Meantime

Meantime

1983 · 107 min · EN · 6.8 (79 votes)
Dir. Mike Leigh · Starring Phil Daniels, Tim Roth, Jeffrey Robert, Pam Ferris, Gary Oldman, Marion Bailey · Music Andrew Dickson
DramaComedyTV Movie

A working-class family in London's East End is struggling to stay afloat during the recession under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's premiership. Only the mother Mavis is working; father Frank and the couple's two sons Colin, a timid, chronically shy individual and Mark, an outspoken, headstrong young man, are on the dole. This situation is contrasted by the presence of Mavis's sister Barbara, and her husband John, whose financial and social loftiness appears to be a comfortable facade over the unspoken soreness of a lackluster marriage.

VIBE

A stark, unflinching look at working-class life under Thatcher. It's a portrait of quiet desperation, punctuated by moments of bleak humor and familial tension. Feels like a cold, damp Tuesday in the East End.

bleakcynicaldarkly comedicfrustratedobservationalsteadykitchen sink realismsocial realismBritish dramacharacter studyeconomic hardshipclass strugglefamily dynamicsennuisocial commentary
▶ Stream on Criterion Channel
londonenglandskinheadsibling relationshipworking classeast enddole
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