Straightheads

Between everything competing for your attention, Straightheads in the UK on Channel 4 Plus is worth clearing space for. The runtime earns every minute, with nothing here that feels like padding. A 5/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Gillian Anderson sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Put it on tonight on Channel 4 Plus and see for yourself.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, Straightheads earns its spot. Character-driven storytelling at its most effective — Straightheads earns every emotional beat it goes for. There is instant chemistry between Alice (Gillian Anderson), a businesswoman, and Adam (Danny Dyer), a younger working-class man who installs a security system in her London apartment. She takes him to a party in the country, and they end up making love. But the night turns horrific when they encounter three thugs who maim Adam and rape Alice. Gillian Anderson and Danny Dyer lead a cast that treats the material with real seriousness. It hit screens in 2007. Straightheads resists tidy resolutions in a way that respects how messy real consequences actually are. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Viewers drawn to character-driven storytelling will find plenty to sit with in Straightheads. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Gillian Anderson's work here is the kind that gets referenced in career retrospectives. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.

Straightheads was released in 2007, directed by Dan Reed. The full 88-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.