Time Out's list of 100 Best British Films

Still haunted by the drowning of their young daughter Christine, John and Laura Baxter travel to Venice. John, commissioned to restore an ancient church, buries himself in work. Their grief takes a chilling turn when Laura meets two elderly sisters, one of whom, a blind psychic, claims to see Christine's spirit. Skeptical, John soon experiences strange visions. As Laura warns of a looming danger, Venice becomes a labyrinth of eerie encounters.

Pulp novelist Holly Martins arrives in postwar Vienna to meet his friend Harry Lime, only to learn Lime has died in a mysterious accident. As he investigates, Martins uncovers the presence of a cryptic "third man" at the scene. In a city divided by war, Martins' search leads to shocking truths and danger.

The second film in Terence Davies's autobiographical series ('Trilogy', 'The Long Day Closes') is an impressionistic view of a working-class family in 1940s and 1950s Liverpool, based on Davies's own family. The first part, 'Distant Voices', opens with grown siblings Eileen (Angela Walsh), Maisie (Lorraine Ashbourne) and Tony (Dean Williams), and their mother (Freda Dowie) arranged in mourning clothes before the photograph of their smiling father (Pete Postlethwaite). Soon after, the family poses in a similar tableau, but for a happier occasion - Eileen's wedding. While relatives sing at her reception, Eileen hysterically grieves for her dad, and recalls happy times of her youth. Tony and Maisie's memories, however, are more troubled. Davies intermingles and contrasts scenes like the family peacefully lighting candles in church with the brutal man beating his wife and terrorizing his young children. In 'Still Lives', set (and filmed) two years later, the siblings are settled in life, but not all happily. For Eileen, relief from her drab existence comes only when singing at the pub. With his skillfully composed frames and evocative use of music in place of dialogue, Davies creates a lovely, affecting photo album of a troubled family wrestling with the complexity of love.

Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper (David Bradley), a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher Mr. Farthing (Colin Welland) and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence, until tragedy strikes.

Victoria Page, an ambitious young ballerina, is discovered by Boris Lermontov, a ruthless impresario who demands absolute devotion to ballet. She stars in The Red Shoes, where she falls in love with the composer. But Lermontov sees love as a betrayal. Forced to choose between passion and art, Vicky makes a fateful decision, mirroring the tragic ballet she stars in.

In 1945, RAF pilot Peter Carter survives a deadly parachute jump over the English Channel, only to discover he’s still alive when he wakes on a beach. His miraculous return catches the attention of otherworldly authorities, who realize they’ve made a grave mistake. With time stopped and a celestial trial looming, Peter must fight to stay on Earth.

Chas, a violent East London gangster, goes into hiding after a hit gone wrong. He takes refuge in a guest house run by Mr. Turner, a reclusive former rock star seeking inspiration to revive his lost talent. As their worlds collide, the boundaries between identity, power, and performance begin to blur.

On death row, Louis, the 10th Duke of Chalfont, recounts his rise from poverty to nobility. Born into a disgraced branch of aristocracy, he discovers that only eight relatives stand between him and the dukedom. With cunning precision, he murders them one by one, staging each death as an accident—ambition cloaked in civility.

Malcolm McDowell plays Mick Travis, a student at an English boys' boarding school ruled by a strict social hierarchy and ineffective teachers. Fed up with abuse and injustice, Mick and his friends, Wallace and Johnny, violently rebel, showing there's only one side to take against oppression.

Mark Renton is struggling to quit heroin as he drifts through the chaos of Edinburgh’s drug scene. As his addiction puts a strain on his relationships with his unpredictable friends, his desire to escape is pitted against the pull of old habits, pushing each of them towards irreversible consequences.

Johnny escapes Manchester for London after committing rape, hiding from vengeance. There, he reconnects with an old girlfriend and wanders the streets, homeless and angry. Through cynical rants and confrontations, he encounters others trapped in despair, reflecting his own self-destruction.

In the quiet routine of a small-town railway station, a fleeting glance between two strangers, Laura and Alec, ignites a spark neither expected. Both married, they find themselves drawn together, their meetings cloaked in the anonymity of weekly train schedules and the hum of the refreshment room. As their bond deepens, it forces them to confront desires that could shatter the delicate façades they've carefully constructed.

In London, Canadian Richard Hannay meets an agent who warns him of a conspiracy to steal military secrets linked to the international espionage network known as The 39 Steps. After the agent is murdered in his apartment, Hannay must flee to Scotland to avoid being accused while trying to dismantle the network pursuing him.

Portrays in warm-hearted detail the life and loves of one extraordinary man. We meet the imposingly rotund General Clive Wynne-Candy, a blustering old duffer who seems the epitome of stuffy, outmoded values. Traveling backwards 40 years we see a different man altogether: the young and dashing officer "Sugar" Candy. Through a series of relationships with three women and his lifelong friendship with a German officer, we see Candy's life unfold and come to understand how difficult it is for him to adapt his sense of military honor to modern notions of "total war."

In 1969, two substance-abusing, unemployed actors retreat to the countryside for a holiday that proves disastrous.