--- title: "Another Year" year: 2010 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/another-year" fi1m_score: 87 critics_score: 80 critics_reviews: 15 published: "2026-09-17T12:14:40.999413+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T12:14:41.462467+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Another Year (2010) Directed by Mike Leigh · 2h 09m · MPA PG-13 · Drama, Comedy **Fi1m score: 87** · Critics 80 from 15 reviews *In a sentence:* Four seasons at one kitchen table, and a guest who never quite knows when to go home > Mike Leigh follows a contented London couple and the lonely people drawn to their kitchen over a year, and it is among his best. Lesley Manville’s Mary is unbearable and heartbreaking at once; our reservation is how sure Leigh is about who is to blame. ## Synopsis London, across one year. Tom (Jim Broadbent), a geologist who spends his days taking soil samples on building sites, and Gerri (Ruth Sheen), a counsellor at a doctors’ surgery, have been married for decades and are content: an allotment, a kitchen, a grown son, Joe (Oliver Maltman), who has not yet brought anyone home. In spring Gerri is handed Janet (Imelda Staunton), a patient who cannot sleep and rates her happiness at one out of ten. Then Mary (Lesley Manville), the surgery receptionist, comes round for dinner, drinks most of the wine, and talks about the second-hand car she is going to buy. In summer Tom’s old friend Ken (Peter Wight) arrives from Hull for the barbecue. Nobody wants to leave. ## Review Mike Leigh has made angrier films than *Another Year*, and noisier ones. He has not made a kinder one, or a sadder one, and the two turn out to be the same thing. Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen) have been married a long time. He tests soil for a living; she counsels patients at a doctors’ surgery; they grow vegetables on an allotment and cook them. The film watches them through spring, summer, autumn and winter and asks a simple question: what happens to the people around a couple like that? We would send most people to see it, with the caveat that nothing in the usual sense happens. It opens on Imelda Staunton, who has perhaps five minutes as Janet, a patient who cannot sleep and will not say why. Asked to score her happiness out of ten she says one, and Staunton plays it without a flicker, as though the question were an insult. That is the pitch of the whole film. Then Mary arrives. Lesley Manville plays Gerri’s colleague from the surgery as a woman in her fifties who talks as if she is running to catch up with her own sentences, laughs before the joke has landed, and holds out her glass while insisting she is only having the one. She is going to buy a car. The car is going to change everything. Dick Pope shoots each season in its own colour: the spring allotment a wet, cold green, the summer garden yellow and overexposed, the autumn a dull brown, the winter drained almost to grey. He does it without announcing it, and it is only afterwards that we noticed the year had gone by in the light. Simon Beresford’s kitchen is the film’s real location, cluttered and warm and not especially tidy, the sort of room people come back to. Jacqueline Durran puts Mary in short skirts and heels a decade too young for her and puts Gerri in shapeless cardigans, and the difference says most of what needs saying. Gary Yershon’s score is a thin, mournful line of woodwind and strings that comes in between scenes and stays out of them. Jon Gregory cuts slowly and holds long, particularly on faces. The dinner in spring is where the film had us. Mary, well into a second bottle, explains her plans to Tom and Gerri while they exchange the smallest of glances over her head. We laughed, and then we felt ashamed of ourselves, because Manville lets you see, under the chatter, a woman who knows exactly how she is coming across and cannot stop. Peter Wight’s Ken, who turns up in summer for a barbecue, is her male equivalent: overweight, drinking, crying into a garden chair about a job he hates. The scene in which he makes his feelings known to her, and she makes hers known to him, is as painful a piece of comedy as Leigh has staged. Our reservation is Tom and Gerri. They are good people, patient and generous, and the film never once wonders whether their patience might be its own kind of distance. Every lonely person in it is measured against their kitchen and found wanting, and the scheme, happy couple at the centre, miserable singles at the edges, is tidy enough to notice. Oliver Maltman’s Joe is pleasant and slightly blank until Karina Fernandez arrives in autumn as Katie, his new girlfriend, who is so cheerful that Mary can barely look at her. A few critics have complained that Leigh pushes the camera too close to Manville too often. We half agree; there is a shot near the end that holds on her longer than we could comfortably bear, and we suspect that was the intention. The last season brings David Bradley as Tom’s brother Ronnie, who arrives late and says perhaps forty words in total, and Martin Savage as his son Carl, who says too many. We will leave the circumstances alone. It is enough to say that the film’s final movement is its best, and that Bradley, sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea he has not asked for, does more with a stare than most actors do with a speech. It runs 129 minutes and carries a 12A, and it is not a film for a night when you want cheering up. Watch it with someone you have known a long time. You will find yourselves counting, afterwards, how many of your friends still come round. *Fi1m score 87, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like Another Year a great deal, and the praise is unusually consistent. Thirteen of the fifteen reviews are positive, none negative. The reviews single out Leigh’s restraint: a film built around seasonal gatherings and everyday trivia rather than plot, which many find more mature and quieter than his earlier work. The ensemble draws the warmest words, with Broadbent and Sheen praised for their naturalism and Lesley Manville’s needy, half-aware Mary named again and again as the film’s tragicomic centre. The reservations are few and mild. Several reviews note that the film takes time to build and offers no narrative hook, though most count that as the point rather than a fault. Slant finds the story lovingly told but not nuanced enough, and The New Yorker, the most reserved voice, finds the tone resigned, the close-ups intrusive and some characters easy to shrug off. The spread is narrow; nobody dislikes it. ### Reviews we read (15) - **Time Out**, Dave Calhoun (5/5): Leigh's most mature work observes a happily married couple over a year with wisdom, restraint and cyclical contemplation that sets it apart from his more energetic earlier films. The stellar ensemble, led by Broadbent, Sheen and Manville, brings authenticity and quiet devastation to questions of caring, loneliness and family. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/another-year) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (90/100, inferred): The critic highlights the film's subtle, event-light structure centered on seasonal gatherings and everyday trivia, which reveals profound emotional depths through embarrassment and character interactions. Lesley Manville's vivid, tragic performance as the needy Mary stands out as a knockout amid strong ensemble work. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/another-year-review/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the film as an extraordinary examination of everyday life and human psychology by a master filmmaker, highlighting the depth and naturalism of the performances by Broadbent, Sheen, and Manville. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-dec-29-la-et-another-year-20101229-story.html) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): Mike Leigh delivers another intimate ensemble drama about ordinary people with richly rewarding results. The film follows a contented middle-aged couple whose home attracts lost souls, with Lesley Manville's needy Mary singled out as a standout tragicomic creation. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/nov/04/another-year-film-review) - **Evening Standard** (80/100, inferred): The piece praises the superbly modulated performances from Leigh regulars and the story's multiple layers of subtlety and meaning beneath its slight surface. It singles out Lesley Manville's memorable portrait of a vulnerable, half-aware failure as the standout element. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/swirls-of-mike-leigh-in-another-year-7419907.html) - **Little White Lies**, Jonathan Crocker (3/4/4): Leigh delivers a quietly brilliant, talky portrait of a middle-aged couple whose stable marriage contrasts with the struggles of those around them. The performances, especially from Broadbent, Sheen and Manville, and the sensitive direction stand out for their naturalism and emotional truth. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/another-year) - **Sight and Sound**, Geoff Andrew (80/100, inferred): The film takes time to build but ultimately soars as an honest portrait of loneliness, pain, anger and ageing among a married couple and their circle. Leigh's direction and the ensemble cast deliver compassionate, authentic moments that make it one of his strongest works. [Read](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/exclusive/cannes-2010-aurora.php) - **Variety**, Leslie Felperin (70/100, inferred): The critic calls it arguably Leigh's tautest and most likable effort since 'Secrets and Lies,' noting its gentle juxtaposition of everyday issues like loneliness and kindness through strong ensemble chemistry. [Read](https://variety.com/2010/film/markets-festivals/another-year-1117942761/) - **Slant Magazine**, Ed Gonzalez (65/100, inferred): Leigh’s film is a lovingly told but insufficiently nuanced story of four seasons in the lives of a happy couple and their miserably single friends. It singles out the warm, forgiving embrace between characters as a heartfelt lesson reflecting kindly on the director. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/another-year/) - **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (55/100, inferred): The critic finds the film notably sorrowful and resigned in its portrayal of middle-aged lives, with strong performances from the leads but ultimately views the intrusive close-ups and some characters as grating or easy to shrug off. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/01/17/unhappy-days) - **Digital Spy**, Stella Papamichael (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it a heartrending study of loneliness and growing old alone, highlighting Mike Leigh's wily humour and Lesley Manville's comic yet tragic performance as the lonely, desperate Mary. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/bfi-london-film-festival/a282484/another-year/) - **Paste**, Tim Basham (85/100, inferred): The critic finds the film wonderful for its study of ordinary lives and social behavior through strong ensemble acting. Lesley Manville's performance as the desperate Mary stands out as one of the year's best. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/another-year-review) - **The Skinny**, Jamie Dunn (★★★★): The critic describes a bitterly funny tale of sadness and frustration centred on a content middle-aged couple whose happiness fails to rub off on their lonely, envious friends, praising the note-perfect cast. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/another-year) - **Eye for Film**, Anton Bitel (70/100, inferred): Leigh contrasts the quiet contentment of a loving older couple with the loneliness and discontent of those around them, using the changing seasons to frame questions about the nature of human happiness. Ensemble performances bring the low-key tragicomic episodes to life in a timeless exploration of life's highs and lows. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/reviews.php?film_id=19206) - **HeyUGuys**, Simon Gallagher (70/100, inferred): The film is a typical Mike Leigh slice-of-life drama focused on character portraits rather than plot, following a contented middle-aged couple and their struggling friends and family over the course of a year. Standout performances, especially by Lesley Manville and Jim Broadbent, make it another winner despite the lack of narrative hook. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/heyuguys-at-cannes-2010-another-year-review/) ## Details - **Director:** Mike Leigh - **Director:** Mike Leigh - **Writer:** Mike Leigh - **Cinematography:** Dick Pope - **Editor:** Jon Gregory - **Music:** Gary Yershon - **Production design:** Simon Beresford - **Costume design:** Jacqueline Durran - **Producer:** Georgina Lowe - **Cast:** Jim Broadbent as Tom; Lesley Manville as Mary; Ruth Sheen as Gerri; Peter Wight as Ken; Oliver Maltman as Joe; David Bradley as Ronnie; Karina Fernandez as Katie; Martin Savage as Carl - **Runtime:** 2h 09m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13 - **Release (the US):** 29 December 2010 - **Genres:** Drama, Comedy - **Budget:** $8 million - **Box office:** $18 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpdXccL_laU ## Where to watch in the US - The Roku Channel: free, hd, leaving 2026-10-01 - Tubi: free, hd, leaving 2026-10-01 - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $12.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AU, CA, CH, FR, GB, IE, NZ, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 2011: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated) - Amanda Award for Best Foreign Feature Film 2011: Amanda Award for Best Foreign Feature Film (won) - Meeting Point Europe Award 2011: Meeting Point Europe Award (won) - European Film Award for Best Actress 2010: European Film Award for Best Actress (nominated) - European Film Award for Best Composer 2010: European Film Award for Best Composer (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Secrets & Lies* (1996), Fi1m 88: Leigh’s earlier family drama, with a tea-shop scene that is still unbearable. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies.md) - *Tokyo Story* (1953), Fi1m 92: Ozu on ageing parents and grown children; quieter still, and just as cutting. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/tokyo-story.md) - *Still Walking* (2008): Kore-eda’s one-day family gathering, where the kitchen does the talking. - *45 Years* (2015), Fi1m 88: Rampling and Courtenay’s long marriage is shaken in a week; patient and precise. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/45-years.md) - *Make Way for Tomorrow* (1937): An old couple nobody has room for; McCarey’s saddest and least sentimental film. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/another-year