The 13 best British films of 2020

To say that 2020 has been a strange year for films would be a massive understatement.

Like every facet of life this year, the coronavirus pandemic has worked itself into the fabric of the film industry like a weed, with films moving from theatres to digital release, cinemas facing mass closures, and blockbuster giants such as No Time to Die being pushed back to 2021. As Mashable’s Angie Han wrote in the introduction to our 10 best films of 2020, “It was a year when nothing about the state of films felt predictable.”

British films, of course, were no exception. But it hasn’t all been doom and gloom. Some excellent films have still arrived on our screens in spite of (or, as in the case of one on this list, because of), the challenges of the past 12 months. We’ve picked out our favourites below.

1. His House

The best types of horror films are more than just a trickbox of scares. Some are character studies, others explore deeper themes or grapple complex social issues, and a few manage to move you in more ways than just a raising of the pulse. Writer-director Remi Weekes’ debut His House does all of the above at once.

Following asylum seekers Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) as they arrive in the UK from South Sudan only to be thrust into an unforgiving world of bureaucracy and racism, His House melds drama with a claustrophobic haunted house mystery. Noises echo in the walls, and Bol’s fear and paranoia grows along with ours. But it’s only as the movie progresses, and Jo Willems’ creative cinematography starts hinting at what took place in the past, that the true horror of His House is revealed. -Sam Haysom, Deputy UK Editor

Where to watch: Netflix

2. Ammonite

On a windswept cliff in 19th century England, two unfulfilled women chance to meet. One is Mary Anning (Kate Winslet), a paleontologist whose gender keeps her out of the higher echelons of her field, even as male scientists enthuse over her findings; the other is Charlotte Murchinson (Saoirse Ronan), a wealthy woman unhappily married to one of those scientists, who’s put in Mary’s care by her husband. The romance that blossoms between them feels both unexpected and preordained, played out in tender glances and raw lovemaking.

But what might come through even more strongly than the passion is the pervasive sense of loneliness that defines these women — especially Mary, who as played by Winslet seems to wrap her solitude around her like a protective cloak. It complicates Ammonite, makes it harder and thornier but also more interesting. Like the rocks that Mary picks away at to reveal the fragile fossils underneath, Ammonite is a film that requires patience, and rewards the viewer richly in return. -Angie Han, Deputy Entertainment Editor

Where to watch: Prime Video

3. Host

There’s a reason everyone’s been talking about Host. 

Aside from the film’s juicy on Rotten Tomatoes, director Rob Savage’s idea (which all started with a scary ) is a brilliantly timely one: a horror film shot entirely over a video call, sort of like a Zoom séance version of The Blair Witch Project.

It’s one of those premises that could have easily have turned out a bit naff, but in the hands of Savage and his co-writers Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd, not to mention the film’s brilliant cast, the idea has absolutely flourished. Though the seance-gone-wrong premise is well-worn horror territory, , “Host is far from typical in its brilliance and unique execution.” The script is realistic and well-paced, blending nervous humour with rising tension, and the jump scares — which Savage taught the actors how to set up themselves at home — are genuinely scream-inducing.* -S.H.

Where to watch: Shudder

4. Rocks

Suffragette director Sarah Gavron’s coming-of-age film Rocks was one of the most talked-about films of the year in the UK, and for good reason. Written by Nigerian-British playwright and screenwriter Theresa Ikoko alongside writer Claire Wilson, the film is an empowering, moving, superbly-acted ode to the underestimated resilience of teenage girls. 

Newcomer Bukky Bakray is outstanding as London teenager Olushola — everyone calls her “Rocks” — whose mother suddenly abandons her and her younger brother Emmanuel (D’angelou Osei Kissiedu). Wanting to avoid going into foster care, Rocks must come up with every plan she can to care for her brother, all while attempting to continue life as normal around her friends — Kosar Ali is exceptional as her best friend Sumaya, while Shaneigha-Monik Greyson brings intensity to new girl Roshé. -Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

Where to watch: Netflix

5. Mogul Mowgli

Bassam Tariq’s raw, surreal, and powerful debut Mogul Mowgli was a true highlight of this year’s BFI London Film Festival. The film was co-written by Riz Ahmed who gives an intense, vulnerable performance as British Pakistani rapper Zed — it’s been a big year for Ahmed, musically too, releasing his second album The Long Goodbye in May, which blasted racism in Britain. 

In Mogul Mowgli, he plays Zed AKA Zaheer, whose career-boosting tour gets derailed when he’s diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, news that comes when he’s visiting his family in London for the first time in years. Tariq employs haunting, surrealist vignettes to explore the fragmentation of memory Zaheer experiences during his treatment, while the powerful scenes of Zed rapping about identity politics land events squarely in the now. Mogul Mowgli is, for want of a better metaphor, the mic drop of British film this year. -S.C.

Where to watch: BFI Player

6. Herself

Mamma Mia! director Phyllida Lloyd helms this powerful film, one far removed from those festivities on Kalokairi. Herself is a moving testament to the resilience and strength of women who have experienced domestic violence, and the simple power that comes with helping someone in need. 

Premiered at Sundance and another highlight of the BFI London Film Festival, this highly moving drama centres on the courage and perseverance of Sandra (played with fierce determination by Claire Dunne, who co-wrote the screenplay). A single mother who’s survived domestic abuse, Sandra literally wants to build a new life and home for her daughters, finding unexpected help and community while her abuser attempts to maintain control. With a newfound support base (courtesy of English stage and screen legend Harriet Walter and Game of Thrones’ Conleth Hill), Sandra pieces together her new life while trying to avoid the very real demons of the old. -S.C.

Where to watch: Prime Video (from 8 Jan. 2021)

7. Lovers Rock

The second film in the Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series, the director’s “love letter to Black resilience” in London’s West Indian community, Lovers Rock is a tribute to house parties thrown in England in the 1980s by the Black community, when nightclubs proved racist and hostile. The film takes you through one party in Ladbroke Grove, where lust and romance take over the dance floor.

Lovers Rock was one of the best films of 2020. As Mashable’s Angie Han writes, “It’s awash in beauty and joy and occasionally even crosses over into the sublime, with an impromptu singalong that takes on the transcendence of a hymn. Especially in a year when so many of us are craving physical human contact, Lovers Rock is a sensory experience so rich, it might make you weep.” -S.C.

Where to watch: BBC iPlayer or Amazon Prime

8. Emma

When I went to the cinema to go see Emma in February, little did I know that it’d be my final trip to the pictures for quite some time. As a diehard fan of the 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1815 novel, I’ll own up to being a little skeptical on arrival. Could anything come close to Jeremy Northam’s “badly done, Emma” admonishment? 

Directed by Autumn de Wilde, and written by Man Booker winner Eleanor Catton, this film is an utter joy to behold — and thoroughly enjoyable to 1996 adaptation loyalists. Anya Taylor-Joy stars as Emma Woodhouse, Bill Nighy shines as her endearing but fatalistic father, and Johnny Flynn makes for a very beguiling Mr Knightley. The wider cast, meanwhile, boasts a number of very recognisable faces: Josh O’Connor from The Crown (Mr Elton), Callum Turner (Frank Churchill), Miranda Hart (Miss Bates), and Connor Swindells from Sex Education (Robert Martin) are all among the number. If you’re in the mood for a bit of long-game romance and a good laugh, this is for you. -Rachel Thompson, Senior UK Culture Reporter

Where to watch: NOW TV and HBO Max

9. Saint Maud

The unnervingly sinister directorial debut from Rose Glass, Saint Maud will get under your skin, and we really mean that. This truly frightening, erotic, psychological horror is led by the terrifyingly talented Morfydd Clark, who brings a dark and disturbing level of care to her role as deeply pious hospice nurse Maud.

A masterpiece of maddeningly precise sound editing and lighting — Glass wields chiaroscuro and close framing with the same level of suffocating, sensual control as its protagonist — Saint Maud is unrelentingly threatening as Maud takes her role as her patient’s “saviour” to horrifying lengths. We’re already living in a constant state of unease this year, and Glass’ brilliant film, with Adam Janota Bzowski’s haunting score, will plunge you deeper into it. -SC

Where to watch: Amazon Prime, though release date has not been announced. 

10. Love Wedding Repeat

What do you do when your ex shows up and threatens to ruin your wedding? Easy really, you get your brother (Sam Claflin) to feed him some kind of secret sleeping potion and lock him in a cupboard until the wedding ends. If only it were that simple. 

Love Wedding Repeat is a tale told in two halves starring Freida Pinto, Olivia Munn, Eleanor Tomlinson, and Aisling Bea. The first half explores one rather disastrous turn of events, while the second half is nail-bitingly tense but with a slightly better outcome. If you’re sad about all the weddings you couldn’t go to this year, this is the antidote. Prepare for drunken snogs, cringeworthy speeches, and a little bit of romance. -R.T.

Where to watch: Netflix

11. The Nest

In so many haunted house tales, the supernatural stands as a metaphor for whatever’s really bothering the characters. The Nest, from Martha Marcy May Marlene director Sean Durkin, simply cuts out the middleman. There’s still a seemingly happy family moving into an old, enormous mansion in the English countryside, only to find themselves falling apart after the move. They just don’t need any ghosts to get there, because Durkin understands that real-world problems can be plenty tense to begin with.

Jude Law has rarely been in finer form than he is here, playing patriarch Rory with a bright charm that can’t quite hide his desperation — and he’s matched and then some by Carrie Coon as his wife, whose fury is tightly controlled until it’s not. Technically, The Nest isn’t a horror movie — but you may find that like the best of them, it leaves you tense and unsettled. -A.H.

Where to watch: Prime Video

12. Possessor

Possessor uses a creepy futuristic premise to delve into two interlinked existential fears. In one corner, there’s Tasya (Andrea Riseborough), an assassin-for-hire who gets the job done by hijacking other people’s bodies, but finds that she’s losing some essential sense of self after so many such jobs. In the other, there’s Colin (Christopher Abbott), who has the misfortune of becoming Tasya’s body, thus losing agency of his own physical being. 

Directed by Brandon Cronenberg (yes, as in son of that other Cronenberg), Possessor isn’t one to shy away from the grisly and grotesque; there are veritable fountains of blood and gore in this movie. But what sticks are the larger questions it raises, about identity, surveillance, and capitalism, long after the credits roll. -A.H.

Where to watch: Prime Video

13. Enola Holmes

The game is afoot in Netflix’s Enola Holmes, hands down one of the most fun mystery films of the year. The Cursed Child co-creator Jack Thorne penned the playful screenplay for the film adaptation of Nancy Springer’s YA fiction series about Sherlock Holmes’ adventurous younger sister, Enola, who makes her own start as a detective on the trail of her missing mother.

While Henry Cavill makes a dashing if not characteristically conservative Sherlock (this ain’t no wild Benedict Cumberbatch “mind palace” job), Enola Holmes rests on a wonderfully spirited performance by Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown. As Mashable’s Alexis Need writes, Brown “imbues her with likeable cleverness and funny, fourth-wall-breaking energy. Her dedication to making the audience love Enola feels connected to the sense of ownership Brown has over the character, considering that she was instrumental in bringing the Enola Holmes book series to her family’s production company for adaptation. Brown plays the character she brought to the screen through her own hard work and star power as if she and Enola are having the time of their lives.” -S.C.

Where to watch: Netflix

*This show writeup also appeared on a previous Mashable list.