Peterloo | Rotten Tomatoes

Peterloo

PG-13

Released Apr 5, 2019

2 hr. 34 min.

History

Drama

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List

67%

162 Reviews

Tomatometer

42%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

In 1819 a cavalry charge on a peaceful protest at St. Peter's Field in Manchester, England, results in the Peterloo Massacre.

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Critics Consensus

Peterloo proves writer-director Mike Leigh's populist anger remains undimmed - but that righteous fury occasionally overpowers the narrative.

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Dan K

I love to experience history brought to life through an entertaining period piece. For the most part, the movie was well made, though at times, it had the feel of a made-for-television work. What really turned me off, however, was the hyperbolic overacting, as if they hired a bunch of stage actors to star in a film. I have to believe that, even in the early 1800's, people tended to behave fairly normally, rather than flailing about in exaggerated gestures and frequently delivering over-the-top speeches and impassioned soliloquies, as if performing in a never-ending high-school speech competition. The acting comes across as a caricature of what it is meant to depict, I believe, and this detracts significantly from the viewing experience.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

07/16/23

Full Review

jerry d

Beautifully photographed account of the events leading up to and including a 19th Century British working class demonstration that was brutally quashed -- with multiple fatalities -- by the ruling class. Of course, the chasm between rich and poor continues to wreck havoc in our lives today, giving this movie particular relevance. Unfortunately, the film runs at least a half an hour too long, with multiple redundant speeches that a good editor should have excised or a better writer and director should never have included.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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John R

Absolute rubbish. Faux accents and a distorted account of the times. Miss Peakes worst by far.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

11/03/22

Full Review

Audience Member

I love that Mike Leigh took on this tale, as it shows that some things just never change. The moneyed elite in power will always find a hungry poor populace vermin to be destroyed in one way or another. In that sense, Peterloo succeeds. But the narrative could have been so much better, as basically we're all just waiting for what we know will happen...that peaceful people will soon be massacred. I would have loved to have known more about Henry Hunt (wonderfully played by Rory Kinnear), if only with just some historical text at the end, stating his fate after his arrest and the significance of this event on British history. Instead, I had to look it up on Wikipedia, which is rather odd considering I invested over two hours in this film. At 154 minutes long, I came away with more questions than answers. If Leigh's intent was to dramatize a tragic event in British history, I guess he did it, but why in the world was it such a tedious watch? Ultimately I found it disappointing as a film, but I'm glad to have learned about Peterloo, even if it felt like a history class taught by a dull teacher.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

ra b

Very well made, but very boring. Such an important event portrayed horribly with a tedious and uninteresting script.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Great acting, great script and great photography. Is a great film.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Mike Leigh

Director

Rory Kinnear

Henry Hunt

Maxine Peake

Nellie

Neil Bell

Samuel Bamford

Philip Jackson

John Knight

Vincent Franklin

Magistrate Rev Etlhelson

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Peterloo: Trailer 1

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Peterloo: Teaser Trailer 1

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Peter Rainer

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

It's talky, but a lot of the talk is quite interesting and passionate. It's sort of like being in a really good town hall meeting.

Sep 27, 2019

Full Review

Wenlei Ma

News.com.au

There's an emotional distance to Peterloo that often makes it seem stagey.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 21, 2019

Full Review

Randy Myers

San Jose Mercury News

Still, it is a powerful, important part of anger-fueled history and is worth seeing.

May 21, 2019

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

It's a masterfully made film, and a passionate statement from a humanist filmmaker that never resorts to drawing modern-day parallels; he does not need to, as the implications remain intractable.

Rated: 4/4

Mar 3, 2022

Full Review

Taylor Baker

Drink in the Movies

Episode 41: Best of 2019 So Far

Rated: 75/100

Oct 4, 2021

Full Review

Tori Brazier

Flickering Myth

Its dense historical narrative hinders Peterloo's watchability as a film but the events it retells are compelling ... [and] performed by a talented and wide-reaching cast.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 25, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

In 1819 a cavalry charge on a peaceful protest at St. Peter's Field in Manchester, England, results in the Peterloo Massacre.

Director: Mike Leigh
Executive Producer: Gail Egan, Lizzie Francke, Peter Hampden, Norman Merry
Screenwriter: Mike Leigh
Distributor: Amazon Studios
Production Co: Amazon Studios, BFI Film Fund, Thin Man Films, Film4, British Film Institute
Rating: PG-13 (Sequence of Violence and Chaos)
Genre: History, Drama
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 5, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 4, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $116.7K

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