Movie · 2010 · Drama, Comedy · 2h 9m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 8.5/10 (54.5K ratings)
Overview
During a year, a very content couple approaching retirement are visited by friends and family less happy with their lives.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.5/10
IMDb: 7.4/10
Letterboxd: 4.02/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Metacritic: 81
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Mike Leigh
Production
Focus Features, UK Film Council, Film4 Productions, Thin Man Films
Cast
Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Peter Wight, Oliver Maltman, David Bradley, Karina Fernandez, Martin Savage, Michele Austin, Phil Davis, Stuart McQuarrie, Imelda Staunton, Eileen Davies, Mary Jo Randle, Ben Roberts, David Hobbs, Badi Uzzaman, Meneka Das, Ralph Ineson, Edna Doré
Curator Review
Verdict
A quietly devastating, deeply humane ensemble drama that finds comedy in ordinary life and pain in the spaces between people. It’s especially rewarding if you like character-driven films that observe relationships with patience, empathy, and a sharp ear for social behavior.
Best for
viewers who like intimate, dialogue-rich dramas
fans of British social realism
people drawn to melancholy stories with dry humor
audiences who appreciate ensemble acting and lived-in performances
viewers interested in aging, friendship, and emotional loneliness
Skip if
you want a plot-heavy film with clear twists or momentum
you dislike awkward, naturalistic conversation
you prefer upbeat or cathartic dramas
you have little patience for unresolved emotional discomfort
Overview
Mike Leigh turns a simple premise into something piercingly observant: a year in the life of a contented couple, seen through the distress of the people orbiting them. The film is less about events than about emotional weather, and it understands how friendship can be both shelter and mirror. Its seasonal structure gives the story a quiet accumulation, letting small gestures and repeated visits reveal character with unusual depth.
Worth noting
Lesley Manville is extraordinary as Mary, a woman whose neediness is funny, painful, and impossible to dismiss. Around her, Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen provide a steady center, but Leigh never lets the film become merely comforting; it keeps returning to the cost of being the stable person everyone leans on. The result is tender without being sentimental, and devastating precisely because it feels so recognizably human.
Bottom line
This is one of Leigh’s most mature works, built on performance, observation, and emotional precision rather than plot mechanics. It rewards viewers who enjoy films that sit with awkwardness, loneliness, and the fragile rituals of companionship. By the end, it leaves a lingering ache, but also a sense of recognition that is oddly consoling.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Sally Jane Black · 582 likes
If I had to point to a character in cinema that maybe one day I could, if I were lucky, maybe I could be, it would be Gerri. If I had to point to one that I am almost certainly actually going to turn out to be, it would be Mary.
Gerri is a confident, mature, loving woman who is in a strong relationship, and she is decent and protective of her family and intelligent and sincere. She has her… more
KYK (4.5★) · 421 likes
i can't remember the last time i was so devastated by a performance as i am by lesley manville's... go easy, mike leigh, my heart is tender and sore.
i was so touched and pained watching this that i thought about what it would be like to watch the movie as someone who doesn't see themselves in mary at all (that person wouldn't be a gerri either, by the way)—but i wouldn't necessarily want that either. part of me takes… more
Josh Lewis (5★) · 315 likes
As per usual, Mike's Leigh lived-in sense of spontaneity, intimacy and history when it comes to writing these improvisational, nearly plotless slice-of-life characters for theater actors to chew through is firing on all cylinders and Ruth Sheen, Jim Broadbent, David Bradley and (especially) Lesley Manville are all fantastic. But what struck me most about this in comparison to his others I've seen was that this is essentially as ruthlessly focused a depiction of the disintegration of a friendship as there's… more As per usual, Mike's Leigh lived-in sense of spontaneity, intimacy and history when it comes to writing these improvisational, nearly plotless slice-of-life characters for theater actors to chew through is firing on all cylinders and Ruth Sheen, Jim Broadbent, David Bradley and (especially) Lesley Manville are all fantastic. But what struck me most about this in comparison to his others I've seen was that this is essentially as ruthlessly focused a depiction of the disintegration of a friendship as there's… more
Lise (4★) · 232 likes
Another Year is a heartbreaking story of a woman who desperately wants love and companionship as she faces getting older alone. Lesley Manville is outstanding as Mary, the most irritating and energy sucking person you will ever meet, who wears her desperation on her sleeve making it difficult to hate her.
The film centres on four seasons in the life of Gerri and Tom, a happily married couple who are the rock for their depressed friends Mary and Ken. You… more
fran hoepfner (4★) · 163 likes
I need some information on the apron Jim Broadbent wears during the summer chapter of the film. anyway! the comfortable stay comfortable and the uncomfortable stay uncomfortable - hate when I am forced to remember that through lovingly crafted filmmaking
2011 · Drama, Romance · 1h 38m · R · Curator 7.5/10 (17.7K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Philo, OVID, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A similarly devastating portrait of longing and emotional dependence, anchored by a remarkable central performance.