained so current. As a very-low budget mockumentary of a still-young American hip hop scene, there’s so much more effort that goes into these fake songs and music videos than you’d expect. But the film doesn’t stop at simply poking fun at the rappers and hip hop artists of the era; the jokes always circle back around to the racism of the time and the self-seriousness of the culture in the music industry. It’s a hilarious time capsule with some brutally incisive lines in practically every scene.

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