Belfast
Stream
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Buddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood hijinks, and a blossoming romance. Yet, with his beloved hometown caught up in increasing turmoil, his family faces a momentous choice: hope the conflict will pass or leave everything they know behind for a new life.
What critics thought
Branagh's semi-autobiographical memoir of 1960s Belfast earns genuine warmth from its performances and its black-and-white visual polish, but critics split sharply on whether the film earns that warmth or simply bathes in it. Admirers found the nostalgia transportive and the community detail richly observed; detractors argued the Troubles-era backdrop gets smoothed into a crowd-pleasing softness that drains the material of its real weight.
“It's a film of formal beauty, letter-perfect performances, complex and textured writing (also from Branagh) and enough comedic one-lines and Van Morrison musical montages to make you forget that you are watching a drama about seething sectarian hatreds”
Kevin Maher·The Times
“The film feels true in the way it must be exploring Branagh's memories of a tumultuous and confusing time, and the way it pays tribute to a vibrant community as that community is irrevocably changed.”
Steve Pond·TheWrap
“Branagh's genuine affection and nostalgia for his subject suffuse the movie; if only the misty romanticism of his story could match it”
Leah Greenblatt·Entertainment Weekly
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and this scattershot crowd-pleaser renders them both in such broad strokes that it seems as if Branagh can only imagine the Belfast of his youth as a brogue-accented blend of other movies like it.”
David Ehrlich·IndieWire
Accolades
Genres
Drama, History
Cast & Crew
Kenneth BranaghDirector
Jude HillBuddy
Jamie DornanPa
Caitríona BalfeMa
Lewis McAskieWill
Judi DenchGranny
Ciarán HindsPop
Lara McDonnellMoira
Colin MorganBilly Clanton
Gerard HoranMackie
Josie WalkerAuntie Violet
Olive TennantCatherine
Michael MaloneyFrankie West
Van MorrisonComposer
Haris ZambarloukosCinematographyBelfast
Buddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood hijinks, and a blossoming romance. Yet, with his beloved hometown caught up in increasing turmoil, his family faces a momentous choice: hope the conflict will pass or leave everything they know behind for a new life.
What critics thought
Branagh's semi-autobiographical memoir of 1960s Belfast earns genuine warmth from its performances and its black-and-white visual polish, but critics split sharply on whether the film earns that warmth or simply bathes in it. Admirers found the nostalgia transportive and the community detail richly observed; detractors argued the Troubles-era backdrop gets smoothed into a crowd-pleasing softness that drains the material of its real weight.
“It's a film of formal beauty, letter-perfect performances, complex and textured writing (also from Branagh) and enough comedic one-lines and Van Morrison musical montages to make you forget that you are watching a drama about seething sectarian hatreds”
Kevin Maher·The Times
“The film feels true in the way it must be exploring Branagh's memories of a tumultuous and confusing time, and the way it pays tribute to a vibrant community as that community is irrevocably changed.”
Steve Pond·TheWrap
“Branagh's genuine affection and nostalgia for his subject suffuse the movie; if only the misty romanticism of his story could match it”
Leah Greenblatt·Entertainment Weekly
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and this scattershot crowd-pleaser renders them both in such broad strokes that it seems as if Branagh can only imagine the Belfast of his youth as a brogue-accented blend of other movies like it.”
David Ehrlich·IndieWire
Accolades
Genres
Drama, History
Cast & Crew
Kenneth BranaghDirectorJude HillBuddyJamie DornanPaCaitríona BalfeMaLewis McAskieWillJudi DenchGrannyCiarán HindsPopLara McDonnellMoiraColin MorganBilly ClantonGerard HoranMackieJosie WalkerAuntie VioletOlive TennantCatherineMichael MaloneyFrankie WestVan MorrisonComposerHaris ZambarloukosCinematographyStream
Rent & Buy