---
title: "Billy Elliot"
year: 2000
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/billy-elliot"
fi1m_id: "billy-elliot"
imdb_id: "tt0249462"
tmdb_id: 71
wikidata_id: "Q458629"
fi1m_score: 81
critics_score: 70
critics_reviews: 10
published: "2026-09-14"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:19.645779+00:00"
region: "IS"
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."
---

# Billy Elliot (2000)

Directed by Stephen Daldry · 1h 51m · Drama, Comedy, Music

## Identity

Billy Elliot

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/billy-elliot
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** billy-elliot
- **IMDb ID:** tt0249462
- **TMDB ID:** 71
- **Wikidata ID:** Q458629
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249462/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/71, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q458629

**Fi1m score: 81** · Critics 70 from 10 reviews

*In a sentence:* Jamie Bell makes ballet look like a reasonable response to being told what to do

> Jamie Bell and Julie Walters make *Billy Elliot* a funny, moving film about a boy being taken seriously. We recommend it for them and the dancing, with some patience required for the sentiment and the cautious politics.

## Synopsis

In a mining town in northern England, eleven-year-old Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) discovers that he wants to dance ballet. It is 1984, and the miners’ strike surrounds a family at odds over what a boy ought to become. His father and brother, played by Gary Lewis and Jamie Draven, oppose his ambitions, while his teacher, Mrs Wilkinson (Julie Walters), encourages him to pursue them. Billy has to work out how to take his interest seriously without losing his place at home, as the expectations of the adults around him collide with the possibilities he sees in dancing.

## Review

Stephen Daldry’s *Billy Elliot* follows a familiar route through a boy’s talent, his family’s resistance and the encouragement of a teacher. It is a warm, funny film that earns much of its emotion through Jamie Bell, even when Lee Hall’s screenplay is working too hard to secure the rest. Set in a northern English mining town during the 1984 strike, it puts Billy’s desire to dance alongside the adults’ struggle over work. Giving both subjects enough attention proves difficult, and the boy gets considerably more.

Bell makes Billy’s talent convincing without making him seem like an adult’s idea of an exceptional child. There is something stubborn and untidy about the performance that helps when the story starts arranging itself too neatly around him. We felt properly exhilarated by his dancing, because the effort and eagerness remain visible throughout the routines. Brian Tufano’s cinematography serves him well: the movement is clear, and we stay interested in what Billy is feeling while his body is occupied.

Julie Walters gives Mrs Wilkinson the briskness this sort of story needs. Her interest in Billy does not require her to become gentle or endlessly agreeable, and their scenes have room for comedy as well as instruction. Hall writes their relationship with a warmth that feels less forced than some of the family confrontations, while Daldry allows both performers to be awkward. The teacher takes the boy seriously, and Walters makes that attention matter without asking us to admire her for giving it.

Gary Lewis also does useful work as Billy’s father, Jackie, finding fear beneath objections that could have been merely blustering. Jamie Draven’s Tony is a harsher presence, and the writing gives him less space to be anything else. Hall understands how family loyalty can make an apparently private choice feel like a rejection, but the arguments occasionally divide people into those who understand Billy and those who need educating. Those scenes are easier to predict than the performances deserve.

The dance sequences benefit from John Wilson’s editing, which gives the physical excitement a pace the more familiar dramatic passages can lack. The glam-rock songs help: their directness suits Billy’s energy, and we do not need every movement translated into a lesson about freedom. Stephen Warbeck’s music reinforces the tenderness, sometimes too insistently when the actors have already made the feeling clear. Daldry’s eagerness to move us becomes a nuisance in passages that would work with less encouragement.

Maria Djurkovic’s production design keeps the mining-town setting credible, even when the script risks reducing its inhabitants to obstacles for Billy. The strike scenes carry a tension that the family arguments cannot produce on their own, yet Hall and Daldry remain cautious about the dispute itself. They use it more readily to establish hardship than to explore what is being fought for. We understand the boy’s ambitions far better than the convictions of the adults around him.

As a story about a talented child meeting resistance, *Billy Elliot* knows most of the reliable ways to please an audience, and uses rather too many of them. Bell and Walters supply enough humour and irritation to stop the sentiment becoming unbearable. Watch it for their company and for the dancing; leave the expectation of a searching account of the strike behind.

*Fi1m score 81, published 14 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond warmly to Billy Elliot, with praise centred on Jamie Bell’s natural performance and the pleasure of watching him dance. The reviews also value the humour and warmth of the family story, while several single out Julie Walters and the relationship between Billy and his teacher. For its admirers, Stephen Daldry’s handling of the young cast and the energetic dance sequences gives a familiar story of ambition enough feeling and specificity to carry it.

The spread is wide, with sentimentality and predictability dividing the reviews most sharply. Some accept the melodrama as part of the film’s appeal; others find the characters stereotyped and the emotions pushed too hard. Sight and Sound admires its treatment of childhood and masculinity but finds its strike politics evasive, while The AV Club offers a firmer rejection, finding the film cloying and sluggish despite some entertaining dancing.

## Straight answers

**Is Billy Elliot worth watching?**

*Billy Elliot* is worth watching for Jamie Bell, Julie Walters and the dancing, and we scored it 81. It is a warm, funny film about a boy being taken seriously, though the screenplay works too hard to secure its emotion and stays cautious about the miners' strike around it. Come for the performances, not for a searching account of 1984.

**How long is Billy Elliot, and what is it rated?**

*Billy Elliot* runs 1h 51m. It is a drama and comedy film.

**Where can I watch Billy Elliot in Iceland?**

*Billy Elliot* is not on any streaming or rental service in Iceland at the moment. It is available in 29 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is Billy Elliot, and is it suitable for children?**

*Billy Elliot* carries a UK 15 certificate, which rules it out for younger children, though it is a drama about dancing rather than anything frightening. The family arguments can be harsh and the strike scenes carry real tension, and the rating suggests strong language rather than violence. Teenagers should manage it comfortably.

**How does Billy Elliot compare to Kes?**

*Billy Elliot* and [*Kes*](https://film.one/film/kes) both follow a northern boy finding room to breathe beyond school and home, but they treat him very differently. Ken Loach's film is bruising and unusually attentive to what interests a child, with rough edges that occasionally distract; Stephen Daldry's is warmer, funnier and far keener to please. *Kes* is the harder, more honest film; *Billy Elliot* is the easier evening.

**What should I watch after Billy Elliot?**

After *Billy Elliot*, try [*Kes*](https://film.one/film/kes) (1969, Fi1m 88): Another northern boy finds room to breathe beyond school and home. Then [*The Red Shoes*](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes) (1948, Fi1m 92): For dancing treated as a consuming need, with considerably less reassurance.

### Reviews we read (12)

- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (4/4): The film is sweeter than its counterpart Girlfight, following a boy who wants to be a ballet dancer despite opposition from his macho father and brother in a mining town. It features engaging performances, especially from Jamie Bell, and illustrates differences in how children and adults see the world. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/billy-elliot-2000)
- **Empire**, Caroline Westbrook (85/100, inferred): The critic credits Daldry with creating the first genuinely exhilarating Brit flick of the new millennium, a no-holds-barred triumph that eschews dance-movie clichés for a deceptive simplicity focused on overcoming family opposition amid the miners' strike, with strong comedy, emotional dance sequences set to 80s hits, and a star-making turn from Jamie Bell. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/billy-elliot-review/)
- **Total Film** (80/100, inferred): The critic describes it as a heartwarming, toe-tapping delight from Daldry's joyous working-class fairytale that splices miners' strike grit with exuberant dance routines, praising the rare talent for extracting unforced performances from the young cast and the gut-busting pleasure of the dance sequences to glam-rock tracks, while noting some unease with the shift to sentimentality and a coded gay parable. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/billy-elliot-review/)
- **Sight and Sound**, Claire Monk (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the film truer to authentic experience than similar British hits like The Full Monty, crediting Jamie Bell's standout performance as Billy and its quirky take on childhood and masculinity, but notes it is politically circumspect and evasive about the miners' strike and class conflicts. [Read](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/309)
- **The Independent** (75/100, inferred): The critic notes that hype around Daldry's debut makes it easy to resist the film's heart-string tugging and jaunty soundtrack, but ultimately praises its more complicated message, hair-raising strike scenes, and near-perfect cast, especially Jamie Bell's energy, Julie Walters' droll performance, and Gary Lewis avoiding clichés. It is called raw escapism akin to Ratcatcher with the i's dotted and t's crossed. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/dance-of-a-working-class-hero-701751.html)
- **The New York Times**, A. O. Scott (70/100, inferred): The story of an 11-year-old boy in a northern England mining town who dreams of ballet during the 1984 strike anchors its melodramatic formula in tough, heartfelt realism. It mirrors Girlfight but uses the accents and setting of its characters to explore escaping working-class confines. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/13/movies/film-review-escaping-a-miner-s-life-for-a-career-in-ballet.html)
- **Time Out**, WH (60/100, inferred): The review criticizes the film for adding caricature to Lee Hall's script and overusing dance as metaphor, but singles out the warm central relationship between Billy and his teacher Mrs Wilkinson, along with strong performances from Jamie Bell and Julie Walters, as its emotional core. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/billy-elliot)
- **IndieWire** (55/100, inferred): Billy Elliot offers pleasing but predictable and mixed steps in its story of a boy discovering ballet amid a mining strike, leaning on familiar crowd-pleasing elements without much innovation. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-mixed-steps-pleasing-and-predictable-billy-elliot-81347/)
- **The AV Club**, Scott Tobias (40/100, inferred): The film is cloying and sluggish despite some entertaining dancing scenes, relying too heavily on melodramatic clichés and a syrupy script about a boy's escape through ballet during the miners' strike. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/billy-elliot-1798192500)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan: The crowd-pleasing story of a boy pursuing ballet has genuine appeal in Jamie Bell's natural performance and scenes of pure movement, but overdoes sentimentality and clichés, making it hard to wholeheartedly embrace. The filmmakers push the material too hard with heavy-handed emotional manipulation. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-oct-13-ca-35698-story.html)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw: The film is a bold, attractive and emotionally generous debut from stage director Stephen Daldry about a boy discovering his talent for dance amid the 1984 miners' strike. It has charm, humour and heart, with intelligent handling of the boy's sexuality and a freshness that makes it a pleasure to watch. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/sep/29/1)
- **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray (50/100, inferred): The critic finds it impossible not to like the film due to the boy's courage but criticizes it for being conventional, predictable, and relying on stereotypes of working-class northern life. He praises the performances, especially Jamie Bell's, but notes it rings false compared to films like Kes. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/billy-elliot-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray)

## Details

- **Director:** Stephen Daldry
- **Director:** Stephen Daldry
- **Writer:** Lee Hall
- **Cinematography:** Brian Tufano
- **Editor:** John Wilson
- **Music:** Stephen Warbeck
- **Production design:** Maria Djurkovic
- **Costume design:** Stewart Meachem
- **Producer:** Greg Brenman, Jon Finn
- **Cast:** Jamie Bell as Billy Elliot; Gary Lewis as Jackie Elliot; Julie Walters as Mrs Wilkinson; Jean Heywood as Grandma; Jamie Draven as Tony Elliot; Stuart Wells as Michael Caffrey; Mike Elliott as George Watson; Billy Fane as Mr Braithwaite
- **Runtime:** 1h 51m
- **Release (Iceland):** 16 February 2001
- **Genres:** Drama, Comedy, Music
- **Also in:** [BAFTA Best Film winners](https://film.one/collections/bafta-best-film.md) (Nominee, 2000); [Golden Globe Best Drama winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-drama.md) (Nominee, 2000)
- **Budget:** $5 million
- **Box office:** $109 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glKDtUXNAZw

## Where to watch in Iceland

Not streaming, renting or buying in Iceland at the last check.

Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, HU, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2001: Best Director (nominated); Best Supporting Actress (nominated); Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated)
- Amanda Award for Best Foreign Feature Film 2001: Amanda Award for Best Foreign Feature Film (won)
- BAFTA Film Awards 2001: Best British Film (won)
- Silver nugget for the best foreign film 2001: Silver nugget for the best foreign film (won)
- European Film Award for Best Actor 2000: European Film Award for Best Actor (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Actress 2000: European Film Award for Best Actress (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Film 2000: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *Kes* (1969), Fi1m 88: Another northern boy finds room to breathe beyond school and home — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/kes.md)
- *The Red Shoes* (1948), Fi1m 92: For dancing treated as a consuming need, with considerably less reassurance — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes.md)
- *Ma vie en rose* (1997): A child’s self-expression exposes the limits of the adults’ supposed tolerance
- *The Fits* (2015): A young dancer’s need to belong becomes something stranger and more unsettling
- *Sing Street* (2016): Music gives another frustrated teenager a practical reason to imagine leaving

---
© 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/billy-elliot