Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

Better Things

2008 1h 33m Drama List
90% Tomatometer 20 Reviews 33% Audience Score 250+ Ratings
Feeling desperate, lonely and hopeless, a group of youths in rural Britain turns to drugs to dull the pain of their empty lives. Read More Read Less

Where to Watch

Better Things

Apple TV

Rent Better Things on Apple TV, or buy it on Apple TV.

Critics Reviews

View All (20) Critics Reviews
Jonathan Romney Sight & Sound An inventive, unclichéd example of British realism which shines a light into rarely explored social territory and the unexamined lives of its characters. Jul 6, 2018 Full Review Anna Smith Empire Magazine It's a miserable film, really, but it might just get you thinking - and make you grateful for what you've got. Rated: 3/5 Jan 23, 2009 Full Review David Jenkins Time Out The ironies are always cruel and never comic in British writer-director Duane Hopkins's striking debut, an austere, though empathetic, insightful and technically crisp slice of social realism. Rated: 4/6 Jan 23, 2009 Full Review List Staff The List The Dardennes brothers meet Mike Leigh in Brit writer/director Duane Hopkins excellent feature debut about drugs and doomed lives in the Cotswolds. Rated: 4/5 Mar 20, 2019 Full Review María Fernanda Mugica La Nación (Argentina) The film is an example of British realism with virtues. [Full Review in Spanish] Nov 27, 2018 Full Review Juan Pablo Russo EscribiendoCine Duane Hopkins revealed a singularity and a talent that he later confirmed. [Full Review in Spanish] Rated: 7/10 Nov 20, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (33) audience reviews
Olivia B It's a really good show but the characters are flanderised to the point where all three daughters and mom are just unbelievably insufferable. Just incredibly self righteous, insanely selfish and I can't help but despise them all to the point where it's just not enjoyable to watch anymore. If I knew them in real life I could never ever live with these people. It's too much they're all awful people despite trying to redeem them once every few episodes they just go back to being ignorant little assholes. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/24 Full Review Audience Member Lol Crawley's cinematography is masterful and oddly ill-suited for Duane Hopkin's movie which is almost oppressively depressing. Hopkins never offers any remotely satisfying development of characters beyond the fact that each one is sort of hopelessly lost in addiction, phobia, rage of bitter depression. By the time the movie reaches its mid-point, the bleakness starts to feel like cinematic torture. Nothing about what is happening on the screen matches the lush and beautiful surroundings of what I think must be a lovely town in England. Yet, it would appear that every single person living there is either a depressed junkie or painfully old. Pointless waste of time. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Bunch of people taking different types of drugs. Got bored, stopped watching after 20 minutes Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member WOW......WOW.....WOW.....SO SO SO SO SO BAD......MAN THIS IS SUCH AN AWFUL MESSY MESSY MOVIE 2 WATCH, IT IS SO SO SO SO DREADFUL, IT IS SUCH AN AWFUL MOVIE 2 WATCH, IT IS SO SO SO AWFUL MOVIE 2 WATCH, IT IS SO SO SO DREADFUL, IT IS SO SO SO DREADFUL, IT IS SUCH AN AWFUL MOVIE 2 WATCH IT IS SUCH AN AWFUL MESSY MOVIE 2 WATCH.......WARNING THIS MOVIE CONTAINS STROBE LIGHTNING EFFECTS THROUGHOUT THIS MOVIE......MAN THIS IS SUCH AN AWFUL MOVIE 2 WATCH, IT IS SUCH AN AWFUL MESSY MOVIE 2 WATCH, IT IS SUCH AN AWFUL MOVIE 2 WATCH, IT IS SUCH A BAD MOVIE 2 WATCH, JUST AVOID THIS MOVIE AT ALL IT IS SUCH A BAD MOVIE 2 WATCH, JUST AVOID THIS MOVIE AT ALL COSTS IT IS THAT BAD.....JUST DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE IT IS SO AWFUL.......ITS GOT A GOOD SOUNDTRACK THROUGHOUT THIS MOVIE.....BUT MAN THIS MOVIE IS SO SO SO AWFUL 2 WATCH.... Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Or, "Bitter Things," as aimless people take drugs and stare into space. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Recreational drug-taking never looked so dour - its almost an hour in before anyone smiles. Grey-sodden autumnal skies, track-marked teens and lonely OAP's share screen time in a loosely interwoven stream of consciousness set in an indeterminate, strangely familiar small UK town. The overall effect is atmospheric and magnetic in parts, but I didn't find the use of amateur actors successful in this case, the lack of emotion meaning it will be quickly forgotten in my mind. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Better Things

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Watching TV With the Red Chinese 40% % Watching TV With the Red Chinese The Heirs 67% 25% The Heirs Disgrace 83% 62% Disgrace Coming Up Roses 20% 62% Coming Up Roses Bravetown 27% 47% Bravetown Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Feeling desperate, lonely and hopeless, a group of youths in rural Britain turns to drugs to dull the pain of their empty lives.
Director
Duane Hopkins
Screenwriter
Duane Hopkins
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 18, 2020
Runtime
1h 33m
Most Popular at Home Now