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The Selfish Giant

Play trailer Poster for The Selfish Giant 2013 1h 31m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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98% Tomatometer 85 Reviews 81% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
A hyperactive boy (Conner Chapman) and his best friend, a slow-witted youth with an affinity for horses, start collecting scrap metal for a shady dealer.

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The Selfish Giant

The Selfish Giant

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Critics Consensus

Starkly emotional and beautifully directed, The Selfish Giant uses a lovely script and some powerful performances to present some of the best that modern British cinema has to offer.

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Critics Reviews

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Deborah Ross The Spectator It never feels particularly fresh, but it does feel real and true, is superbly performed, and it does pack quite an emotional punch. I had to gather myself afterwards, and I'm still gathering myself, and may be gathering myself for some time to come. Sep 5, 2018 Full Review Larushka Ivan-Zadeh metro.co.uk Strong, beautiful and honest film-making. Rated: 5/5 Sep 6, 2017 Full Review Charlie Lyne Little White Lies Though they share the same title, director Clio Barnard's bewitching follow-up to The Arbor bears little cosmetic similarity to the fluorescent idyll of Oscar Wilde's 19th century children's fable. Aug 18, 2015 Full Review Tom Cassidy Common Sense Media Director Clio Barnard has delivered a movie that's excellently made but is in the end maybe a bit too suffocating to enjoy. Rated: 3/5 Jan 25, 2022 Full Review Joanne Laurier World Socialist Web Site With great empathy for her characters, Barnard locates her movie in a bleak, postindustrial landscape. Feb 27, 2021 Full Review Mattie Lucas From the Front Row An assured and disciplined work, raw like a festering wound, and devastatingly blunt, establishing Barnard as one of the strongest voices in British independent cinema. Rated: 3/4 Aug 7, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Shock Therapy R Like watching two people that seem destined to fight. Then they fight. No one wins. Both lose. We watched the scrappy fight. Does it now feel rewarding to have watched them both blow off steam? Apparently so for most. But the real selfish giant is my time on this one, and I didn't learn anything. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 12/06/22 Full Review r 9 Very much enjoyed this, from a film point of view of course given the dark and saddening tone of the story. 'The Selfish Giant' is a gritty drama involving two kids who get mixed up in the wrong world. At the beginning I was worried it was going to turn into a cliché-filled, overly stereotypical tale of less well-off families. It does in small doses, but feels legitimate for the majority. Cast-wise it isn't amazing, though it's impossible not to give praise to youngsters Conner Chapman (Arbor) and Shaun Thomas (Swiftly) as they give very respectable performances, especially when taking into account the tricky nature of role and premise. Sean Gilder is good as Kitten, while some of the others are solid enough. It's both impactful and heartbreaking, especially across the third act. Recommended viewing. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member It's basically a story about children morons bourne from parent morons who are so thick they can't be educated so have to earn a living from thievery. The entire community are also kretins, making their livings from thieving. I had no empathy for these lowlifes whatsoever but it wasn't a bad film. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review anthony p Film about scrap metal dealing and the potential cash returns that it provides, sometimes illegally. The central characters are school friends Arbor and Swifty. Arbor suffers from a form of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and ends up permanently excluded from school and into a life of poverty and scrounging scrap metal. This activity does provide some short term much needed money but ends up with critical circumstances as Swifty is electrocuted. It is one of those films that evokes memories of so many others, be it works from Ken Loach like Kes and The Navigators to Hollywood films such as Ben-Hur and Warhorse! Director Clio Barnard has furthered her links to Rita, Sue and Bob Too! with another socially surreal film set in the northern England city of Bradford. The trouble with these films is they usually depict England (especially the north of the country) as a bleak, dark area. It isn't (not all the time). Casting is pretty minimal with a young cast apart from the parents of Arbor and Swifty and the older scrap metal dealer Kitten. Some of these actors I recognised from other films of the genre and TV work. Barnard just might carry on the mantle of legendary but ageing director Ken Loach. 3.5/5 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review nefasto r A pearl. A very sad pearl, but a pearl nevertheless. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Gritty, funny, sad and some very believable performances from the young cast - good work Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Selfish Giant

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Movie Info

Synopsis A hyperactive boy (Conner Chapman) and his best friend, a slow-witted youth with an affinity for horses, start collecting scrap metal for a shady dealer.
Director
Clio Barnard
Producer
Tracy O'Riordan
Screenwriter
Clio Barnard
Production Co
British Film Institute (BFI), Moonspun Films, Film4
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$10.5K
Runtime
1h 31m
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