26/09/2026
Beautiful Thing
Join us on Thursday 15th Oct at 7pm in St Nicks Arts Centre to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of 'Beautiful Thing' the coming-of-age love story of two 16-year old boys from the Thamesmead Estate.
BFI: Contemporary in its subject matter and style, Beautiful Thing (1996) offered a multicultural perspective of post-Thatcher Britain. The film was written by Jonathan Harvey and marked the debut of young director Hettie MacDonald, who had emerged from a theatre background, having directed her first West End play at 24.
Known for race riots, high unemployment and social deprivation in the mid-1980s, the South-East London council estate Thamesmead is transformed, thanks to Chris Seager’s cinematography, into an almost magical place, overlooking a lake bathed in sunlight. In this respect, Beautiful Thing is unusual among British films, which, where they portray the gay community or working classes at all, rarely offer such a positive portrait of love developing over a long sweltering summer.
Touching and funny in a way comparable to My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and Young Soul Rebels (1991), Beautiful Thing manages to appeal to a young mainstream audience. The narrative easily encompasses difficult issues of racism, homophobia, violence, s*x and drug use within the disenfranchised underclass of a two-tier Britain, while lightly but acutely depicting a teenage gay romance.
As an urban love story, Beautiful Thing wears its politics lightly, but it is subversive, nevertheless. The central romance is one between two 16-year-old boys – then well below the age of consent – making this a light-hearted film steeped in socio-political significance.
This screening is preceded by an optional fish & chip supper from the Fish Shop in Roughton (or bring your own food) that will be delivered at 7pm, the screening will start around 7:20pm. We will have a licensed bar at this event.
Tickets (£8) are available at st-nicks.co.uk or from 01692 402624
Pre-booked tickets can be collected on the door.
Please feel free to bring cushions!
The screening is brought to you by the Trunch Group of Parishes.
