Peterloo

2018 2h 35m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 162

HistoryDrama

Synopsis

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An epic portrayal of the events surrounding the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where a peaceful pro-democracy rally at St Peter’s Field in Manchester turned into one of the bloodiest and most notorious episodes in British history. The massacre saw British government forces charge into a crowd of over 60,000 that had gathered to demand political reforms and protest against rising levels of poverty.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Rory Kinnear
Henry Hunt
Maxine Peake
Nellie
Pearce Quigley
Joshua
David Moorst
Joseph
Rachel Finnegan
Mary
Tom Meredith
Robert
Simona Bitmate
Esther
Robert Wilfort
Lord Liverpool, the Prime Minister

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mike Leigh
Writers: Mike Leigh
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

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 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 155 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 12% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 8 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

234+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mike Leigh, shot by Dick Pope. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Rory Kinnear and Maxine Peake and Pearce Quigley carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mike Leigh directs. Dick Pope behind the camera. Gary Yershon scores. Jon Gregory cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 155 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Earned back only 12% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 8 years ago.
4234+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Mike Leigh, shot by Dick Pope. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Gary Yershon. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Jon Gregory shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Rory Kinnear and Maxine Peake and Pearce Quigley carry the top of the cast.
9IMDB entry: tt4614612 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "based on true story", "massacre", "period drama", "british history".

The technical file

Cinematography: Dick Pope
Original score: Gary Yershon
Editing: Jon Gregory
Production design: Suzie Davies
Costume design: Jacqueline Durran
Makeup / hair: Claire Matthews
VFX supervisor: George Zwier
Sound: Robert Ireland
Stunt coordinator: Steve Dent
Runtime: 155 min · 2h 35m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $18,000,000
Box office: $2,153,029
Return: 12% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Peterloo (2018)

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Mike Leigh

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Peter McGinn2020-04-05
★ 8/10
Fine historical film, though it has less emotional depth than other Mike Leigh movies. That makes sense, for his movies have never been described as an epic before. I often state when I write reviews that I am patient than many viewers when it comes to slower paced movies. Also, since I write novels in my spare time and feature plenty of dialogue, I don't mind a lot of talking in movies either. I think this movie lacked some of the emotional impact of other Mike Leigh films, perhaps due its scope. You know how it is; people can shrug off a disaster elsewhere in the world when it kills 500 people, but if they hear a personal story well told about a single victim, the tears may fall. There are a lot of people in this movie. There were so many extras that I half expected to see myself in one of the crowd scenes. With so many different main characters and perspectives, I didn't find myself forming a connection with any of them. But I liked the film just fine, and I never would have sat through a documentary on the subject.
CinemaSerf2023-08-06
★ 6/10
It's quite interesting to consider that even in the mother of western democracies, as recently as two hundred years ago most men did not have the vote in the UK, and great swathes of urban Britain had no representation at all. Mike Leigh is perhaps a little heavy handed here, but he does offer us an at times poignant glimpse into the poverty in which the working class lived in England's north west whilst the governing class lived a life of opulence and privilege under the Prince Regent. Rory Kinnear is the renowned orator "Hunt" who travels the length and breadth of the land advocating a peaceful, positive, realignment of power. A trip to Manchester proves to be the ultimate catalyst for the increasingly panic-stricken authorities who - with events in Paris forty years early still prescient - have decided that these increasingly popular gatherings must be stamped out. Leigh has assembled a workmanlike cast here - there isn't really a star, as such - and that helps better illustrate that this is a story about the ordinary man. I say man, because we are a long way from female emancipation being on the back burner, even - indeed the stronger characters here - "Mary" (Rachel Finnegan) and "Nellie" (Maxine Peake) are entirely focussed on empowering their "men folk". What this film does not present though, is any sort of balance to the historical aspects of this conflict. It exaggerates the indifference and excesses of the landed gentry whilst offering a rather naive portrayal of some those advocating revolution. Like many films that present a political assessment of an hugely complex set of scenarios, it ends up reflecting the views of the auteur and that's a shame. This is a story of profound societal evolution that could have been more effective had the establishment been given slightly more airtime and been treated slightly less one-dimensionally and judgmentally. The dialogue is at times, though, really quite powerfully potent and this is a very authentic-looking story that history ought not to readily forge and that is well worth a watch.