Screen Stories That Changed the World for the Better

Many people in the US will be preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving, an opportunity to take stock of their lives and celebrate all the good things they have. We may not share the holiday here in the UK – its origins, after all, lie among early American settlers – but as every self-help guide tells us, gratitude is always in season. So this year, we’re taking a moment to acknowledge all the films, TV and documentary efforts that have helped shift the needle and change the conversation, and the world, for the better.

A good example is Mr Bates vs. The Post Office, the TV drama chronicling the multi-year effort to overturn a huge miscarriage of British justice caused by a computer error. That starred Toby Jones (Detectorists, Tetris) as the campaigner Mr Bates, in a story that transfixed the nation as thousands of innocent people were accused of theft and even convicted of a crime.

There was a similarly inspiring tale in Bank of Dave, which starred Rory Kinnear (Men, Penny Dreadful) as Dave Fishwick, a local businessman who sets up his own bank to help fund small local businesses. Many of the most inspiring films are based on real-life stories, in fact. The Imitation Game chronicles how British mathematician Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch, Eric, Sherlock) broke the Nazi’s Enigma code, developing one of the first true computers to do it. The Program, with Chris O’Dowd (The IT Crowd, Calvary), tells the real-life story of disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong (Ben Foster, Inferno) and the journalist who tried to expose him. That’s before we even get to the true-life heroics of The Rescue, about the international effort to save a Thai youth soccer team stuck in a cave, or Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, about how the erstwhile Superman’s efforts on behalf of pioneering spinal treatment and disability rights surpassed even his onscreen heroism. There’s real-life inspiration too in the Oscar nominated and BAFTA winning documentary For Sama, the account of a doctor and first-time mother struggling to survive the siege of Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War.

Copa 71 is another fascinating documentary, this time about the Women’s World Cup held in Mexico in 1971, a major milestone in women’s sport. Or if you prefer your inspirational sport stories lightly fictionalised, try Battle of the Sexes, about the tennis face-off between Billie Jean King (Emma Stone, Poor Things) and Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell). The completely fictional Bend It Like Beckham from Gurinder Chadha (Blinded by the Light) was also a landmark sports film, what with its British-Indian representation, female director and two female leads, Parminder Nagra (DI Ray) and Keira Knightley (Atonement).

Widening representation onscreen has been a steady process for years now, and it’s giving us more diverse and fresh stories than ever before. TV’s We Are Lady Parts from Nida Manzoor (Polite Society) is the hilarious and moving story of an all-female, all-Muslim punk band; the film and stage musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is based on a true story about a teenage boy who dreams of becoming a drag queen. The TV hit Heartstopper also focuses on LGBTQ+ teenagers, to huge acclaim – chances are every teenager you know is obsessed with it – as does this year’s cult hit trans allegory horror film I Saw the TV Glow. If your heart can take it, the devastating historical TV drama It’s a Sin, about the AIDS epidemic, from Russell T. Davies (Doctor Who), is also worth your time.

Some filmmakers have made it their mission to portray real struggles and bring true life-based or inspired stories to the screen. Sir Steve McQueen, for example, had an early hit with Hunger, about the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender, Frank, Shame), and more recently explored Black British history in the five-part anthology Small Axe, starring the likes of John Boyega (Attack The Block) and Naomi Ackie (Lady Macbeth, The Score). Even his latest film Blitz, with Saoirse Ronan (The Outrun), re-examines the World War II bombing of London through a multi-cultural lens.

Mike Leigh is also famed for his social conscience films: seek out Vera Drake, with Imelda Staunton, or Peterloo, for a depiction of a fight for social and political justice that became a massacre. His contemporary Ken Loach is also eternally concerned with the plight of working people: look at the Palme d’Or winning heartbreaker that is I, Daniel Blake, or the classic Kes, or his recent plea for humanity towards refugees, The Old Oak. These are not always easy films to watch, but you will always gain a new perspective on the world by doing so.

Sometimes, a new perspective can come from the most unlikely of places. The knockabout comedy Kneecap, about the Irish language rap group of the same name, is filthy and funny and also thought-provoking on the subject of minority languages and cultural preservation. David Attenborough’s monumental wildlife series, like Blue Planet and Planet Earth, have not only shown us amazing sights from the natural world but also spurred conservation efforts like the move to ban plastic straws. Michaela Cole’s extraordinary BAFTA and Emmy-award winning comedy-drama I May Destroy You began an international conversation about rape and sexual assault. Dominic Savage’s (Close to You) BAFTA winning drama I Am…Ruth explored social media addiction and abuse, with Kate Winslet (Ammonite, Lee) and her real-life daughter Mia Threapleton.

There is, in other words, much to be thankful for in the films, TV and documentaries out there. We can get new perspectives on the past (Belfast, A Very English Scandal, Benediction) or on the present (A Very Royal Scandal, Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always). We can watch a hilarious and heart-warming comedy set in a side of London the tourists rarely get to see (Rye Lane) or step inside places that tourists would never want to go (The Night Of). We can check out the untold story of an icon (Nothing Compares) or imagine dark scenarios of the future (Civil War). This Thanksgiving, we’re thankful for the films that make us think.