2006·Drama·1h 49m
7.0
★
The story of an unruly class of bright, funny history students at a Yorkshire grammar school in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced between their maverick English master, a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to pass.
Directed by Nicholas Hytner
high school
northern england
scholarship
becoming an adult
education
exam
based on play or musical
oxford
cambridge
yorkshire
teacher
high school teacher
lgbt
lgbt teen
history teacher
headmaster
boys' school
teachers and students
1980s
gay theme
cambridge university
history
gay teenager
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Where to Watch
Cast
Richard Griffiths
Hector
Stephen Campbell Moore
Irwin
Dominic Cooper
Dakin
Samuel Barnett
Posner
James Corden
Timms
Russell Tovey
Rudge
Samuel Anderson
Crowther
Jamie Parker
Scripps
Andrew Knott
Lockwood
Sacha Dhawan
Akhtar
Clive Merrison
Headmaster
Frances de la Tour
Mrs. Lintott
Crew
Nicholas Hytner
Director
Alan Bennett
Screenplay
George Fenton
Original Music Composer
John Wilson
Editor
Andrew Dunn
Director of Photography
Pádraig Cusack
Producer
Allon Reich
Executive Producer
David M. Thompson
Executive Producer
Damian Jones
Producer
Andrew Macdonald
Executive Producer
Nicholas Hytner
Producer
Alan Bennett
Author
Popular Reviews
52 reviews
Alex Eaton
6.0★ · 02/17/26
This movie has the tone of Dead Poets with the content of Spotlight.
Like mixing Dark Chocolate and nervous sweat. Not good.
Like mixing Dark Chocolate and nervous sweat. Not good.
This movie has the tone of Dead Poets with the content of Spotlight.
Like mixing Dark Chocolate and nervous sweat. Not good.
Like mixing Dark Chocolate and nervous sweat. Not good.
kallisto
Grammar schools are a weird place aren't they
Grammar schools are a weird place aren't they
Michaela
7.0★ · 09/29/25
as much as i genuinely do love the history boys, it doesn't really age well on a rewatch. that said, it's still got a lot of merits to it (which i’ll try to get to after my main issue).
i know it's the thing to argue about, whether or not alan bennett intended for his work to make such a point in favour of grooming/paedophilia and whether or not this is good gay representation so my two cents aren't really needed but i think, for the most part, it just isn't. dakin, posner and scripps all already have such a brilliant dynamic between the three of them and their own personal explorations and commentary on sexuality without having to bring both hector and irwin into the fray. there's no need for their teachers to have any sort of attraction or engagement with them in any sort of sexual context unless you're going to actually commit to calling it out for the blatant abuse of power that it is. the way hector's celebrated by the end of this film (as well as irwin's frequent judgement of him only for him to be similarly inclined with regards to dakin) is just boring and in poor taste. i'd genuinely LOVE to see a west end revival of this some day (or a tour, i'm not picky!) but only if there was a way to revise certain plot points. there's nothing uncomfortable or 'wrong' about homosexuality, but immediately implying that every single one of the gay characters in this movie is physically incapable of being attracted to teenage boys sets a poor precedent that we could do without.
on a brighter note, i genuinely think the cast and chemistry in this film still delivers so fucking well even after all these years. samuel anderson, samuel barnett, dominic cooper, james corden, jamie parker, russell tovey, andrew knott, sacha dhawan and (dare i say it) james corden all play so well off of one another. perfectly cast. and frances de la tour is a marvel in her own right. just a brilliant cast of brilliant actors tbh.
anyway i wanted to rewatch this for jamie mostly because i adore him but i forgot how much i root for posner/scripps tbh
i know it's the thing to argue about, whether or not alan bennett intended for his work to make such a point in favour of grooming/paedophilia and whether or not this is good gay representation so my two cents aren't really needed but i think, for the most part, it just isn't. dakin, posner and scripps all already have such a brilliant dynamic between the three of them and their own personal explorations and commentary on sexuality without having to bring both hector and irwin into the fray. there's no need for their teachers to have any sort of attraction or engagement with them in any sort of sexual context unless you're going to actually commit to calling it out for the blatant abuse of power that it is. the way hector's celebrated by the end of this film (as well as irwin's frequent judgement of him only for him to be similarly inclined with regards to dakin) is just boring and in poor taste. i'd genuinely LOVE to see a west end revival of this some day (or a tour, i'm not picky!) but only if there was a way to revise certain plot points. there's nothing uncomfortable or 'wrong' about homosexuality, but immediately implying that every single one of the gay characters in this movie is physically incapable of being attracted to teenage boys sets a poor precedent that we could do without.
on a brighter note, i genuinely think the cast and chemistry in this film still delivers so fucking well even after all these years. samuel anderson, samuel barnett, dominic cooper, james corden, jamie parker, russell tovey, andrew knott, sacha dhawan and (dare i say it) james corden all play so well off of one another. perfectly cast. and frances de la tour is a marvel in her own right. just a brilliant cast of brilliant actors tbh.
anyway i wanted to rewatch this for jamie mostly because i adore him but i forgot how much i root for posner/scripps tbh
as much as i genuinely do love the history boys, it doesn't really age well on a rewatch. that said, it's still got a lot of merits to it (which i’ll try to get to after my main issue).
i know it's the thing to argue about, whether or not alan bennett intended for his work to make such a point in favour of grooming/paedophilia and whether or not this is good gay representation so my two cents aren't really needed but i think, for the most part, it just isn't. dakin, posner and scripps all already have such a brilliant dynamic between the three of them and their own personal explorations and commentary on sexuality without having to bring both hector and irwin into the fray. there's no need for their teachers to have any sort of attraction or engagement with them in any sort of sexual context unless you're going to actually commit to calling it out for the blatant abuse of power that it is. the way hector's celebrated by the end of this film (as well as irwin's frequent judgement of him only for him to be similarly inclined with regards to dakin) is just boring and in poor taste. i'd genuinely LOVE to see a west end revival of this some day (or a tour, i'm not picky!) but only if there was a way to revise certain plot points. there's nothing uncomfortable or 'wrong' about homosexuality, but immediately implying that every single one of the gay characters in this movie is physically incapable of being attracted to teenage boys sets a poor precedent that we could do without.
on a brighter note, i genuinely think the cast and chemistry in this film still delivers so fucking well even after all these years. samuel anderson, samuel barnett, dominic cooper, james corden, jamie parker, russell tovey, andrew knott, sacha dhawan and (dare i say it) james corden all play so well off of one another. perfectly cast. and frances de la tour is a marvel in her own right. just a brilliant cast of brilliant actors tbh.
anyway i wanted to rewatch this for jamie mostly because i adore him but i forgot how much i root for posner/scripps tbh
i know it's the thing to argue about, whether or not alan bennett intended for his work to make such a point in favour of grooming/paedophilia and whether or not this is good gay representation so my two cents aren't really needed but i think, for the most part, it just isn't. dakin, posner and scripps all already have such a brilliant dynamic between the three of them and their own personal explorations and commentary on sexuality without having to bring both hector and irwin into the fray. there's no need for their teachers to have any sort of attraction or engagement with them in any sort of sexual context unless you're going to actually commit to calling it out for the blatant abuse of power that it is. the way hector's celebrated by the end of this film (as well as irwin's frequent judgement of him only for him to be similarly inclined with regards to dakin) is just boring and in poor taste. i'd genuinely LOVE to see a west end revival of this some day (or a tour, i'm not picky!) but only if there was a way to revise certain plot points. there's nothing uncomfortable or 'wrong' about homosexuality, but immediately implying that every single one of the gay characters in this movie is physically incapable of being attracted to teenage boys sets a poor precedent that we could do without.
on a brighter note, i genuinely think the cast and chemistry in this film still delivers so fucking well even after all these years. samuel anderson, samuel barnett, dominic cooper, james corden, jamie parker, russell tovey, andrew knott, sacha dhawan and (dare i say it) james corden all play so well off of one another. perfectly cast. and frances de la tour is a marvel in her own right. just a brilliant cast of brilliant actors tbh.
anyway i wanted to rewatch this for jamie mostly because i adore him but i forgot how much i root for posner/scripps tbh
na
9.0★ · 08/25/25
oh what i wouldn’t give to be a boy in a boarding school in the 20th century i would pass on the molesting though
oh what i wouldn’t give to be a boy in a boarding school in the 20th century i would pass on the molesting though
Seb Rex
2.0★ · 04/03/25
2025 weekly film challenge:Week 14: A film I own but have never watched.Am I supposed to care a pedophile died? I sure as hell don’t.
2025 weekly film challenge:Week 14: A film I own but have never watched.Am I supposed to care a pedophile died? I sure as hell don’t.