10 movies that capture the oppressive state of Margaret Thatcher’s Britain
Between 1979 and 1990, Margaret Thatcher ruled over the United Kingdom as Prime Minister. Despite securing her role for over a decade, she remains one of the most hated figures in Britain, with her death in 2013 resulting in ‘Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead’ reaching number two in the UK Charts.
Under her Conservative leadership, Britain faced an intense recession, Section 28 was put in place, trade union powers were lessened, and strikes were widespread. Hostility increased as people were pushed into poverty, with racism and homophobia widespread.
The destructive effects of Thatcher’s reign have long been a subject of British cinema. During the era, filmmakers such as Mike Leigh and Derek Jarman expressed this discontent within their work, conveying the frustrations felt by those affected by oppressive Tory policies.
From comedy dramas like Rita, Sue and Bob Too, to recent movies that capture the essence of the era, such as 2022’s Blue Jean, here are ten films that capture the destruction of Thatcher’s Britain.
10 movies that capture the state of Thatcher’s Britain:
Babylon (Franco Rosso, 1980)
Babylon remains one of the most powerful documentations of British racial tensions put to film, yet it is criminally underrated due to its initial censorship. The movie was banned in the United States and given an X rating in the United Kingdom because of its authentic portrayal of working-class black British youths. It was deemed “too controversial and likely to incite racial tension.”
Yet, Babylon is a must-see slice of Thatcher’s Britain, depicting the severity of issues such as institutional racism and police brutality. Despite the hardships the characters face, they never lose the sense of community that keeps them going, making Babylon a powerful and necessary watch.
Blue Jean (Georgia Oakley, 2022)
Under Thatcher’s government, Section 28 prevented the promotion of homosexuality. This becomes a focal point of Georgia Oakley’s debut feature, Blue Jean, released in 2022. The movie is set in 1988 and follows a PE teacher who balances her identity as a lesbian with her job, hiding her sexuality from her colleagues. However, when one of her students spots her in a gay bar, Jean must do what she can to protect her secret from being exposed.
In an interview with Letterboxd, Oakley explained: “We wanted to tell a story that was a bit more intimate than a grander ensemble piece about the wider politics of Section 28. But it was a juggling act—we didn’t want to make a portrait of a teacher without involving some of this amazing reactionary movement that arose as a result of Section 28.”
Letter to Brezhnev (Chris Bernard, 1985)
In Chris Bernard’s tenderly humorous Letter to Brezhnev, audiences are introduced to working-class characters in Liverpool, working dead-end jobs, only finding escape in boozy nights out. While Teresa, who works in a slaughterhouse, wants to have fun with men, her sensitive friend Elaine is desperate for connection, hoping to find a way out of her miserable, uneventful life.
The movie is full of quintessentially British humour, with great performances given by Alexandra Pigg and Margi Clarke. Despite the movie’s apparent focus on romantic relationships, Letter to Brezhnev is really an exploration of ambition, class and gender, with the film focusing on the desires of the leading women to break out of their constricting lives that are hindered by their social standing.
Meantime (Mike Leigh, 1983)
Few British directors have consistently captured the state of Britain through the decades and provided authentic snapshots of working-class life like Mike Leigh. While he has created multiple movies that depict the Thatcher era well, from High Hopes to Life Is Sweet, Meantime might be his most fascinating.
The made-for-television movie stars Tim Roth, Phil Daniels, Marion Bailey, Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina and follows a struggling family living in London’s East End. Leigh explores the everyday lives of the characters who are affected by the country’s recession, using his usual mixture of humour and precise sociological nuance.
My Beautiful Laundrette (Stephen Frears, 1985)
Class, race and sexuality bash heads in Stephen Frears’ poignant drama My Beautiful Laundrette, starring Daniel Day-Lewis in his breakout role and Gordon Warnecke. Day-Lewis stars as the leader of a group of aggressive right-wing boys, although he quickly separates himself from the pack and begins a relationship with his childhood friend, Warnecke’s Omar.
The movie explores, often comically, the relationship between different communities, with Omar hailing from a Pakistani family. Set during the heart of Thatcher’s reign, the movie confronts the Tory beliefs that the only way to succeed is through selfishness, reflected in Omar’s entrepreneurial family members.
Pride (Stephen Beresford, 2014)
The ’80s saw the miner’s strikes, with opposition coming directly from the Tory government, making it one of the largest strikes in British history. Stephen Beresford’s Pride, released in 2014, depicts the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners movement and was received with overwhelming praise. It took home the ‘Queer Palm’ at Cannes Film Festival and won ‘Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer’ at the BAFTAs.
Pride is a tender yet powerful film, loaded with British humour that never underplays the severity of the issues at hand. The movie is an important reminder of a critical moment in recent British history with stellar performances from actors such as George MacKay, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Paddy Considine.
Rita, Sue and Bob Too (Alan Clarke, 1987)
Adapted by Andrea Dunbar from her play of the same name, Rita, Sue and Bob Too follows two teenage girls who embark on a life-changing affair with the married man they babysit for. The girls live in dilapidated housing estates in Bradford, finding excitement in the illicit affair, which eventually leads to violence and confrontation. Still, Alan Clarke’s film retains recognisable northern humour that provides comic relief throughout.
Advertised as ‘Thatcher’s Britain with her knickers down’, Rita, Sue and Bob Too is an honest portrayal of working-class Britain during the Iron Lady’s destructive, oppressive reign. Clarke is upfront and unafraid to explore weighty themes such as racism and domestic abuse. The movie perfectly encapsulates a distinctive moment in time, remaining one of the most poignant British films of the era.
The Last of England (Derek Jarman, 1987)
Derek Jarman was a true visionary, using various creative outlets to explore themes relating to identity, queerness and society. In The Last of England, Jarman takes a highly experimental approach to express his anger and disillusionment with Thatcher’s government. He weaves striking aesthetic choices with strict indictments of the destruction her policies caused, making it one of his most personal and affecting works.
Named after Ford Madox Brown’s painting, the movie mourns the loss of England, with Jarman highlighting the increasing presence of homophobia, poverty and general decay and destruction. It’s a hauntingly beautiful watch, with performances from Tilda Swinton and Spencer Leigh.
This Is England (Shane Meadows, 2006)
This Is England might be one of the few movies on this list to have been made decades after Thatcher’s rule, but it remains one of the most incredibly crafted explorations of the period. Using confronting realism, Shane Meadows documents the rise of fascism and white supremacy among working-class skinheads during the 1980s.
Equally hilarious and moving, This Is England rings just as true today. Meadows questions what it means to belong, exploring how the tense social and political climate of ’80s Britain made it incredibly easy for many people to find themselves indoctrinated by extreme beliefs, centring a young, vulnerable boy at the centre of the chaos.
Withnail and I (Bruce Robinson, 1987)
Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann star as a pair of down-and-out drifters in Bruce Robinson’s Withnail and I, spending most of their time drinking in their decrepit flat. The movie posits interesting questions about class, with both characters coming from well-off backgrounds. Yet, they both find themselves struggling to get by, disillusioned by their prospects.
Although the movie is set in 1969, the prominence of Thatcher’s government during which the film was made bleeds through and defines its socio-political themes. Using a slightly earlier time period, Robinson channels the struggles and class politics that defined the Thatcher era, suggesting that with the Baroness in charge, Britain might as well be stuck in the past.
