Film

Belfast

Name: Belfast
Genre: Drama, History
Released: 2021
Cast: Jude Hill, Jamie Dornan, Caitríona Balfe, Lewis McAskie, Judi Dench

Kenneth Branagh shoots his own Belfast childhood in gleaming black and white, dropping a nine-year-old and his family into the first months of the Troubles in 1969. It's tender, funny, occasionally corny, and unashamedly nostalgic — a memory film more than a history lesson. Good for anyone who wants warmth and family love set against a hardening world, not a hard-hitting political drama.

TMDb rating

7.0

If you liked this

Roma2018

Cuarón's own black-and-white memory piece, a household seen through a child's eyes while the city outside turns violent. Same tenderness, same sense of a world ending quietly at the edges of a family's life.

But Slower and more contemplative than Belfast — long takes, minimal plot, subtitled. Patience required.

Hope and Glory1987

John Boorman's autobiographical account of a boy who finds the Blitz thrilling rather than terrifying. The same trick as Belfast — real historical horror filtered through a child too young to be properly afraid.

But Very English, very of-its-era in pacing and humour; some will find it slight.

The Fabelmans2022

Spielberg's own semi-fictionalised childhood, this time filtered through a boy's obsession with filmmaking rather than politics. Same warmth, same starry supporting cast, same director looking back at himself with affection.

But Runs longer and drifts into family melodrama that has less urgency than Belfast's backdrop of violence.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Odd Man Out1947

Same streets, decades before the Troubles Belfast depicts, but stripped of nostalgia — the hunted-man thriller version of the violence Buddy's family is trying to outrun.

A wounded IRA man hides out in the same Belfast streets Buddy plays in, twenty-two years earlier, shot as a shadowy, fatalistic noir. Carol Reed shows the city Branagh remembers fondly as somewhere genuinely lethal.

But Slow, theatrical, and morally murky by design — this is not a warm film, and it doesn't want to be.

Derry Girls2018

Teenage girls in Troubles-era Derry treat bombs and checkpoints as background noise to boys and homework. Same setting, same conflict, wildly funnier — proof the era can carry comedy as easily as elegy.

But Broad sitcom energy and thick accents; if you wanted Belfast's gentleness, this is louder and ruder.

Sing Street2016

A Dublin teenager starts a band to impress a girl, with the same warmth, music and working-class humour that runs through Belfast's household scenes. John Carney at his most purely joyful.

But No political weight at all — this is pure coming-of-age charm with none of the historical stakes.

'712014

A British soldier stranded in Troubles-era Belfast, shot as a lean, terrifying thriller. Same city, same year almost, but shows exactly what Buddy's family is trying to get away from.

But Genuinely tense and violent — the opposite of Belfast's soft focus, and not for anyone wanting comfort.

In America2003no page yet

Jim Sheridan's own semi-autobiographical story of an Irish family starting over in New York, seen partly through children's eyes. Same mix of love, grief and hope that Belfast ends on.

But Heavier grief at its centre — this one doesn't stay as light as Belfast for long.

Cinema Paradiso1988

An Italian boy's childhood built around the local cinema, drenched in the same golden nostalgia and love of place that Branagh brings to Belfast's streets.

But Sentimental in a very different, very Italian way — some find it manipulative rather than moving.

The Commitments1991

Working-class Dublin, big families, sharp humour, a soundtrack doing a lot of the emotional work — the same DNA as Belfast's household scenes, just louder and rowdier.

But No political backdrop and a much broader comic register; it's a band movie first, everything else second.

No Stone Unturned2017no page yet

The same sectarian violence Buddy's family flees, seen without a child's protective distance — the underside of the note Belfast ends on.

A documentary tracing the unsolved 1994 Loughinisland massacre and the decades-long fight for accountability. It's the adult, unresolved version of the grief that Belfast keeps at the edge of a child's understanding.

But Bleak, angry, and factual rather than lyrical — there's no childhood wonder here to soften it.

Good Vibrations2012no page yet

Same Belfast, same conflict at the edges, but instead of a family leaving, it's teenagers staying and making noise — the joy Belfast only glimpses in its street scenes.

The true story of Terri Hooley and Belfast's punk scene, thriving defiantly amid the same bombs and checkpoints. Same city, same years, but the register is loud, funny and gloriously unbowed.

But Broader and more crowd-pleasing than Belfast, with music-biopic beats you'll see coming a mile off.