Director 83 years old

Mike Leigh

Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK

Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE (born 20 February 1943) is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre... Read full bio →

Directed Films

Every film this person directed

18 titles

Hard Truths

Mike Leigh 2024 1h 37m

Pansy is a woman so full of rage that every interaction she has devolves into lashing out, whether at her utterly cowed husband and son, or random strangers who have the temerity to address her.

Peterloo

Mike Leigh 2018 2h 35m 6.0

A drama about the infamous 1819 Manchester massacre, which killed an estimated 18 protesters and injured up to 700.

Mr. Turner

Mike Leigh 2014 2h 30m 6.8

An exploration of the last quarter century of the great, if eccentric, British painter J.M.W. Turner's life.

Another Year

Mike Leigh 2010 2h 9m 7.9

Another Year is a deeply absorbing look at a couple who seem to have gotten it right and a bunch of people who haven’t – and a son that could go either way!

Happy-Go-Lucky

Mike Leigh 2008 1h 58m 7.0

A look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.

Vera Drake

Mike Leigh 2004 2h 5m 7.3

Abortionist Vera Drake finds her beliefs and practices clash with the mores of 1950s Britain – a conflict that leads to tragedy for her family.

All or Nothing

Mike Leigh 2002 2h 8m 5.0

In a poor working class London home, Penny's love for her partner, taxi driver Phil, has run dry. When an unexpected tragedy occurs, they and their local community are brought back together.

Topsy-Turvy

Mike Leigh 1999 2h 40m 5.0

After Gilbert and Sullivan's latest play is critically panned, the frustrated team threatens to disband until they are inspired to do their masterpiece, "The Mikado."

Secrets & Lies

Mike Leigh 1996 2h 22m 7.8

Roxanne drives her mother crazy. Maurice never speaks to his niece. Cynthia has a shock for her family. Monica can't talk to her husband. Hortense has never met her mother.

Naked

Mike Leigh 1993 2h 11m 7.9

Johnny flees Manchester for London, to avoid a beating from the family of a girl he has raped. There he finds an old girlfriend, and spends some time homeless, spending much of his time ranting at strangers, and meeting characters in plights very much like his own.

A Sense of History

Mike Leigh 1992 26m 6.0

Jim Broadbent wrote and starred in this short film directed by none other than Mike Leigh. As a member of the landed gentry, the 23rd Earl of Leete has a duty to maintain and expand his lands.

Life Is Sweet

Mike Leigh 1990 1h 43m

A shop assistant, her cook husband, and their twin daughters go about their lives in a working-class London suburb.

High Hopes

Mike Leigh 1988 1h 48m

Working-class couple Shirley and Cyril are in conflict over whether they should have children, their problems with 'yuppies' moving into the neighbourhood and outpricing them, and the advent of Cyril's ageing mother's seventieth birthday.

Meantime

Mike Leigh 1983 1h 47m

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.

Grown-Ups

Mike Leigh 1980 1h 33m

Dick and Mandy, a young working class couple, move into a council house in Canterbury, and find Mr. Butcher, one of their former teachers, living next door. Mandy's unmarried sister, Gloria, is constantly dropping in, and will not take any hints that the couple would prefer to be left alone, until her presence finally goads them to action.