--- title: "Common" year: 2014 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/common" fi1m_id: "common" imdb_id: "tt2937752" tmdb_id: 280509 wikidata_id: "Q17426158" fi1m_score: 70 critics_reviews: 1 published: "2026-10-07T17:18:53.817990+00:00" updated: "2026-10-07T17:18:54.116877+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." --- # Common (2014) Directed by David Blair · 1h 30m · Drama, Crime ## Identity Common - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/common - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** common - **IMDb ID:** tt2937752 - **TMDB ID:** 280509 - **Wikidata ID:** Q17426158 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2937752/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/280509, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17426158 **Fi1m score: 70** · Critics: 1 of 6 reviews so far *In a sentence:* Susan Lynch gives us enough to be upset about without the political underlining > A forceful crime drama whose political message sometimes presses too hard, *Common* earns its emotional weight through Susan Lynch. Her portrayal of grief makes the case more persuasively than the insistence surrounding it. ## Synopsis Johnjo O’Shea (Nico Mirallegro), Coleen O’Shea (Jodhi May) and Peter O’Shea (Andrew Tiernan) feature in this crime drama written by Jimmy McGovern and directed by David Blair. The characters also include Margaret Ward (Susan Lynch) and Tommy Ward (Daniel Mays), alongside Kieran Gillespie (Andrew Ellis) and Karen O’Shea (Finn Atkins). Robert Pugh plays DI Hastings, Louise Delamere plays DC Jane Pearson and Michael Gambon plays the Judge. The film follows these people across 90 minutes, with grief and questions of justice at its centre. ## Review *Common* is worth watching for Susan Lynch, with a warning about the force with which it delivers its politics. Written by Jimmy McGovern and directed by David Blair, it wants us to be distressed by suffering and angry about justice. Those are reasonable ambitions for a crime drama, and there is nothing inherently suspect about making the audience uncomfortable. The difficulty comes when the film seems unwilling to let that discomfort speak for itself. Lynch plays Margaret Ward, a bereaved mother, and her performance supplies the strongest reason to stay with such bleak material. We found her grief upsetting because it keeps a mother’s loss at the centre of a drama with a political point to make. There is a difference between understanding that somebody has suffered and being made to attend to that suffering for more than a passing moment. Lynch makes the latter unavoidable, giving the film an emotional seriousness that cannot be supplied simply by choosing a serious subject. The reservation is the political emphasis, which sometimes becomes heavy-handed. McGovern has something he wants said, and the determination to say it can make the drama feel too insistent. We do not need a crime film to be impartial, nor do we need every question settled before it is allowed to take a position. But once the suffering has registered, further insistence risks treating the audience as though it has failed to understand what is plainly in front of it. David Blair directs an ensemble led by Nico Mirallegro as Johnjo O’Shea, with Daniel Mays as Tommy Ward and Jodhi May as Coleen O’Shea. Dirk Nel supplies the cinematography, Patrick Hall the editing and Adrian Johnston the music. Yet the clearest achievement here belongs to Lynch: the grief associated with Margaret gives us something particular to care about within the broader concern with justice. That matters because a film asking for anger still needs people whose distress remains interesting after we have understood its cause. Against the expectations of campaigning crime drama, *Common* offers a familiar strength and a familiar frustration. Its willingness to hurt is valuable; an easier, more reassuring treatment would scarcely serve this material. Its eagerness to make the point unmistakable is less useful, especially when Lynch has already made the human cost difficult to dismiss. We can agree with a film’s concerns and still wish it would stop pressing them quite so firmly. At 90 minutes, this is a substantial but manageable commitment to difficult material. The recommendation is for those willing to accept some forceful political instruction in return for a performance that makes grief matter. Lynch is the reason to choose it, rather than a general appetite for crime stories. Save it for an evening when being upset is something both people on the sofa have agreed to. *Fi1m score 70, published 7 October 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Common worth watching?** *Common* is worth watching for Susan Lynch’s upsetting portrayal of a bereaved mother, and we score it 70. We recommend it to those willing to sit with grief and questions of justice, though its political message presses harder than it needs to when Lynch already makes the suffering so clear. **How long is Common, and what is it rated?** *Common* runs 1h 30m. It is a drama and crime film. **Where can I watch Common in the US?** *Common* is not on any streaming or rental service in the US at the moment. It is available in 1 other country; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Common, and is it suitable for children?** *Common* has no UK or US certificate supplied here, and we would not choose its bleak treatment of bereavement for children. We find the portrayal of a mother’s grief upsetting; that supports caution about emotional distress, but we cannot give a reliable account of violence or frightening scenes from the available detail. **How does Common compare to A Separation?** *Common* is the more politically insistent choice; we recommend [*A Separation*](https://film.one/film/a-separation) more strongly for its gripping, unusually fair treatment of family loyalties and justice. Susan Lynch gives *Common* its emotional force, but its message can become heavy-handed, while *A Separation* gives difficult people fuller consideration, despite a few conspicuously arranged plot complications. **What should I watch after Common?** After *Common*, try [*A Separation*](https://film.one/film/a-separation) (2011, Fi1m 93): Family loyalties complicate questions of justice without making anyone easy to dismiss. Then [*12 Angry Men*](https://film.one/film/12-angry-men) (1957, Fi1m 91): A concentrated examination of how prejudice can pass for certainty; and [*The Hunt*](https://film.one/film/the-hunt) (2012, Fi1m 82): An accusation exposes the frightening speed with which a community reaches judgement. ### Reviews we read (1) - **The Guardian**, Rebecca Nicholson (70/100, inferred): Nicholson finds the drama bleak and powerful, though its political messaging sometimes becomes heavy-handed. She particularly praises Susan Lynch’s devastating performance as the bereaved mother and the scenes that portray her grief. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jul/07/common-tv-review-jimmy-mcgovern) ## Details - **Director:** David Blair - **Director:** David Blair - **Writer:** Jimmy McGovern - **Cinematography:** Dirk Nel - **Editor:** Patrick Hall - **Music:** Adrian Johnston - **Cast:** Nico Mirallegro as Johnjo O'Shea; Susan Lynch as Margaret Ward; Daniel Mays as Tommy Ward; Jodhi May as Coleen O'Shea; Andrew Tiernan as Peter O'Shea; Robert Pugh as DI Hastings; Andrew Ellis as Kieran Gillespie; Finn Atkins as Karen O'Shea - **Runtime:** 1h 30m - **First release (the UK):** 6 July 2014 - **Genres:** Drama, Crime - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B1Uqh12xJI ## Where to watch in the US Not streaming, renting or buying in the US at the last check. Also available in: GB. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *A Separation* (2011), Fi1m 93: Family loyalties complicate questions of justice without making anyone easy to dismiss. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-separation.md) - *12 Angry Men* (1957), Fi1m 91: A concentrated examination of how prejudice can pass for certainty. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/12-angry-men.md) - *The Hunt* (2012), Fi1m 82: An accusation exposes the frightening speed with which a community reaches judgement. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-hunt.md) - *Vera Drake* (2004), Fi1m 84: Compassionate performances keep a politically charged story close to ordinary lives. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/vera-drake.md) - *Saint Omer* (2022): A courtroom drama that gives difficult testimony room to unsettle us. --- © 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/common