London is one of the most filmed cities in the world. Movies are how many Anglophiles, whom are unable to travel there, attempt to experience a small bit of Britain.
For many years up until my first trip to Britain, I took comfort in watching as many London movies as I could. Many have become my favorite movies – not all just because they take place in London. Some are just damn fine movies.
While one cannot rely on movies to portray an accurate picture of what London is like, there is still nothing like curling up on the couch on a cold Saturday night and watching a London movie.
So, here’s the official Anglotopia Top 10 London Movies. You can either rent DVDs of these films to enjoy at home or buy them using the links provided. Obviously, this list is my own opinion and if you think any of these movies are rubbish, by all means tell us in the comments!
Love, Actually
Not only our favorite London movie, but also our favorite Christmas movie. In Love, Actually, London is a background character, which is OK. The stories of the various characters in the movie unravel against a Christmas themed backdrop that’s hard not to notice. I especially love the insight into what a British Christmas season is like – it’s a lot different than America’s! My favorite subplot involves the heartsick writer played by Colin Firth – even though that subplot doesn’t really take place in
London!
Notting Hill
It’s hard to believe that this movie is over ten years old. It seems like just yesterday that I saw this movie in the theater with my grandparents. If you’d told me 10 years ago, I’ve would have been to London 6 times by 2010 as well as the actual Travel Bookshop featured in the movie, I would have thought you were crazy. But this was the movie that started it all. While the love story is not particularly wonderful and there is zero chemistry between Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, the ensemble cast is lovely and so is the neighborhood that is Notting Hill (though many decry this movie because it forever changed the neighborhood).
About A Boy
The subject matter in this movie is a bit of a downer, but again, characters light up London with life. London is a background character that facilitates the plot and doesn’t draw too much attention to itself. Hugh Grant is brilliant as a self absorbed single man, learning what it means to be a real person who cares about people by starting a strange relationship with a boy with a troubled mother. Oh and Rachel Weisz is in it. Worth watching for that alone.
Bridget Jones’s Diary
If Rene Zellweger is great at one thing, it’s fattening up and donning a British accent. Hugh Grant plays his best roles when he plays a scumbag – and he does not disappoint this lovely romantic film. It’s one of the first movies my wife and I saw together and we treasure it to this day and a wonderful London love story. Don’t bother with the sequel, it’s one of the worst movies ever made (Thai prison? Really?).
Dirty, Pretty Things
Another downer of a movie, but it tells a story that many people don’t even know exist. That is the story of the underworld of illegal immigrants that keep London in motion. The main character says it best when he says: “Because we are the people you do not see. We are the ones who drive your cabs. We clean your rooms. And suck your **** (this is a family blog…).” There is some very disturbing plot twists in the movie and when it’s over, you’ll wonder why you would watch such a movie. But London is there and the characters will stay with you forever.
Closer
Another adult themed movie. The dysfunctional sexual relationships between 4 people play out against a grey, dull backdrop that is London. London is the one character the endures through the whole movie, the one character that doesn’t end up worse than when it started. Many people don’t like the adult themes in this movie – but I just love the twisted mind games the lovers play with each other. It all just seems so genuine. This is also the movie famous for the scenes where Natalie Portman plays a stripper – which, if you’re a dude like me, is quite nice.
Match Point
Woodie Allen’s first foray in filmmaking in London also happens to be the best Woodie Allen movie I’ve ever seen. Mostly because he’s not actually in it. The story concerns an up and coming tennis star who meets a lovely rich girl, marries her takes and dream job as a banker – getting everything he could possibly want out of life. So, of course, he’s going to have an affair with a beautiful – and nuts – American. It does not end well for all parties involved and certainly not in a way you’d expect. One of the only movies that has truly surprised me.
V for Vendetta
What better way to enjoy London landmarks than by watching them blow up! Based on the comic book of the same name, V for Vendetta imagines an alternate London where the British government is run by fascists, there’s no freedom for anyone which gives rise to an unlikely hero out for vengence. Natalie Portman is also in this film and does a good job as Evie – though it feels like her character is abused more than necessary. The finale at the end – blowing up Parliament set to the 1812 Overture is about as much fun you can have watching a movie.
Sliding Doors
Probably the movie that made Gwyneth fall in love with London. The plot is interesting as it deals with something we’ve all pondered about – how would our lives be different if we turned left instead of right. The movie is rather lame and somehting a little confusing to follow as Gwyneth is playing two identical characters… but the story is serviceable and if you’re in love with London – you’ll enjoy it.
28 Days Later
I’m not a big fan of Zombie movies or being terrified but no London movie list is complete without mentioning 28 Days Later. The plot follows one man who wakes up 28 days after a zombie apocalypse and finds himself in a deserted London. The first 15 minutes or so of the movie, as the main character wanders around magnificently empty London streets – where they actually filmed – are breathtaking. London looks to calm and peaceful in the absence of people. It’s sequel 28 Weeks Later is not nearly as good but is also filled with plenty of London eye candy.
Run Fatboy Run
This is a new London movie and it’s a gem. The story concerns a loser security guard that lost the girl many years before by deserting her on the wedding day. He still holds a torch for her though. Enter the new boyfriend on the scene – a smarmy American hedge fund trader who runs charity marathons for fun. To try and impress his ex-love the main character played by Simon Pegg endeavors to train for an upcoming marathon to prove to her that he’s got what it takes. Some lovely London scenes as well as some hilarious comedy by Simon Pegg make this an very enjoyable comedy to watch.
What’s your favorite London movie?
Author: jonathan
Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile who launched Anglotopia.net in 2007 to channel his passion for Britain. Londontopia is its sister publication dedicated to everything London.
As much as I am a fan of the Richard Curtis films starring Hugh Grant I would find it hard to put 4 of them in the top 4 places of this list.
I agree with your top two choices (strangely enough these are two of my all time favourite movies) but I feel there are a number of other choices that could have made the top 11.
There are a number of British gangster movies that would be pushing to get into the list, Lock, Stock and Three Smoking Barrels for instance.
An older version of the British gangster movie is the classic Long Good Friday.
Then there’s Sherlock Holmes of course.
10 Rillington Place is a chilling tale set in London.
The list of great movies set in London is huge and everybody’s views are different but, once again, as much as I’m Hugh Grant fan I feel you must in deed be the Hugh Grant uberfan!
Love 10 Rillington Place. More so because it is a true story. There are almost to many great movies set in London to name.
Enjoyed the list and I agree word for word with your take on Match Point. I would add Notes on a Scandal and Last Chance Harvey.
Peeping Tom is a film that starts at the Newman’s Arms in Fitzrovia (I know this because I wrote the London Literary Pub Crawl!) and talking of the pub crawl, large chunks of A Clockwork Orange were filmed in London, mainly around Thamesmead.
“From Hell” and the original “Alfie”. I love movies about Victorian London!
Great choices! Try “The Prestige”, set in 1890’s London, with Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as rival stage magicians under the tutelage of the always excellent Michael Caine. Added bonus (for some): Scarlett Johannson in a corset and David Bowie as Nikola Tesla!
and of course David Bowie as Tesla. What about Mona Lisa with Bob Hoskins too?!
Interesting article – oddly enough me and mate went on a movie tour of London recently which visited most of the locations from the films discussed in the article above. http://britmovietours.com/bookings/london-movie-locations-tour/
Nathan: Do you know any Tylers in the S.W. Bermondsey of London?? I knew a June (Jackie) Tyler there many years ago.
Roy Reeves
Fever Pitch
Arsenal!
Highbury!!
Colin Firth!!!
Fever Pitch of course!
Gunners Love!
Agree w/ Steve Broomfield re “Lock, Stock, and Three Smoking Barrels.” The sequel to that is another outstanding film by Guy Ritchie, “Snatch,” in which Brad Pitt steals the show w/ his completely incoherent but absolutely brilliant portrayal of an Irish Traveller, or Pikey, speaking in his native Gaelic dialect.
What!, no mention of the classic Ealing comedies… The Ladykillers, Lavender Hill Mob and Passport to Pimlico
Another thumbs up for Long Good Friday (gangster trying to set up deal with his American counterparts to redevelop Docklands, but someone is bumping his men off) and Lock, Stock
I’ll add Peeping Tom (creepy loner films his victims as he kills them) and Hitchcock’s Frenzy (police think they know who the neck-tie killer is, but they are wrong), The Knowledge (wannabe cabbies learn their trade)… and an honourable mention to Theatre of Blood (Vincent Price plays a theatre owner getting his own back on on the critics in ingenious ways)
I agree with a number of the choices you made; I would add “What a Girl Wants”.
Yes!
how could you not include “the long good friday,” “mona lisa,” “fever pitch,” “green street hooligans,”
“layer cake,” “lock, stock, and three smoking barrels, ” “snatch,” or any movie with ray winstone in as your favorite london films? get with it , man!
overall, good choices…my absolute favourite, though, is The Who’s “Quadrophenia”, not only for the music but for the story. To really understand London in the 60’s from Pete Townshend’s mind, and as a bonus the scenes filmed in Brighton are also amazing!
I love you!
This is great!
I am a film studies student, currently orchestrating a small scale research project for my coursework. I have chosen to focus on the representation of place in contemporary films – Dystopian vs. Utopian London specifically – and am so relieved to have found this site, it’s a great starting point. I was wondering if anyone would mind considering ‘which London’ they feel is portrayed through their favourite London based films – Dystopian or Utopian? Do you think that this an accurate portrayal and do things such as age, gender, ethnicity affect representations?
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Ps. I have to agree with almost every film listed here, particularly the top few, although a few of my other favourites, based in the London boroughs, are ‘Bullet Boy’ and ‘Sket’ – rather morbid looks at London’s youths, but still really interesting.
That was a really cool read! Fav has to be 28 Days Later though…i know its not just London based but it has some powerful scenes there.
Georgy Girl. To Sir With Love. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. was set in Nottingham.
Last Chance Harvey!
“Blow Up.” “Don’t Look Back” “Quadrophenia”
yes! to all three of your suggestions. I find Love Actually to be distasteful and on my forever to be avoided list.
Couldn’t agree more! Love Actually is so overrated, it’s laughable. I kept waiting for Bill Nighy (whom I normally love in anything) to break his hip while “dancing”, or for Emma Thompson to stop moaning over Alan Rickman’s pathetic fetish with his secretary and give him a good backhand!
Sadly the Travel Bookshop in Nottinghill is no longer! For another great Woody Allen film (that he’s not in) I love Vicky Christina Barcelona. It makes Barcelona look as good as London does in Love, Actually.
Isn’t the title “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”?
The choices are not bad, certainly agree with the top two. And although I’m not a big rom-com fan, Notting Hill is one of my all-time favourites. 🙂
Isn’t it “Lock, Stock and TWO Smoking Barrels”?
Love, Actually is my top favourite. Next come Bridget Jones’s Diary and Notting Hill.
Mine, too, Marii! Same list, same order. I have watched Love, Actually many,many times, and the other two several times each. Wonderful cast. for all three movies.
Did you spell Woody Allen wrong? Or is there another Woodie Allen with a similar spelling?
Love Actually is one of my overall favorite movies so definitely my favorite London movie. And yes, it’s Lock, Stock, and TWO Smoking Barrels, not three.
Love all your picks but To Sir With Love is why I fell in love with London and have been a huge fan ever since!
London Hates Me, Still Crazy, That’ll Be the Day, The Full Monty…add those to Sir, please
The Full Monty was set in Sheffield, not London
What, no Shakespeare in Love? A different London, certainly, but definitely London.
“Performance” is my favourite film set in London
Miss Josh Emmett – neither Still Crazy nor Full Monty are London based. Great films though, amongst my all-time favourites.
Films I’d name: Shaun Of The Dead, The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes (RDJ), Imagine Me and You, Green Street Hooligans, Buster
How could you have left “84 Charring Cross Road” off this list? (even though I know only half of it takes place in London & the other half in NYC)It’s a true story and well just darn wonderful! Staring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroff
Also Hitchcock’s own remake of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” should have made your list and there’s also “The Ipcress File” with Michael Caine. And “A Fish Called Wanda” (Jamie Lee Curtis & John Cleese).
For an updated list you should include “The Day of the Doctor” (the 50th Anniversary Dr. Who Movie) as much of this was actually shot in London! Also “Mrs. Henderson Presents” another true story with Judi Dench and the now late Bob Hoskins set in WWII at a Burlesque theatre. Charming film and it earned Bob Hoskins an Oscar nomination! (he should have won!!!)
Thank you for mentioning 84 Charring Cross Road!!! That is one of my favorite movies too. It came out 4 years before Silence & I just fell in love with Hopkins performance! And I know that this is a list of movies, but I love watching MI-5 (Spooks) for a lot of the background scenes too.
Skyfall, Johnny English ( both )…
Skyfall, and Four Weddings and a Funeral (which is all over the place, but in town too)–how can you not love a movie in which the first 7 or so words are “f*@k?”
I think you overlooked Long Good Friday…
The Ipcress file,The long good Friday, A fish called Wanda, Snatch.
The real travel bookshop on which Notting Hill was based is long gone, but the shop that was used for filming can still be seen on Portobello Road. And the famous Blue Door, which was repainted black for many years, is (hooray!) blue again. Am I allowed a crafty plug for my website? If you visit http://www.movie-locations.com/places/uk/gtrlondon.html, you’ll find out how to visit the filming sites of most of the films listed here. And I’d add my voice to the chorus of people surprised that The Long Good Friday isn’t listed.
The Spice Girls Movie – a classic
Really the sap made movies? What about Waterloo bridge, caine (the original), the lady killers, a fish called Wanda, the lavender hill mob. Many better movies even the really old from the Waterloo bridge era.whomever this personnwhonwrote this is seems to be lacking greatly in real movie knowledge and only knows the puff pieces from the last 20 yrs. if you get TMC channel either online or tv I’d suggest watching it the next 4 yrs and learn the movies plus the massive amount of knowledge the hosts can impart.
Hope and Glory with Sarah Miles.
This is one of those articles that is really just the opinion of the writer. All the films mentioned by those commenting are worthy — especially Lock, Stock… and Snatch. Someone mentioned The Long Good Friday — a real classic. and Mona Lisa? And what about A Hard Day’s Night????
Love Actually brought me to London again. I really love
London. I love Britain with Scotland.
Love Actually and About A Boy, full stop!
An American werewolf in London. Classic.
Mrs. Dalloway with Vaness Redgrave (1997, but set in the 1920s).
Vacation from Marriage with a very young Deborah Kerr and Robert Donat (1945).
My Beautiful Laundrette with Daniel Day Lewis (1985).
Patrick Keiller’s “London” (1992) narrated by Paul Scofield. Excerpt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v84byeueCBI
A Fish Called Wanda (1988) with Jamie Lee Curtis, John Cleese, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin.
The list goes on….
The king’s speech (2010).
Sweeney todd the demon barber of Fleet street (2007).
are you ill? how could you exclude MONA LISA, THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY, and GREEN STREET, (or GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS as it is called in Britain)?
and, lest I forget. . . HAPPY GO LUCKY (starring Sallie Hawkins.)
The movie that introduced many Americans to London is Richard Lester’s groundbreaking “A Hard Days’ Night.” From trains to the theatre to pubs to neighborhood streets, this film captures the character of a city that is both ancient and hip.
All those movies are great. But what about “An American Werewolf In London”? Horror-Comedy classic.
“Melody” (1971). It was my first big encounter with the British: London in the background, original music score from the Bee Gees, Mark Lester as my first movie crush (he was like 12, just as me!), and watching all those words, sceneries and traditions so different from the American movies: the accent, tea time, ‘the sea side’… it’s just an innocent, charming film about a puppy Iove with a magnificient soundtrack, but I love it. I think I’ve watched it 100 times, and I can watch it 200 more times!!
There is also a little movie shot in 1998 which title is “Martha meet Frank, Daniel and Lawrence” starring Joseph Fiennes, Rufus Sewell, Tom Hollander and Monica Potter. I saw it a long time ago and I recorder it on a VHS, it’s a romantic comedy.
Yes to your list, and I also loved Four Weddings and a Funeral.
But the Long Good Friday is to London what the Italian Job is to Venice. A must see. A Fish called Wanda was good too. And Match Point.
Wild Target with Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt and Paddington! Fun and eye candy for any Londonphile!
Wild Target with Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt and Paddington. Fun with lots of eye candy for any Londonphile.
“Rude boy” with The Clash!
Notting Hill
Sunday Bloody Sunday, for a look at a long forgotten sixties London. Gangster Number One, shot all around the Barbican, and of course Mona Lisa
Re: Notting Hill –
There is a real Travel Bookstore, but the shop in the movie used a different storefront. The shop you see in the film is on Portobello Rd. and has housed several different businesses since the movie was made. The interior of the store in the film was a movie set.
The Holiday <3
It’s not set in London.
What about the krays…l went to see this landmark on my last visit to London
Nottinghill is crap as are others at the bottom.
Skyfall made great use of London, but perhaps it isn’t pretentious enough for the list.
Of the list, Closer is the best film. PTxS
How about the Royals’ Night Out?
Nice list but if you’re putting a movie on here don’t say ”it’s good but…” like when you said ”it’s lame” – then why is it on here??
Zombie movie?? What about Shaun of the Dead?