SimilarScreen
High Hopes

High Hopes

19897.11h 48m

Overview

Working-class couple Shirley and Cyril are in conflict over whether they should have children, their problems with 'yuppies' moving into the neighbourhood and outpricing them, and the advent of Cyril's ageing mother's seventieth birthday.

Directed by Mike Leigh
Written by Mike Leigh
Produced by Simon Channing Williams, Victor Glynn
Box Office0Revenue: $1.2M

Top Cast

Phil Davis

Phil Davis

Cyril Bender

Ruth Sheen

Ruth Sheen

Shirley

Edna Doré

Edna Doré

Mrs Bender

Philip Jackson

Philip Jackson

Martin Burke

Heather Tobias

Heather Tobias

Valerie

Lesley Manville

Lesley Manville

Lætitia Boothe-Brain

David Bamber

David Bamber

Rupert Boothe-Brain

C

Cheryl Prime

Martin's Girlfriend

J

Judith Scott

Suzi

Jason Watkins

Jason Watkins

Wayne

Themes & Keywords

london, englandworking classclass differencesfamilyelderly lady

About High Hopes

High Hopes is a comedy, drama film released in 1989 exploring themes of london, england, working class, class differences, family, elderly lady. Directed by Mike Leigh, it stars Phil Davis, Ruth Sheen, Edna Doré. Working-class couple Shirley and Cyril are in conflict over whether they should have children, their problems with 'yuppies' moving into the neighbourhood and outpricing them, and the advent of Cyril's ageing mother's seventieth birthday.

Movies Similar to High Hopes

Discover titles like High Hopes — ranked by similarity and community votes

We found 15 movies similar to High Hopes

If you enjoyed High Hopes, you'll love these handpicked recommendations. Each title below shares similar themes, tone, and storytelling style. Our algorithm analyzes genres, keywords, director filmography, and cast connections to find the closest matches. Whether you're looking for the same emotional depth, narrative structure, or visual style, these picks are curated to deliver the best viewing experience for fans of High Hopes.

Life Is Sweet
44% Match

Just north of London live Wendy, Andy, and their twenty-something twins, Natalie and Nicola. Wendy clerks in a shop, Andy is a cook who forever puts off home remodeling projects, Natalie is a plumber and Nicola is jobless. This film is about how they interact and play out family, conflict and love.

Meantime
44% Match

Meantime(1983)

Movie6.7/10

A working-class family in London's East End is struggling to stay afloat during the recession under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's premiership. Only the mother Mavis is working; father Frank and the couple's two sons Colin, a timid, chronically shy individual and Mark, an outspoken, headstrong young man, are on the dole. This situation is contrasted by the presence of Mavis's sister Barbara, and her husband John, whose financial and social loftiness appears to be a comfortable facade over the unspoken soreness of a lackluster marriage.

Parasite
33% Match

Parasite(2019)

Movie8.5/10

All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.

Howards End
30% Match

A saga of class relations and changing times in an Edwardian England on the brink of modernity, the film centers on liberal Margaret Schlegel, who, along with her sister Helen, becomes involved with two couples: wealthy, conservative industrialist Henry Wilcox and his wife Ruth, and the downwardly mobile working-class Leonard Bast and his mistress Jackie.

Riff-Raff
28% Match

Riff-Raff(1991)

Movie6.7/10

Stevie, fresh from prison in Scotland, finds a job on a London construction site. The working conditions are poor and most of the men are working under aliases, due to immigration status and to not conflict with their "signing on" for unemployment benefits. Some coworkers help Stevie secure housing, squatting in a council estate. Then Stevie meets Susan, from Ireland, who's struggling to be a professional singer.

Breaking Away
27% Match

Dave, nineteen, has just graduated high school, with his three friends: the comical Cyril, the warm hearted but short-tempered Moocher, and the athletic, spiteful but good-hearted Mike. Now, Dave enjoys racing bikes and hopes to race the Italians one day, and even takes up the Italian culture, much to his friends' and parents' annoyance.

Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven
27% Match

Frau Emma Küsters prepares dinner late one seemingly-ordinary afternoon in her seemingly-ordinary Frankfurt kitchen. She wants to add canned sausages to the stew; her irritating daughter-in-law thinks otherwise. But the point is moot: Ernst Küsters has not only murdered the personnel director at the soap factory where he's employed but succeeded that by committing suicide.

Cemetery Junction
26% Match

In 1970s England, three blue-collar friends spend their days joking, drinking, fighting and chasing girls. Freddie wants to leave their working-class world but cool, charismatic Bruce and lovable loser Snork are happy with life the way it is. When Freddie gets a new job as a door-to-door salesman and bumps into his old school sweetheart Julie, the gang are forced to make choices that will change their lives for ever.

Triangle of Sadness
25% Match

A celebrity model couple are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged, alcoholic captain. What first appears Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island in a struggle of hierarchy.

Jack & Sarah
25% Match

Jack always lands on his feet. He lands on his feet when he marries the beautiful Sarah. He lands on his feet when he buys a luxurious new home. However, when Sarah goes into labour, he takes a tumble down the stairs and lands on his head. When he comes around he discovers he is the proud father of a baby girl, but deficient in the spouse department to the tune of 1.

The Upside
24% Match

The Upside(2019)

Movie7.1/10

Phillip is a wealthy quadriplegic who needs a caretaker to help him with his day-to-day routine in his New York penthouse. He decides to hire Dell, a struggling parolee who's trying to reconnect with his ex and his young son. Despite coming from two different worlds, an unlikely friendship starts to blossom.

80 for Brady
24% Match

Four lifelong friends set out on an unforgettable journey to see their hero Tom Brady play in Super Bowl LI and witness one of the greatest comebacks in sports history, discovering that it's never too late to live life to the fullest. Inspired by a true story.