Film

The Van

A Dublin comedy-drama about two redundant factory workers who pool their severance to start a fish-and-chips van business, riding high on Ireland's World Cup fever. Warm and funny on the surface, it quietly examines what happens when friendship meets commerce and ambition corrodes camaraderie. For anyone who's loved a friend and watched it get complicated.

TMDb rating3.2

If you liked this

The Full Monty1997

Similar working-class warmth and humour about men reinventing themselves after redundancy, with genuine heart beneath the laughs and a community that feels lived-in rather than performed.

But The tone can tip toward sentimentality, and if you're not invested in the specific rhythms of the characters' banter, stretches will feel slow.

The Full Monty poster

Moonlight2016

Both explore how friendship transforms under pressure and circumstance, tracking the slow fracture of connection with devastating emotional precision and zero melodrama.

But It's bleak and formally austere in ways The Van isn't; if you want comfort, this will unsettle you instead.

Moonlight poster

Brooklyn2015

Shares The Van's gift for portraying ordinary lives with dignity and specificity, capturing a particular time and place while asking what we owe to ambition versus loyalty.

But More romantic and less comedic; the pacing is deliberately unhurried, which some find contemplative and others find slow.

Brooklyn poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Van

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Eating Raoul1982

Both chart the precise moment when a partnership pivots from mutual support to exploitation, with comedy masking real moral deterioration.

A couple finances their dream by preying on society's worst; it's a pitch-black comedy about how quickly capitalism and desperation can twist affection into something unrecognizable. Hilarious and deeply unsettling.

But The humour sits right on the line between funny and nauseating; if you can't laugh at transgression, this will just feel mean.

Eating Raoul poster
More like this (7)

Withnail & I1987

Two down-on-their-luck mates navigating a scheme together, packed with quotable comedy and real affection beneath the chaos. An absolute masterclass in dialogue.

But Utterly British in sensibility and very much a film of its era; the comedy is dry enough to require active listening.

Withnail & I poster

The Commitments1991

Another Dublin ensemble about working-class characters finding purpose through a shared venture, with infectious energy, terrific music, and real stakes beneath the charm.

But Relies on broad comedy in ways that can feel dated now; the ensemble is so large some characters barely register.

The Commitments poster

This Is England2007

Explores male friendship, belonging, and how quickly bonds can curdle when ideology and resentment enter the equation. Funny and heartbreaking in equal measure.

But The tonal shift into darkness is abrupt and uncompromising; you're not warned, and some find it alienating rather than deepening.

This Is England poster

Trainspotting1996

Same year as The Van, same energy about friendship under pressure in a specific geography, but with style and darkness ramped to eleven. Unforgettable.

But It's relentlessly grim about addiction and waste; if you want anything resembling comfort, you won't find it here.

Trainspotting poster

Once2007

Irish filmmaking with warmth and specificity, following ordinary people navigating small stakes with genuine emotion. Understated, lovely, and surprisingly moving.

But Almost aggressively low-key; nothing dramatic happens, and the minimalism will bore anyone seeking plot propulsion.

Once poster

An Angel at My Table1990

A portrait of ambition and its costs, with sharp observation about how success isolates as much as it fulfills, and what we lose along the way.

But It's a literary biography with long sections of quiet introspection; the rhythm is novelistic rather than cinematic.

An Angel at My Table poster

Cléo from 5 to 71962

Both are fascinated by the texture of ordinary working days and how much a few hours can reveal about who people really are beneath their public selves.

A French New Wave film that captures a single afternoon in real time with grace and observation, finding profound emotional truth in small transactions and conversations. Hypnotic and intimate.

But Nothing happens in the conventional sense; it's a mood and a style rather than a plot, which will feel indulgent to anyone craving structure.

Cléo from 5 to 7 poster

People

Cast

Directing

Writing

Production

Recommended by