2015

1h 36m

6.1(211 votes)

Comedy

Drama

Overview

Barney Thomson, awkward, diffident, Glasgow barber, lives a life of desperate mediocrity and his uninteresting life is about to go from 0 to 60 in five seconds, as he enters the grotesque and comically absurd world of the serial killer.

Where to Watch

Rent

Links & Resources

IMDbView

Social & External

IMDb

Production Companies

The people behind it

Cast & crew

10 featured cast members

Starring

Robert Carlyle

Barney

Emma Thompson

Cemolina

Ray Winstone

Holdall

Ashley Jensen

Detective Inspector June Robertson

James Cosmo

James Henderson

Tom Courtenay

Chief Superintendent McManaman

Kevin Guthrie

MacPherson

Martin Compston

Chris

Stephen McCole

Wullie

Brian Pettifer

Charlie

Creative team

Directed by: Robert Carlyle
Written by: Colin McLaren
Richard Cowan
Produced by: Brian Coffey
Richard Cowan

Similar Movies

6.9

1973

Don't Look Now

While grieving a terrible loss, a married couple meet two mysterious sisters, one of whom gives them a message sent from the afterlife.

Movie

7.7

1961

The Hustler

Fast Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary Minnesota Fats to a high-stakes match.

Movie

6.5

1976

The Man Who Fell to Earth

Thomas Jerome Newton is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth, Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou, a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.

Movie

7.2

1971

Straw Dogs

David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate.

Movie

7.5

2005

Adam's Apples

A neo-nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devotional priest.

Movie

7.5

2006

Letters from Iwo Jima

The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

Movie

7.5

1960

Bis dass das Geld euch scheidet…

Germany at the time of the economic miracle: the boorish and equally rude Jupp Grapsch has made a small fortune through his bustling activities. His wife Lisbeth, on the other hand, does not feel comfortable with this, but silently accepts the circumstances. Even when Jupp gets involved with the somewhat disreputable Nina Sonntag, an extravagant young woman, she accepts this at first. At some point, however, the situation escalates and Lisbeth slips a slap in the face, which Jupp cleverly wants to use to finally get rid of his wife by divorcing her. But Lisbeth refuses and so Jupp hires an unscrupulous man to create a reason for the separation in exchange for money...

Movie

8.1

1982

Prides

Professor Cristian conducts research on a citostatic. He is still dealing though with the unjust condemning he suffered in the 50s. Some of the people around him try to bring him down with same type of accusations.

Movie

4.7

2022

Dark Glasses

Diana, a high-class prostitute trying to escape from a serial killer, suffers a car accident that leaves her blind and kills the family of Chin, a ten-year-old boy.

Movie

7.4

2006

The Last King of Scotland

Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his formal education, so he decides to try his luck in Uganda, and arrives during the downfall of President Obote. General Idi Amin comes to power and asks Garrigan to become his personal doctor.

Movie

7.7

1993

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Gilbert Grape is a small-town young man with a lot of responsibility. Chief among his concerns are his mother, who is so overweight that she can't leave the house, and his mentally impaired younger brother, Arnie, who has a knack for finding trouble. Settled into a job at a grocery store and an ongoing affair with local woman Betty Carver, Gilbert finally has his life shaken up by the free-spirited Becky.

Movie

7.0

1957

The Good Companions

The story revolves around the Dinky Doos, a provincial musical troupe living from hand to mouth.

Movie

6.5

1919

The Red Lantern

Mahlee and Blanche Sackville are half-sisters, Blanche the daughter of an Englishman and his wife, Mahlee of the Englishman and his Chinese mistress. Mahlee rejects her people and attempts to find a life for herself among the Europeans. But she finds the color line impossible to pass and returns to lead her Chinese people in rebellion.

Movie

5.7

1999

Animal Farm

Animals on a farm lead a revolution against the farmers to put their destiny in their own hands. However this revolution eats their own children and they cannot avoid corruption.

Movie

7.6

1996

Sleepers

Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.

Movie

7.7

1968

Planet of the Apes

Astronaut Taylor crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist.

Movie

2022

(ha-ha)

Alejandro struggles to accept his girlfriend’s comments on his laughter.

Movie

6.3

1979

Tragic Vacation

During the peasant uprising of 1888, Alecu Dumitru, a socialist, hides from police in the Nada Florilor island, next to a fishing village.

Movie

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny

6.2

2016

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny

A story of lost love, young love, a legendary sword and one last opportunity at redemption.

Movie

7.4

1932

Scarface

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

Movie

Recommended Movies

Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer

6.9

2025

Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer

A struggling writer in the midst of a divorce befriends a retired serial killer who incidentally becomes his marriage counselor by day, and killing counselor for his next book by night.

Movie

5.9

2009

Winged Creatures

A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.

Movie

7.0

2012

God Bless America

Fed up with the cruelty and stupidity of American culture, an unlikely duo goes on a killing spree, killing reality TV stars, bigots and others they find repugnant.

Movie

6.8

1997

The Wrong Guy

Nelson Hibbert expects to become the new president of Nagel Industries, but Mr. Nagel gives the promotion to another employee. When Nelson barges into Nagel's office to confront him, he finds Nagel's been murdered. Fearing that he will be implicated, Nelson decides to run from the law...despite the fact that the police already know the killer's identity.

Movie

6.1

2021

The Middle Man

Frank Farrelli takes on the job as a middle man in the God-forsaken town of Karmack, USA, a community in a depression so deep that they need a middle man to professionally communicate more of the bad news.

Movie

5.9

2012

Small Apartments

When a clumsy deadbeat accidentally kills his landlord, he must do everything in his power to hide the body, only to find that the distractions of lust, the death of his beloved brother, and a crew of misfit characters force him on a journey where a fortune awaits him.

Movie

5.9

2001

CQ

A young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and a new-found infatuation with the sci-fi film's starlet.

Movie

6.3

2023

Somewhere in Queens

Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.

Movie

6.3

2020

Hooking Up

Bailey and Darla embark upon a misguided and mutually deceitful form of therapy, one in which they must drive across the country, re-enacting Darla's colorful history as a sex addict. As their true motivations for the road trip come to light, the unlikely pair force one another to confront their issues, discovering that there might actually be more to love than just sex.

Movie

5.9

2021

Breaking News in Yuba County

An overlooked pencil-pusher catches her husband in bed with another woman, the shock of which causes him to die of a heart attack. So she buries his body and takes advantage of the growing celebrity status that comes from having a missing husband. But she quickly finds herself in over her head, dodging cops and criminals, all while trying to keep the truth from her sister, a local news anchor who’s desperate for a story.

Movie

6.9

2026

Savage House

Against the backdrop of 18th century England, a massive pox outbreak, and Jacobite uprising – Sir Chauncey Savage and Lady Savage blindly pursue a better life. It's not without a tinge of irony that their family name is the Savages, for this is a Savage House indeed, filled with duels, decadence, and bloodshed.

Movie

6.2

2023

Fast Charlie

When his aging mob boss is whacked, Charlie Swift, a loyal friend and hired gun, will stop at nothing to destroy the upcoming crew that took him out.

Movie

6.4

2024

The Killer's Game

When top hitman Joe Flood is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he decides to take matters into his own hands – by taking a hit out on himself. But when the very hitmen he hired also target his ex-girlfriend, he must fend off an army of assassin colleagues and win back the love of his life before it's too late.

Movie

7.5

2022

¿Y cómo es él?

Thomas is a meek man on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Despite his situation he decides to fake a work trip to go to Vallarta to confront Jero, a taxi driver who is sleeping with his wife.

Movie

6.1

2014

About Alex

When a group of old college friends reunite over a long weekend after one of them attempts suicide, old crushes and resentments shine light on their life decisions, and ultimately push friendships and relationships to the brink.

Movie

6.2

2003

Intermission

A raucous story of the interweaving lives and loves of small-town delinquents, shady cops, pretty good girls and very bad boys. With Irish guts and grit, lives collide, preconceptions shatter and romance is tested to the extreme. An ill-timed and poorly executed couple's break-up sets off a chain of events affecting everyone in town.

Movie

6.9

2025

Hostile Takeover

Follows Pete, a professional hitman, as he faces a group of assassins after the boss of a crime syndicate suspects disloyalty due to his attendance at Workaholics Anonymous meetings.

Movie

6.2

1989

True Believer

Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet. With Roger's idealistic prodding, Eddie reluctantly takes on a case of a young Korean man who, according to his mother, has been in jail for eight years for a murder he didn't commit.

Movie

6.0

2021

Playing God

A brother and sister con-artist duo find themselves scamming a grieving billionaire by convincing him they can introduce him to God, face-to-face.

Movie

6.2

2017

Landline

A teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan during the 1990s discovers that her father is having an affair.

Movie