Billy Elliot(2000)
dir. Stephen Daldry
A miner's son wants to dance. The strike is on.
Where to watch: Rent $3.99 / buy $14.99 on Amazon, Apple TV, Fandango At Home; no subscription or free option listed (JustWatch US, checked 2026-10-01, so re-check).Letterboxd ↗
In a Durham mining town during the 1984 strike, eleven-year-old Billy is sent to boxing lessons and sneaks into the ballet class next door. His father and brother are on the picket line, and the idea that Billy might dance is almost as hard for them as the strike. It is a family story, a class story and a story about who is allowed to want what.
Why it’s here
It's a film about what a community does with a kid who doesn't fit. What's punk is the strike behind the story: the film doesn't treat the picket line as a backdrop. What's pedagogical is the question it asks at the dinner table: who decides what boys are allowed to love? Pairs with Pride (suggested 10-14), The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists and Julian Is a Mermaid. Note: strike-era police violence and homophobic and gender-policing insults; PG-13 equivalent (15 in the UK).
Where This Film Lives
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