Hampstead

Hampstead (2017) is a British romantic comedy-drama you can watch online on iFILM, starring Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleeson. Emily Walters is an American widow living quietly in London's Hampstead village — a green, leafy corner where life moves slowly and neighbours know each other's business. One day she spots a man living rough near the heath, in a ramshackle hut he's called home for seventeen years.

His name is Donald Horner, and he wants nothing to do with anyone. Developers want him gone, and they have the paperwork to make it happen. Emily decides to fight back — lawyers, hearings, local politics, the whole uncomfortable business. Gleeson plays Donald as someone who has made peace with the world by leaving it; Keaton plays a woman rediscovering that she hasn't.

The film is inspired by the real story of Harry Hallowes, a man who lived on Hampstead Heath and successfully contested developers in court. Director Joel Hopkins keeps the tone warm without being saccharine — this is a quiet film about two people surprising themselves. Stream Hampstead (2017) on iFILM.