Movie · 1993 · Drama, Comedy · 2h 11m · NR · English
Curator score: 8.4/10 (129.4K ratings)
When unbalance leads to submission
Overview
An unemployed Brit vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.4/10
Letterboxd: 4.00/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
TMDB: 7.3/10
Director
Mike Leigh
Production
Channel Four Films, Thin Man Films, British Screen Productions
Cast
David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, Katrin Cartlidge, Greg Cruttwell, Claire Skinner, Peter Wight, Ewen Bremner, Susan Vidler, Deborah Maclaren, Gina McKee, Carolina Giammetta, Elizabeth Berrington, Darren Tunstall, Robert Putt, Lynda Rooke, Angela Curran, Peter Whitman, Jo Abercrombie, Elaine Britten, David Foxxe
Curator Review
Verdict
A ferocious, darkly funny, and deeply uncomfortable character study that turns a nocturnal London drift into a post-Thatcher howl of rage, self-loathing, and social collapse. It’s abrasive by design, but the writing, performance, and observational detail make it a major work for viewers who can handle its cruelty and bleakness.
Best for
fans of confrontational British social realism
viewers drawn to nihilistic antiheroes and long monologue-driven scenes
people who like bleak tragicomedy with sharp class commentary
audiences interested in intense performances and psychological abrasion
Skip if
you need likable characters or emotional comfort
sexual violence and misogyny are dealbreakers
you prefer plot-driven stories with clear catharsis
you want realism without stylization or theatrical dialogue
Overview
Mike Leigh’s film is less a story than a pressure cooker: a night-long collision of rage, humiliation, lust, and class resentment. It follows a man who seems to have burned through every social contract, and the result is both repellent and magnetic, because the film refuses to simplify him into either monster or victim.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the precision of the performances and the way the dialogue keeps shifting between vicious comedy and existential despair. London feels like a city of exhausted interiors and dead-end encounters, where every conversation becomes a contest for dominance, pity, or escape.
Bottom line
It is not an easy watch, and it is not meant to be. But for viewers who respond to cinema as an act of confrontation, it’s one of the defining portraits of post-industrial alienation in 1990s British film.
Top Letterboxd reviews
fran hoepfner (3.5★) · 4232 likes
joker for british guys
amaya (5★) · 3043 likes
thank you david thewlis for making my brain go "i can fix him" when he portrays maybe the worst human being on earth
Karsten (4★) · 2179 likes
have wanted to watch this for years and for having finally gotten around to it i think i’ll give myself a pat on the back. which isn’t to say it’s boring or disturbing. it’s bleak, but that’s not what makes it a (purposeful) slog to get through. just very confrontational and uncomfortable. the dude goes around and ruins everyone’s day but those people only had to hear his speech once, think about us! used every bone in my body not to make my post simply “this is joker but with more words.” david thewlis is really good in this too.
Ethan (4.5★) · 1794 likes
“You think you can recapture your youth by fucking it. You don't wanna fuck me. You'll catch something cruel.”
Mike Leigh’s Naked is a riveting parable brimming with a scornful wit and humanity unseen through initial viewing. The film chronicles the exploits of the sardonic and nihilistic vagabond, Johnny, a man who is first introduced as he brutally rapes a young woman in a back alleyway. Fearing the repercussions of his actions, Johnny flees to the streets of London. There,… more
A more accessible but still class-conscious British film about unemployment, masculinity, and dignity.
Topics
British drama, dark comedy, social realism, urban night, antihero, existentialism, class conflict, bleak tone, 1990s cinema, psychological character study