Good direction and fine performances keep the pace of this lengthy film moving and prevent the material's descent into maudlin sentimentality.
Bleak Moments
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
United Kingdom · 1971
1h 51m
Director Mike Leigh
Starring Anne Raitt, Sarah Stephenson, Eric Allan, Joolia Cappleman
Genre Comedy, Drama
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Moments from the uncompromisingly bleak existence of a secretary, her retarded sister, aloof and uneasy teacher boyfriend, bizzare neighbour and irritating workmate.
We hate to say it, but we can't find anywhere to view this film.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The New York Times by Janet Maslin
The best that can be said for Bleak Moments is that it earns its name. The film, while it has been handsomely photographed, seems entirely given over to pained, wordless interludes. [23 Sep 1980, p.C6]
The ability to find performers who never seem for a moment to be performing is also here, giving Bleak Moments, like all of Leigh's films, an almost voyeuristic feel.
Downright depressing.
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
It is a first film by a young British director who exhibits in every scene a complete mastery of the kind of characterization he is attempting. This film is a masterpiece, plain and simple, and that is a statement I doubt I will ever have cause to revise.
Users who liked this film also liked
There Was a Father
(父ありき)
Widower and father Shuhei Horikawa grapples with raising his son amidst financial strife and personal failings of honor.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1942
- Director Yasujirō Ozu
- Cast Chishū Ryū, Shûji Sano, Haruhiko Tsuda, Shin Saburi, Takeshi Sakamoto, Mitsuko Mito
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Plex, Plex Channel
The Imitation Game
Alan Turing and his team race against time to decipher Nazi codes during World War II.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2014
- Director Morten Tyldum
- Cast Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Allen Leech, Matthew Beard
- Genre History, Drama, Thriller, War
- Available on Britbox Apple TV Channel , Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Hoopla
A Girl at My Door
(도희야)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2014
- Director July Jung
- Cast Bae Doona, Kim Sae-ron, Song Sae-byuk, Kim Jin-goo, Son Jong-hak, Na Jong-min
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Annihilation
A biologist signs up for an expedition in search of her husband, who has vanished in a logic-defying alien landscape.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2018
- Director Alex Garland
- Cast Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, Oscar Isaac
- Genre Horror, Science Fiction
- Available on Paramount Plus, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand, Pluto TV
The Witch
Evil takes many forms.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Canada, United States • 2016
- Director Robert Eggers
- Cast Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, Lucas Dawson
- Genre Mystery, Horror
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, Kanopy
Call Me by Your Name
Is it better to speak or die?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France, Brazil • 2017
- Director Luca Guadagnino
- Cast Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, Victoire Du Bois
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Netflix, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame in the final years of Hollywood's Golden Age.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2019
- Director Quentin Tarantino
- Cast Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch, Margaret Qualley, Timothy Olyphant
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Hulu, fuboTV, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand, FXNow
Daughter of Mine
(Figlia mia)
A daughter torn between two mothers.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, Germany, Switzerland • 2018
- Director Laura Bispuri
- Cast Valeria Golino, Alba Rohrwacher, Sara Casu, Udo Kier, Michele Carboni
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Parasite
(기생충)
A poor family lies and schemes their way into the employ of a wealthy household — successfully, but with great consequences.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2019
- Director Bong Joon-ho
- Cast Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Chang Hyae-jin
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
The Lighthouse
Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada, United States • 2019
- Director Robert Eggers
- Cast Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe, Valeriia Karaman, Logan Hawkes, Kyla Nicolle, Shaun Clarke
- Genre Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Kanopy, Plex Channel