Nil by Mouth

Nil by Mouth (1997) is Gary Oldman's bruising directorial debut, and you can watch it online on iFILM. He wrote it too, drawing on the working-class South London he grew up in. No gloss, no rescue. Just cramped flats, pubs and arguments that boil over fast.

At the center is Raymond, played by Ray Winstone — charming one minute, terrifying the next, a man whose love for his family lasts exactly as long as he stays sober. His wife Val (Kathy Burke) absorbs it all, covering for him, hiding the marks. Her brother Billy (Charlie Creed-Miles) is hooked on heroin, and Raymond throws him out to fend for himself. Around them sit mother Janet and grandmother Kath: three generations of women who've learned to live beside male rage.

Oldman keeps the camera right up against these faces, so close it feels like eavesdropping. Kathy Burke took the Best Actress prize at Cannes for Val, and the film earned Oldman a BAFTA for its original screenplay. It's raw, unsentimental and offers no easy redemption — one for anyone who values British social realism and acting stripped to the bone. Stream Nil by Mouth (1997) online on iFILM.