Peterloo

Peterloo dramatizes the events leading up to the 1819 gathering at St Peter's Field in Manchester, where a peaceful rally calling for political reform was broken up by government forces. The story follows Joseph, a young soldier who returns home after fighting at Waterloo to find his family struggling amid unemployment and rising food prices. As discontent spreads, the radical orator Henry Hunt draws ever larger crowds demanding the right to vote, while the authorities in London prepare to defend their position by force. The resulting cavalry charge against tens of thousands of demonstrators killed around eighteen people and injured hundreds more, an episode that became a defining moment for British democracy.

Mike Leigh wrote and directed the film, which sits between Mr. Turner and Hard Truths in his filmography. Rory Kinnear plays Henry Hunt, with Maxine Peake as Nellie and David Moorst as Joseph. The production, made in the United Kingdom by companies including Film4 Productions, the BFI and Thin Man Films, carried a budget of 18 million USD and returned about 2 million USD worldwide. It runs 155 minutes. On IMDb the audience rating stands at 6.7 from 161 votes, while the critics' score is 6.5 from 162 reviews, so the two measures sit close together.