Stuart: A Life Backwards

Stuart: A Life Backwards tells the story of an unlikely friendship between Alexander Masters, a writer and illustrator, and Stuart Shorter, a homeless man with a history of crime, addiction and time in institutions. The two meet through a campaign to free the people who ran a shelter for homeless people after they are imprisoned. As they work together on that cause, Stuart comes to trust Alexander and agrees to let him write down his life story, which Alexander tells in reverse, beginning with Stuart as an adult on the streets of Cambridge and moving backwards through his troubled past.

The film is a British television drama directed by David Attwood, following his earlier feature Fidel. Alexander Masters wrote the screenplay, adapting his own biography of Stuart Shorter. Tom Hardy plays Stuart, with Benedict Cumberbatch as Alexander; the supporting cast includes Nicola Duffett, Claire-Louise Cordwell, Edna Doré and Frank Mills.

Released in 2007, the film runs 92 minutes and was produced by Neal Street Productions, HBO Films, the BBC and Knifedge, with Pippa Harris producing. It holds a rating of 7.6 out of 10 on IMDb from around 16,000 votes, and 7.4 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly 232 votes, indicating a well-regarded television film with a modest but appreciative audience.