British Film: Ten British Films to See in 2022 (2024)

As the pandemic begins to (hopefully) wind down, many of us have been brave enough to venture back out into movie theaters. As happy as we are to see movies in theaters again, the movie industry is just as happy about it. Of course, there are the big blockbusters due out this year, and a number of these are British, but they’re not the only movies coming out for 2022. We have identified ten British films coming out that we think you ought to see, from period dramas to animated adventures. If there are any you’d like to include, you can share those in the comments.

Death on the Nile

This Agatha Christie adaptation serves as Kenneth Branagh’s sequel to 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express. Branagh’s Poirot (and his mustache, which appears to be growing its own mustache) is invited to a cruise on the S.S. Karnak by socialite Linnet Doyle (Gal Gadot). The real reason for his invite becomes apparent when one of the passengers is murdered, necessitating the Belgian detective to find the murderer and keep Lennet from becoming the next victim.

Let me Count the Ways

The real-life love story between poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning gets the screen treatment this year with Emilia Clarke playing Elizabeth. It was one of many films that got its production postponed due to the pandemic but is still scheduled to be coming out in 2022.

Save the Cinema

With quite the all-star cast in Samantha Morton, Jonathan Pryce, Tom Felton, Erin Richards, and Colm Meaney, Save the Cinema is a heartfelt true story about a small Welsh town trying to save its local movie theater. To do this, youth theater leader Liz Evans (Morton) tries to arrange a special screening of Jurassic Park at the Lyric Theater as a last-ditch effort to keep it open.

The Duke

The Duke is another film that was due to come out in 2020 but got pushed back to this year thanks to the pandemic. It features Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren as Kempton and Dorothy Bunton. The movie tells the true story of Kempton stealing a portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery as a means to bring attention to the financial plight of the elderly. The film was the last one directed by Roger Mitchell (Notting Hill) before his death in 2021.

Munich: The Edge of War

Based on the book by Robert Harris, Munich: The Edge of War is a fictionalized account of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s attempt to prevent World War II by negotiating with Hitler; meanwhile, a British spy is tasked with acquiring a document that reveals the truth of Hitler’s intentions. The film is also another example of the growing power that streaming services have in the industry, as it was made by Netflix and will receive a limited run in theaters before hitting the service.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

The next entry in the Fantastic Beasts series, the Wizarding World is on the edge of war as Gellert Grindelwald (now played by Mads Mikkelsen) rallies his supporters against the Muggles. Albus Dumbledore tasks Newt Scamander, Jacob Kowalski, Newt’s brother Theseus, and several other new characters to thwart the dark wizard’s latest plan.

Downton Abbey: A New Era

The next chapter in the saga of the Crawley family and their servants, A New Era, sees the family take a trip down to the south of France after the Dowager Countess announces that a former beau has bequeathed his vacation home to her. The film seems to focus on the end of the Roaring 20s with all the jazz and good times that accompanies the period prior to the Great Depression felt by most of the world.

Operation Mincemeat

Operation: Mincemeat was a real WWII strategy developed by MI5 to deceive Axis forces ahead of the Allied invasion of Sicily. The film depicting these events of this plan was originally set to come out at the end of 2021, but the pandemic pushed its release into 2022. It features Colin Firth as Naval Intelligence officer Ewen Montagu who thought up the plan along with Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfayden). It will be released in the UK in the spring and on Netflix in the USA.

A Special Relationship

A Special Relationship is a biopic focusing on the life of Elizabeth Taylor, specifically her post-acting activism to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1980s. Rachel Weisz is set to play one of Hollywood’s most glamourous leading ladies, with the writer of Slumdog Millionaire and directors of Troop Zero bringing it to screen. The film is one of many whose production was waylaid by the pandemic but is still on to be released this year.

The Amazing Maurice

Based on the children’s book The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by fantasy legend Terry Pratchett, this 2022 animated film features Hugh Laurie as Maurice, a highly-intelligent feline who perpetuates a scheme based on the Pied Piper of Hamlin. The all-star voice cast also includes Rob Brydon, Emilia Clarke, David Tennant, Himesh Patel, David Thewlis, Gemma Arterton, and Hugh Bonneville.

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