Once Upon a Time in the Midlands

Sep 6, 2002

1h 44m

★ 6.2

Overview

Dek, a decent but somewhat dull man, enjoys a happy existence with beloved girlfriend Shirley. They live together with her 12-year-old, Marlene: her daughter by the delinquent Jimmy, who flew the coop years ago and hasn't been heard from since. Dek loves Shirley so much that he proposes to her on national television.

Genres

Romance

Comedy

Drama

Production Companies

Senator Film

EM Media

Big Arty Productions

Film4 Productions

Once Upon a Time in the Midlands Trailers

Cast

Jimmy

Robert Carlyle

Dek

Rhys Ifans

Shirley

Shirley Henderson

Carol

Kathy Burke

Charlie

Ricky Tomlinson

Marlene

Finn Atkins

Billy

James Cosmo

Dougy

David McKay

Jumbo

Anthony Strachan

Donut

Andrew Shim

Donna

Kelly Thresher

Lake

Eliot Otis Brown Walters

A young South African boy from the Johannesburg ghetto named Tsotsi, meaning Gangster, leaves home as a child to get away from his helpless parents. Now a teenage thug, Tsotsi finds a baby in the back seat of a car he's just stolen. He decides that it is his responsibility to care for the infant and in the process learns that maybe the criminal life isn’t the best way.

8.2

City Lights

Feb 6, 1931

A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.

6.8

The Great Love

Jun 12, 1942

The attractive Oberleutnant Paul Wendlandt is stationed in North Africa as a fighter pilot. While in Berlin to deliver a report he is given a day's leave, and on the stage of the cabaret theatre "Skala" sees the popular Danish singer Hanna Holberg. For Paul it is love at first sight. When Hanna visits friends after the end of the performance, he follows her, and speaks to her in the U-Bahn. After the party in her friends' flat, he accompanies her home and chance throws them further together when an air raid warning forces them to take cover in the air raid shelter. Hanna reciprocates Paul's feelings, but after a night spent together Paul has to return immediately to the front. There now follows a whole series of misunderstandings, and one missed opportunity after another. While Hanna waits in vain for some sign of life from Paul, he is flying on missions in North Africa. When he tries to visit her in her Berlin flat, she is giving a Christmas concert in Paris.

7.0

Cars

Jun 8, 2006

Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters.

7.8

Do the Right Thing

Jun 14, 1989

Sal is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

8.0

The Gold Rush

Jul 13, 1925

A gold prospector in Alaska struggles to survive the elements and win the heart of a dance hall girl.

7.2

Irreversible

May 22, 2002

A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.

6.8

Cruel Intentions

Mar 5, 1999

Slaking a thirst for dangerous games, Kathryn challenges her stepbrother, Sebastian, to deflower their headmaster's daughter before the summer ends. If he succeeds, the prize is the chance to bed Kathryn. But if he loses, Kathryn will claim his most prized possession.

5.0

Lacrimosa

Jan 7, 2008

A story about love. A famous singer cannot let go of the memory of her late husband. She befriends a man her own age, and there should be nothing standing in the way of their happiness.

5.0

The Creep Behind the Camera

Apr 13, 2014

An exploration of the making of b-movie sci-fi cult classic "The Creeping Terror" and its con-man director Art "A.J." Nelson/Vic Savage.

No Image

7.0

Prevertere

Jul 14, 2013

Templeton has relationships with three different women while searching for love.

4.6

Model Minority

May 11, 2012

Kayla, an underprivileged Japanese American 16 year old, endangers her promising future as an aspiring artist when she becomes involved with a drug dealer.

7.0

Heavenly Creatures

Sep 12, 1994

Precocious teenager Juliet moves to New Zealand with her family and soon befriends the quiet, brooding Pauline through their shared love of fantasy and literature. This friendship gradually develops into an intense and obsessive bond.

8.0

Country Gold

Nov 23, 1982

An aging country singer becomes irritated with the success of a popular young country singer. However, she is not yet ready to become yesterday's news.

8.2

Gowok: Javanese Kamasutra

Jun 5, 2025

Set in 1960s Java, a young Javanese woman betrays her teacher, falls in love and must face dire consequences.

6.0

Cocote Tonggo

May 15, 2025

To preserve the reputation of their family's traditional fertility herbal shop from neighbors' ridicule, a married couple who have been childless for years pretend to be pregnant so they can claim a found baby as their own.

7.4

Barren Lives

Aug 22, 1963

In vivid images, the documentary-like story of a drover and his family in the northern badlands of Brazil during the drought. A family in the search of new hope and destiny.