Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
The Seventh Seal
Ingmar Bergman’s best-known film is a brilliant allegorical drama starring Max von Sydow as a knight trying to elude his own death.
Fantasy 1957 96 mins
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Overview
Vividly recreating a medieval world tormented by plague and superstition, Ingmar Bergman’s allegorical drama – centred on a knight (von Sydow), returned from the Crusades, who challenges Death to a game of chess in order to postpone his demise – remains fascinating (and finally rather touching) as a study of faith in crisis. Packed with powerful images, it punctuates its bleakness with moments of pleasingly pawky humour.
While the film's famous sequences have been parodied by the likes of French and Saunders and Bill and Ted, The Seventh Seal remains one of the must-see masterworks of world cinema, a Jury Prize winner at Cannes Film Festival upon its release and a mainstay of the Sight and Sound Greatest Films poll ever since.
mild violence, threat, languageRelated
Fantasy
The Untamed The Untamed
Horror 2016 98 mins Director: Amat Escalante
Amat Escalante follows Heli with a boundary-pushing, mind-blowing mix of sex, sci-fi and social drama.
The Machine that Kills Bad People The Machine that Kills Bad People
Comedy 1952 84 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini's film about a photographer who is given the power to rid the Earth of 'evil-doers'.
The Beast The Beast
Comedy 1975 98 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
An outrageous classic of erotic cinema, Walerian Borowczyk’s playful and subversive fantasy finds a horny heiress courting the ravenous desires of a wild beast.
Tetsuo: The Iron Man Tetsuo: The Iron Man
Fantasy 1988 67 mins Director: Shinya Tsukamoto
Shinya Tsukamoto's wild cyberpunk tale of a businessman's agonising transformation into a walking scrap heap is a jaggedly dehumanised vision of the future.
The Saragossa Manuscript The Saragossa Manuscript
Fantasy 1965 183 mins Director: Wojciech Jerzy Has
During the Napoleonic wars, a soldier discovers a strange manuscript that reveals endless stories-within-stories. Wojciech Has' opus is a major cult film of the 60s, revered by Luis Buñuel, David Lynch and Jerry Garcia.
Girls Lost Girls Lost
Fantasy 2015 106 mins Director: Alexandra-Therese Keining
Teenage friends get the chance to be boys for a while in this supernatural, gender fluid fantasy from the director of Kiss Me.
3 You Must See
The Ghoul The Ghoul
Thriller 2016 82 mins Director: Gareth Tunley
A British indie crime film of great style and ingenuity, executive produced by Ben Wheatley and starring Tom Meeten and Alice Lowe.
Evolution Evolution
Drama 2015 82 mins Director: Lucile Hadzihalilovic
The long-awaited second feature from Lucile Hadžihalilović (Innocence) is a gorgeously surreal coming-of-age tale laced with bizarre body-horror.
Daisies Daisies
Comedy 1966 73 mins Director: Věra Chytilová
Two self-confessed hedonists wreak wanton havoc in Věra Chytilová's visually spectacular neo-dadaist farce.
Romance Romance
Drama 1999 98 mins Director: Catherine Breillat
Shockingly explicit, Catherine Breillat’s critically acclaimed Romance is one of the most controversial films of modern cinema.
Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project
Documentary 2018 88 mins Director: Matt Wolf
The taped crusader: VHS nerds, media scholars and archive enthusiasts will appreciate this documentary about the African-American activist who recorded 30 years of TV news.
Demonlover Demonlover
Drama 2002 121 mins Director: Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas' neo-noir cyber-thriller is a chilling exploration of the nexus between sex and violence available at the click of a button.
Featuring Max von Sydow
The Magician The Magician
Drama 1958 101 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman's excellent ensemble piece concerns a 19th-century mesmerist and a scientist and police chief out to discredit him.
Featuring Inga Landgré
Crisis Crisis
Drama 1945 93 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman’s intriguing directorial debut, in which a young woman is torn between the traditional rural life of her family and the bright lights of the big city.
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Wild Strawberries Wild Strawberries
Drama 1957 88 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Victor Sjöström is magnificent as the crabby professor taking a nostalgic road trip with his daughter-in-law, in Ingmar Bergman's elegiac masterpiece.
The Magician The Magician
Drama 1958 101 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman's excellent ensemble piece concerns a 19th-century mesmerist and a scientist and police chief out to discredit him.
Summer with Monika Summer with Monika
Drama 1953 97 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman’s scandalous tale of two lovers enjoying the freedom of youth.
Smiles of a Summer Night Smiles of a Summer Night
Comedy 1955 109 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman’s Cannes prize-winning comedy assembles various couples in a country house in 1900.
Crisis Crisis
Drama 1945 93 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman’s intriguing directorial debut, in which a young woman is torn between the traditional rural life of her family and the bright lights of the big city.
To Joy To Joy
Drama 1949 99 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Victor Sjöström (the great director later cast in Wild Strawberries) plays a conductor overseeing the tempestuous relationship between two violinists under his tutelage, in this early romance from Ingmar Bergman.
New
The Square The Square
Comedy 2017 151 mins Director: Ruben Östlund
From director Ruben Östlund (Force Majeure) comes a satire on the hypocrisy of the art world, starring Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West. Winner of the Palme d'Or.
Certified Copy Certified Copy
Drama 2009 106 mins Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami directs Juliette Binoche in a personal and playful drama about a day in the life of a French gallery owner and a British author.
La Mif La Mif
Drama 2021 110 mins Director: Fred Baillif
A raw, in-your-face drama that offers a glimpse of life within a residential care home for at-risk teenage girls.
John and the Hole John and the Hole
Drama 2021 103 mins Director: Pascual Sisto
A troubled teenager holds his family captive in this gripping psychological thriller starring Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Ehle as his parents.
Mr. Jones Mr. Jones
Drama 2019 119 mins Director: Agnieszka Holland
James Norton stars as Welsh journalist Gareth Jones whose 1930s visit to Soviet Ukraine uncovered the truth of Stalin’s state-sponsored famine and reputedly inspired George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
The Ghoul The Ghoul
Thriller 2016 82 mins Director: Gareth Tunley
A British indie crime film of great style and ingenuity, executive produced by Ben Wheatley and starring Tom Meeten and Alice Lowe.