Nil by Mouth

Name: Nil by Mouth
Genre: Drama, Social Issues
Released: 1997
Duration: 128 min
Cast: Ray Winstone, Kathy Burke, Charlie Creed-Miles, Laila Morse, Edna Doré

Gary Oldman19972h 8mDrama, Social Issues

Why we chose it

For his debut as a writer and director, the actor Gary Oldman drew on his own memories of growing up in working-class London with an addicted father, and the film sent Kathy Burke home from Cannes with the Best Actress award. Fair warning: it isn’t easy to swallow.

Synopsis

Val is pregnant again and lives in a council flat on a London estate with her husband, her mother and her gran. Her husband, Ray, likes to stand everyone rounds at the pub and blows up for no reason at all. One night her younger brother Billy, an addict, helps himself to Ray’s cocaine without asking, and when Ray throws him out, Billy climbs back in through the window looking for something to sell.