Film

Early Man

Name: Early Man
Genre: Family, Comedy, Animation, Adventure
Released: 2018
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams, Timothy Spall, Miriam Margolyes

Action
Light-hearted

Aardman send their signature plasticine wit back to the Stone Age for a shaggy underdog sports comedy: cavemen must beat a slicker Bronze Age town at football to save their valley. It's gentle, pun-heavy, gorgeously tactile stop-motion, aimed squarely at kids but stuffed with dad jokes for the adults dragged along. Cosy rather than classic Aardman, but reliably charming.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love the lumpy, hand-sculpted look of Aardman's stop-motion and want a sports-underdog comedy that gets its laughs from pratfalls and cheerful British silliness.

Skip it if you need sharp, adult satire or a plot that surprises you, since this is gentle, predictable and aimed squarely at children, with its jokes landing softly rather than hard.

What it asks of you: Brisk and light for under ninety minutes, it rolls through its football match and slapstick set pieces, needing only easy attention rather than close study.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Chicken Run2000

The studio's masterpiece: a prison-break thriller reimagined with hens, sharper jokes, and a genuine sense of jeopardy that Early Man never quite reaches. Essential Aardman.

But Its stakes and slightly grimmer edges might land harder with older kids than very young ones.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit2005

Same studio, same warmth, but with a tighter script and more inventive gags per minute. If you liked Early Man's silliness, this is the gold standard version of it.

But Very British in its humour and pacing; some younger viewers might find it a touch slower.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit poster

Shaun the Sheep Movie2015

Nearly wordless, endlessly inventive physical comedy from the same animators. Proof Aardman can be even funnier when nobody says a single line.

But The lack of dialogue might feel like an adjustment if you're used to gag-a-minute voice comedy.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Early Man

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Quest for Fire1981

Same setting, same fascination with early humans figuring things out — but played for awe and struggle instead of laughs, showing how far tone can travel from one shared premise.

Take the caveman premise and strip out every joke: this is prehistoric life played entirely straight, with invented grunt-languages and real anthropological texture. It's the sober, serious ancestor of Early Man's silliness.

But No dialogue you'll understand, no comfort, and a slow, meditative pace that's the opposite of a kids' film.

Paddington 22017

A different studio, a different medium, but the same generous, silly-hearted British comedy for families, with a villain performance (Hugh Grant) as delicious as Hiddleston's here.

But Live-action rather than animated, so the tone is warmer and less cartoonish throughout.

Fantastic Mr. Fox2009

Stop-motion with real teeth: Wes Anderson's dry wit and painterly frames make for a cleverer, weirder cousin to Early Man's scrappy charm.

But Anderson's deadpan humour skews older and drier than Aardman's broader slapstick.

The Boxtrolls2014

Another underdog-community-versus-the-establishment story, told with astonishingly detailed stop-motion craft and a stranger, more gothic sense of humour.

But Darker visuals and themes than Early Man; check it suits sensitive younger viewers.

Missing Link2019

A globe-trotting stop-motion adventure-comedy with the same handmade texture and a similarly big, goofy heart.

But Less overtly jokey than Early Man, with more adventure-plot in the mix than pure comedy.

Coraline2009

If you want to see how far stop-motion can stretch tonally, this is the same craft turned genuinely eerie and beautiful.

But Properly unsettling in places; not the gentle family comfort watch Early Man is.

Arthur Christmas2011

British-flavoured animated comedy with a similarly big, silly, family-vs-institution energy and a lot of heart underneath the jokes.

But Christmas-specific setting makes it feel like an odd fit outside December.

Cool Runnings1993

Structurally identical: a scrappy outsider team with nothing enters a sport dominated by a slick, sneering elite, and wins on heart. Different genre costume, same underdog machine.

Swap cavemen for the Jamaican bobsled team and you get the exact same underdog-versus-the-establishment sports engine that drives Early Man's big match, just in live-action comedy form.

But Broader 90s sports-comedy sentimentality; some of the humour has aged into pure cheese.

The Trip2010

Same comic engine as Brydon's Early Man characters — rapid-fire voices and impressions — unleashed at full, unfiltered, adult length instead of squeezed into a kids' film.

Rob Brydon, doing voices for a caveman comedy here, is even funnier left loose to improvise impressions and bicker with Steve Coogan over restaurant meals in the Lake District.

But Adult, dry, almost plotless — a two-hander comedy for grown-ups with nothing family-friendly about it.