The last 25 years have seen an unprecedented change in cinema, reshaping how movies are made, distributed, and experienced. The rise of streaming platforms has revolutionized access to film. Technological advances—from digital cinematography and CGI to AI-assisted editing—have expanded the boundaries of storytelling, while social media has turned marketing and fandom into real-time global phenomena.
Additionally, politics and social movements have also deeply influenced the industry, with growing demands for representation, inclusion, and accountability. Meanwhile, labor disputes such as the 2023 screenwriters’ and actors’ strikes underscored tensions between creativity and corporate control in the age of streaming and artificial intelligence. And while Hollywood arguably continues to dominate global cinema, the UK film industry has carved out a strong and distinctive presence.
As 2025 draws to a close and we reach the quarter-of-a-century mark, let’s look back at the best British movies of the 21st century.
10
‘Rocks’ (2019)
Rocks is a coming-of-age drama that revolves around a young black British teenage girl known as “Rocks” living in an impoverished area of East London. After being abandoned by her single mother, she is forced to fend for herself, look after her young brother, and avoid being taken into care by social services.
Rocks is an emotional rollercoaster delivering gut-punching lows and heartwarming glimmers of hope all carried by a tour-de-force performance from Bukky Bakray as Olushola “Rocks” Omotoso, in her first ever acting role. It scored a near-perfect 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and was showered with accolades, landing Bakray a BAFTA Rising Star Award — making her the youngest ever recipient — at just 18 years of age.
9
’28 Days Later’ (2002)
Cillian Murphy stars as a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover there has been a zombie outbreak across the United Kingdom. What follows is a character-driven horror that is full of emotional depth, genuine scares, and hordes of fast-running, semi-sentient zombies.
Previously known for helming the ground-breaking drama Trainspotting, director Danny Boyle takes the same British grit and applies it to the horror genre with 28 Days Later. Reinvigorating the stagnant zombie subgenre, it was a huge surprise success, earning $82.8 million on its modest $8 million budget and has since spawned 2 sequels, cementing the franchise among the most beloved in the zombie genre.
8
‘Saltburn’ (2023)
One of Prime Video’s all-time most talked about movies, Saltburn follows a student at Oxford University who becomes unhealthily obsessed with a popular, aristocratic fellow student, who later invites him to spend the summer at his eccentric family’s estate. While at the residence, his obsession manifests itself in increasingly dark and disturbing ways, making for some of television’s most controversial, thrilling, and memorable moments in recent history.
Full of twists and turns, Saltburn is a clever, modern gothic thriller carried by an undercurrent of pitch-black comedy. Its charismatic ensemble cast and beautiful cinematography landed it high praise among critics. While certain taboo-breaking scenes might not be everyone’s taste, the film’s boldness is what makes it one of the century’s best, masterfully blending beauty and darkness, exposing the rot beneath privilege and desire.
7
‘Dunkirk’ (2017)
Depicting the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II, Dunkirk is a masterclass in visual storytelling. Featuring minimal dialogue from its ensemble cast, which includes Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles, James D’Arcy, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, and Tom Hardy, director Christopher Nolan creates an immense sense of suspense through jaw-dropping cinematography, expertly complemented by Hans Zimmer’s pulsating, tension-driven score.
Adopting a non-linear narrative structure, the cast delivers understated yet powerful performances, conveying fear, courage, and resilience without reliance on exposition. The movie was also praised for its realism and Nolan’s extensive use of practical effects, with thousands of extras being hired as well as historic boats from the evacuation, and period airplanes being used. Released to critical acclaim, Dunkirk is now considered among the greatest WWII movies ever made.
6
‘Bend It Like Beckham’ (2002)
Bend It Like Beckham is a fun British sports comedy that focuses on friends Jesminder Bhamra and Jules Paxton, who choose to chase careers in professional football (or soccer, depending on your geographical location) despite their parents’ wishes. While primarily serving as an easy-to-watch rom-com, it also delves into themes of racism, female empowerment, cultural identity, and love and loyalty.
Made on a modest budget of around $5.6 million, it was a hit at the box office, making $76.6 million and scoring an impressive 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. While the humor and the cast’s performance were praised, it was its exploration of the changing values and culture of British teens of Indian origin, including Jess’s urge to break the social norm of the Indian home-maker, her sister’s sexually active relationship, and Tony’s homosexuality, that make it stand out.
It also boldly explores the underlying racial and gender discrimination that still exist in the country to this day, making it a fun, feel-good sports comedy that also serves important social commentary.
5
‘Paddington 2’ (2017)
Paddington Bear has been a beloved children’s character since first appearing in Michael Bond’s 1958 book A Bear Called Paddington, and while he has appeared in countless successful TV adaptations, I don’t think anyone expected the first movie adaptation to be just so truly brilliant. More than just a kiddie flick, audiences of all ages were treated to a funny, heartwarming, and compelling story full of playful charm for the young’uns and sly gags pitched at the oldies.
Proving that his big screen debut wasn’t a fluke, Paddington 2 was released three years later, delivering much of the same charm and humor but somehow managing to outdo the first in terms of sheer enjoyment. It famously became the most-reviewed film ever to remain at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, before it was subsequently knocked down to 99% by a negative review. The decision to cast Hugh Grant as the scenery-chomping, villainous, master-of-disguise Phoenix Buchanan was a masterstroke which ushered in a new era for the actor playing against type, and elevated the movie to whole new levels of enjoyment.
4
‘Shaun of the Dead’ (2004)
Released to critical acclaim and achieving cult status, Shaun of the Dead follows the lives of two British everymen played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who find themselves at the center of a zombie epidemic. As they proceed from one hysterical encounter to another, audiences are treated to a barrage of guts, gore, clever sight gags, quotable quips, and iconic action — all delivered with a typically British sense of dry humor.
The Citizen Kane of the zombie comedy genre, Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead is one of those movies in which every action, every line of dialogue, and every visual beat feels perfectly placed for maximum effect, making it one of the finest crafted and funniest movies of all time.
3
‘Casino Royale’ (2006)
James Bond is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic and enduring action heroes in the history of cinema. The suave British super spy has appeared in 27 movies and has been portrayed by a slew of legendary actors, including Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan. While Brosnan’s 1995 Goldeneye is widely considered to be among the better Bond movies and is credited with revitalizing the franchise, by the end of Brosnan’s tenure, however, the movies had once again become formulaic — relying on over-the-top action set pieces and science-defying gadgets.
Casino Royale changed everything. It felt grittier, darker, and more grounded. The focus shifted from outlandish CGI effects to practical stunt work. Gone was the silliness and ridiculous gadgetry, and, instead, audiences were given a fallible, haunted, and relatable reinvention of Agent 007. It was met with universal acclaim, scoring a near-perfect 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, and became the highest-grossing movie in the franchise, to date.
2
‘In Bruges’ (2008)
In Bruges follows two hitmen who are sent to the picturesque town of Bruges in Brussels to lay low after a botched job in London. As the two friends bicker between themselves over the merits of Bruges, it soon transpires that their boss has ulterior motives for sending them. With one hitman riddled with guilt and feeling suicidal, and the other taskedwith making a life-changing decision, things get messy.
In Bruges is one of those rare movies that evokes just about every human emotion imaginable. One moment, viewers are on the edges of their seats, caught up in the movie’s tense and thrilling narrative, the next, they are falling off those very seats with laughter at some of the most absurd and side-splittingly hilarious moments ever committed to film. It’s also bitterly sad, but the movie masterfully weaves each of these tones to create a consistent and cohesive piece of art that is sharply written, well directed, and gloriously acted.
1
‘Slumdog Millionaire’ (2008)
Danny Boyle’s second entry on this list, and the greatest British movie of the last 25 years, is Slumdog Millionaire. Starring Dev Patel, in his feature film debut, it follows the story of a teenager from the slums of Mumbai who surprises everyone by getting to the final answer on a Hindi Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Detained by police on suspicion of cheating, through flashbacks, he recounts how each question relates to moments in his incredible life.
Entertaining and powerful, it’s a story of resilience, love, and hope set against the vibrant yet harsh backdrop of modern-day Mumbai that combines hard-hitting drama with uplifting action. It was a runaway success, dominating the 2009 Oscars with 8 wins and becoming the most successful British independent film of all time.