The 15 best BBC iPlayer films you can watch in June 2026
One of the best movies of the decade is available now
BBC iPlayer isn’t just for catching up on TV: it has some of the best films available to stream right now.
That’s not to say you should have known better. Most people use iPlayer to watch shows they’ve missed or binge box sets before they’ve aired in full on normal telly, like Babies.
When they’re done, they’ll pivot to some of the best shows on Netflix or rummage through Amazon Prime’s films.
Trust us: whether you’re into horror films, action, or comedies, there are amazing movies on BBC iPlayer.
The Nice Guys
- Genre: Action, Comedy
- Year: 2016
- Cast: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice
- Director: Shane Black
- Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes
What it’s about: Private eye Holland March and Jackson Healy, a bloody-knuckled enforcer for hire, team up to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl.
Why to watch: The Nice Guys is the closest thing today’s generation will have to their own Lethal Weapon (especially because it’s directed by Shane Black). It’s a showcase of Ryan Gosling’s boundless comedic talents, Russell Crowe is a brawny, lovable counter-balance, and you’ll want to recommend it to everyone after you watch it.
Hounded
- Genre: Horror, Action
- Year: 2022
- Cast: Samantha Bond, Nobuse Jr, Larry Lamb, James Lance
- Director: Tommy Boulding
- Runtime: 1 hour 29 minutes
What it’s about: From a London council estate to a remote country estate, brothers Chaz and Leon agree to one more targeted rural burglary, aided by their friends Vix and Tod. But is it a trick? The Redwick family are waiting for them to use as live prey in a cross-country hunt with hounds.
Why to watch: Somewhat of a British version of The Hunt, Hounded is a low-budget, corny, violent horror-actioner that may not be quite as good as its contemporaries. But it is a lot of fun – plus it has Samantha Bond chewing the toff scenery.
Don't miss a single story! Add us as a Preferred Source in Google for all your television news
Looted
- Genre: Thriller, Crime
- Year: 2019
- Cast: Charley Palmer Rothwell, Thomas Turgoose, Morgane Polanski, Tom Fisher
- Director: Rene Pannevis
- Runtime: 1 hour 29 minutes
What it’s about: Rob, a car thief, is lured into taking on a bigger job. But after things go terribly wrong, he is betrayed by his best mate and his relationship with his distant father is in shreds.
Why to watch: Looted isn’t your stereotypical British crime thriller. It’s a pensive snapshot of impoverished, northern England, beautifully drawn with the awestriking vistas of the far sea and strong, character-driven drama. The performances are the film’s strongest asset – and special credit has to be given to This is England’s Thomas Turgoose, displaying even more range (and, as one critic observed, a little Joe Pesci-ness).
The Iron Claw
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2023
- Cast: Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson, Jeremy Allen White
- Director: Sean Durkin
- Runtime: 2 hours 12 minutes
What it’s about: The Von Erich brothers make professional wrestling history in the early 1980s, driven by their father’s ambition. Behind the spectacle, tragedy and loss haunt the family’s pursuit of glory.
Why to watch: Wrestling’s heyday has been and gone, but you don’t need to be a WWE fan to watch The Iron Claw. It’s ultimately a story about brotherhood (and a painful one, at that), beautifully performed by Zac Efron and the rest of the cast. A word of warning, though: you’ll probably only watch it once, unless you want to keep crying. It’s a contender for the most devastating movie of the decade so far.
Plus, if you’re a Silent Witness fan, you may recognise Harris Dickinson!
1917
- Genre: War, Drama
- Year: 2019
- Cast: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Colin Firth
- Director: Sam Mendes
- Runtime: 1 hour 59 minutes
What it’s about: With the German army plotting a deadly attack, two British soldiers are sent across enemy lines to deliver a crucial message, racing against time and dodging death to save an entire battalion.
Why to watch: 1917 is a gimmick: a ‘single-take’ war movie that hides multiple cuts in the rubble-and-blood chaos of its action. This is something you’ll only think about long after the credits roll. In the moment, it’s a heart-pounding race against time that’s mind-bogglingly well-crafted; a technical accomplishment, but emotionally acute.
Insomnia
- Genre: Thriller
- Year: 2002
- Cast: Al Pacino, Hilary Swank, Robin Williams
- Director: Christopher Nolan
- Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes
What it’s about: After a teenage girl is found beaten to death in a quiet Alaskan village, a veteran LAPD detective flies in to help a local detective find the culprit – who ends up becoming more forthcoming than they ever expected.
Why to watch: This is Christopher Nolan’s most underrated film by far: a hazy, eerie, hauntingly beautiful thriller that has the unique quirk of Robin Williams as a skin-crawling baddie, and Al Pacino in a rare, understated, no-less excellent performance. It’s a simple story by Nolan’s tricksy time-hopping standards, but you can’t be a master without the basics absolutely nailed.
Burton and Taylor
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2013
- Cast: Dominic West, Helena Bonham Carter
- Director: Richard Laxton
- Runtime: 1 hour 22 minutes
What it’s about: When Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton met on the set of Cleopatra, the attraction was immediate. They quickly became one of the earliest celebrity ‘it’ couples, and this is their turbulent, glamorous, and emotional story.
Why to watch: The idea of any actors taking on one of cinema’s great double acts must have been incredibly daunting. However, both West and Carter are wonderful as Burton and Taylor; a swooning, crackling on-screen pair that are rather uncanny (not necessarily in looks, but definitely in sound and their emotional transformations).
Nowhere Special
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2020
- Cast: James Norton, Daniel Lamont, Eileen O’Higgins, Valerie O’Connor
- Director: Uberto Pasolini
- Runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes
What it’s about: John, a window cleaner and single father of one, discovers he has terminal brain cancer and only has a few months to live. So, he sets out to find a new family to look after his son after he dies.
Why to watch: Nowhere Special makes for a devastating counter-balance to Aftersun; a sweet, honest, understated portrait of fatherhood that will drain you (plus, James Norton delivers one of his best performances).
The End We Start From
- Genre: Thriller
- Year: 2023
- Cast: Jodie Comer, Katherine Waterston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong
- Director: Mahalia Belo
- Runtime: 1 hour 41 minutes
What it’s about: When an environmental crisis sees London submerged by flood waters, a young family is torn apart in the chaos.
Why to watch: The End We Start From is an especially haunting companion piece to 28 Years Later: an anxious, nightmarish movie about what happens when our world collapses… that also features Jodie Comer in a similarly towering performance.
Hattie
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2011
- Cast: Ruth Jones, Robert Bathurst, Aidan Turner, Jeany Spark
- Director: Dan Zeff
- Runtime: 1 hour 25 minutes
What it’s about: Carry-On star Hattie Jacques has been happily married to John Le Mesurier for over a decade. However, at the height of her popularity, she begins a secret affair with her driver, John Schofield.
Why to watch: In the words of (the ever-excellent, loveable) Ruth Jones, Hattie is a “terribly sad story”. And it is; we’d all rue the day of our temptations if we gave in. But, despite the inevitable heartbreak that underpins this drama, it’s warm, sweetly written, and thoroughly watchable.
The Krays
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 1990
- Cast: Martin Kemp, Gary Kemp
- Director: Peter Medak
- Runtime: 1 hour 59 minutes
What it’s about: A biopic following Ronnie and Reggie Kray, two brothers from London’s East End, from childhood into adulthood, as they rose to prominence by terrorising the criminal underworld of 1960s London.
Why to watch: Tom Hardy’s Legend is good. However, this blistering, moody, and ruthless biopic of Britain’s most notorious gangster duo, is the definitive movie about the Krays, interrogating (and indulging in) their twisted criminal pathology.
God’s Creatures
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2022
- Cast: Emily Watson, Paul Mescal, Aisling Franciosi
- Director: Saela Davis, Anna Rose Holmer
- Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes
What it’s about: Aileen’s willingness to help her recently returned son, Brian, has major repercussions in their struggling County Kerry fishing community.
Why to watch: Bleak, tense, and quietly devastating, God’s Creatures thrives on silence and suspicion rather than big twists. Paul Mescal is excellent, but Watson carries the film with a performance full of denial, guilt, and desperation.
Starter for 10
- Genre: Comedy, Romance
- Year: 2006
- Cast: James McAvoy, Alice Eve, Rebecca Hall
- Director: Tom Vaughan
- Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes
What it’s about: A working-class teen in 1980s England arrives at Bristol University, keen to join its University Challenge team and win over a female classmate.
Why to watch: Starter for 10 is the perfect charity shop DVD. That may not sound like a compliment, but it’s a lovely, funny, unassuming rom-com you’ll be happy to watch over and over again.
Rye Lane
- Genre: Romance, Comedy
- Year: 2023
- Cast: David Jonsson, Vivian Oparah, Poppy Allen-Quarmby, Simon Manyonda
- Director: Raine Allen-Miller
- Runtime: 1 hour 22 minutes
What it’s about: Yas and Dom, two newly single twenty-somethings reeling from bad break-ups, have a chance encounter and end up spending an unusual day walking around South London.
Why to watch: Rye Lane is the best rom-com of the past 10 years; grin-inducing, achingly earnest, and wonderfully performed by two perfect leads. It’s indebted to the Before trilogy’s walk-and-talk format, but still feels original and vividly alive.
Aftersun
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2022
- Cast: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio
- Director: Charlotte Wells
- Runtime: 1 hour 42 minutes
What it’s about: At a fading vacation resort, 11-year-old Sophie treasures rare time together with her loving (but struggling) father, Calum.
Why to watch: “Masterpiece” is a word that’s thrown around willy-nilly, but Aftersun is truly deserving of that status.
This is a textured, tender, and painful drama that marries the glow of a memory with the nip of reality, and it boasts two pitch-perfect performances from Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio.
Watching it out of context isn’t advised, but its use of ‘Under Pressure’ may be the best movie scene of the decade to date.
Read more: The best BBC dramas on iPlayer right now
