Nil by Mouth

1997 2h 8m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

🍅

79%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★6.9TMDB · 157🍅79%Rotten Tomatoes●76Metacritic★7.3IMDB · 11,175

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The family of Raymond, his wife Val and her brother Billy live in working-class London district. Also in their family is Val and Billy's mother Janet and grandmother Kath. Billy is a drug addict and Raymond kicks him out of the house, making him live on his own. Raymond is generally a rough and even violent person, and that leads to problems in the life of the family.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Ray Winstone
Ray
Kathy Burke
Valerie
Charlie Creed-Miles
Billy
Laila Morse
Janet
Edna Doré
Kath
Chrissie Cotterill
Paula
Jon Morrison
Angus
Jamie Foreman
Mark

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gary Oldman
Writers: Gary Oldman
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

29 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Gary Oldman, shot by Ron Fortunato. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Eric Clapton. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Brad Fuller shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

AWARDS

Did you know

Ray Winstone and Kathy Burke and Charlie Creed-Miles carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0119792 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gary Oldman directs. Ron Fortunato behind the camera. Eric Clapton scores. Brad Fuller cuts. Produced in United Kingdom, France. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

129 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, France.
3Directed by Gary Oldman, shot by Ron Fortunato. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Eric Clapton. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Brad Fuller shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Ray Winstone and Kathy Burke and Charlie Creed-Miles carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0119792 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 10 themes, including "london, england", "heroin", "violent husband", "addiction".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ron Fortunato
Original score: Eric Clapton
Editing: Brad Fuller
Production design: Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski
Costume design: Barbara Kidd
Runtime: 128 min · 2h 8m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $9,000,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Nil by Mouth (1997)
Rotten Tomatoes: 79% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 76/100
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 11,175 votes
MPAA: R
US box office: $266,130

Awards

Won 2 BAFTA Awards. 9 wins & 9 nominations total

Also by

Gary Oldman

Jack White: Unstaged
2012

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-05-27
★ 6/10
It's Kathy Burke who steals this for me with a powerfully emotional characterisation of "Valerie". She lives with her brutish husband "Raymond" (Ray Winstone) and her permanently geared-up brother "Billy" (Charlie Creed-Miles). None of the are strangers to drugs and to booze, but when her husband reckons his wastrel brother-in-law has pinched his stuff, he turfs him onto the streets where here resorts to his own mother "Janet" (Laila Morse) for a bed and a source of cash to feed his habit. 'Billy" is a bit of a thoughtless cretin and his behaviour leads to even more turmoil for his sister when "Raymond" finally flips and she is hospitalised. Believe it or not, this has the semblance of a love story to it. The relationship between "Raymond" and "Valerie" might actually run a bit deeper than that of an impoverished couple struggling through the motions from day-to-day. It's the evolution of that partnership that makes the characters a bit more interesting, but I felt the vitriolic and angry dialogue was mostly just a repetitive series of Anglo-Saxon tantrums and drug-fuelled anger - and that let it down for me. Still, Gary Oldman quite effectively shines a light on his perception of how life on a south east London housing estate is endured rather than lived. It's dark, visceral, condemnatory on many levels and quite a tough watch but Winstone only has one gear and for me and he never really convinces.

Production companies