Hard Core: Punk Rock on Film
This week, we’re spotlighting kick-ass films that showcase the rebellious spirit of punk rock music. Whether a conduit for self-discovery or a platform for political protest, this music unites people of all backgrounds through its exhilarating focus on freedom and cultural subversion.
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché
The life and times of the late X-Ray Spex singer and iconoclast Poly Styrene.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2021
- Director Paul Sng, Celeste Bell
- Cast Poly Styrene, Celeste Bell, Ruth Negga, Neneh Cherry, Youth, Bruno Aleph Wizard
- Genre Documentary, Music
- Available on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Kanopy, Hoopla
We Are Little Zombies
(WE ARE LITTLE ZOMBIES)
Their parents are dead. They should be sad, but they can’t cry. So they form a kick-ass rock band.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2019
- Director Makoto Nagahisa
- Cast Keita Ninomiya, Satoshi Mizuno, Mondo Okumura, Sena Nakajima, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Youki Kudoh
- Genre Drama, Music
- Available on Fandor Amazon Channel, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, OVID, Night Flight Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Channel
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
(Показательный процесс: История Pussy Riot)
A group of radical-feminist punk rockers protested Putin's reelection in 2011. Now they are victims of a show trial.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Russia, United Kingdom • 2013
- Director Maxim Pozdorovkin
- Cast Mariya Alyokhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Andrey Tolokonnikov, Pussy Riot, Petr Verzilov
- Genre Documentary, Music
- Available on Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, FlixFling, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, Freevee, Cineverse
We Are the Best!
(Vi är bäst!)
Three girls in 1980s Stockholm decide to form a punk band.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Sweden, Denmark • 2013
- Director Lukas Moodysson
- Cast Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin, Liv LeMoyne, David Dencik, Johan Liljemark, Mattias Wiberg
- Genre Drama, Music
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, FlixFling, Spectrum On Demand, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, VUDU Free, Freevee, DistroTV, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Good Vibrations
The joyful story of Terri Hooley, who promoted Belfast punk rock during the Troubles.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Ireland • 2012
- Director Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn
- Cast Richard Dormer, Jodie Whittaker, Karl Johnson, Michael Colgan, Liam Cunningham, Dylan Moran
- Genre Drama, Music
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, The Roku Channel, Freevee
No One Knows About Persian Cats
(کسی از گربههای ایرانی خبر نداره)
Two young Iranian songwriters must find musicians for their underground band while trying to receive visas to perform in Europe.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2009
- Director Bahman Ghobadi
- Cast Negar Shaghaghi, Ashkan Koshanejad, Hamed Behdad, Babak Mirzakhani, Kosh Mirzahi
- Genre Drama
- Available on AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam
Young American Muslims form their own punk bands and go on tour, exploring the rebellion and subversion of the genre.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada • 2009
- Director Omar Majeed
- Cast Michael Muhammad Knight, Basim Usmani, Shahjehan Khan, Arjun Ray
- Genre Documentary, Music
- Available on Kanopy
24 Hour Party People
In 1976, Tony Wilson sets up Factory Records and brings Manchester's music to the world.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2002
- Director Michael Winterbottom
- Cast Steve Coogan, Paddy Considine, Sean Harris, Lennie James, Shirley Henderson, Andy Serkis
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Music
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, ScreenPix Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Kanopy
Hard Core Logo
An off-kilter rock mockumentary that follows punk bank Hard Core Logo on a harrowing reunion tour through Western Canada.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada • 1996
- Director Bruce McDonald
- Cast Hugh Dillon, Callum Keith Rennie, John Pyper-Ferguson, Bernie Coulson, Julian Richings, Benita Ha
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Music
- Available on Hoopla, Night Flight Plus, Apple TV
Sid & Nancy
A biographical portrayal of the destructive relationship between Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 1986
- Director Alex Cox
- Cast Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb, David Hayman, Debby Bishop, Andrew Schofield, Xander Berkeley
- Genre Drama, Music, Romance
- Available on IndieFlix, Plex, Plex Channel
Burst City
(爆裂都市)
Bikers, yakuza, and real-life punk bands gather in a dystopic Tokyo after a nuclear powerplant is set to be constructed.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1982
- Director Gakuryu Ishii
- Cast Michiro Endo, Shigeru Izumiya, Takanori Jinnai, Kou Machida, Shigeru Muroi, Hitomi Tsurukawa
- Genre Action, Music, Science Fiction
- Available on ARROW, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube
Punk in London
Exclusive interviews and live concert footage capture the riotous energy of the Great British punk rock explosion of 1977.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- West Germany • 1977
- Director Wolfgang Büld
- Cast Gaye Black, Kevin Rowland, Paul Simonon, John William Weller, Bob Geldof
- Genre Documentary, Music
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, VUDU Free, Freevee, Hoopla