This film will be available to rent on 1 October
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_480x270/public/hero-images/promo258576173.jpg?itok=lzMwNwjm)
12 Years a Slave
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender star in Steve McQueen’s fearless, Oscar-winning story of a free man who’s sold into slavery.
Director: Steve McQueen
Overview
Director Steve McQueen fearlessly confronts cinema's long-untouchable subject with the incredible story of a free man who’s sold into slavery. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays the violinist in 1840s New York who is brutally abducted and sold to a demented plantation owner (Michael Fassbender), enduring escalating bouts of violence and a desperate struggle to maintain dignity.
Ejiofor’s superlative performance ensures a sense of hope and humanity amid McQueen’s uncompromising and unrelenting and vision. Winner of Best Picture at the 2014 Academy Awards and recipient of numerous accolades, 12 Years a Slave is an indelible and unforgettable experience.
Related
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/The-Iron-Claw_01.jpg?itok=fQmvQIeb)
The Iron Claw The Iron Claw
Biopic 2023 132 mins Director: Sean Durkin
Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson and Jeremy Allen White lead this brilliant, bruising true story of wrestling glory and family tragedy.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/YourFatFriend-02.jpg?itok=EbuZNBpp)
Your Fat Friend Your Fat Friend
Biopic 2024 96 mins Director: Jeanie Finlay
A powerful and moving documentary exploring body image, diet culture and anti-fat bias through the life and work of Aubrey Gordon.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/tina-1920.jpg?itok=A2DdDRZG)
Tina Tina
Documentary 2021 118 mins Director: Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin
Classic live footage and engaging interviews create a powerful film that celebrates icon Tina Turner's tumultuous career.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Corsage_2-1920.jpg?itok=Ug9fyB7m)
Corsage Corsage
Biopic 2022 114 mins Director: Marie Kreutzer
Sisi the Empress (Vicky Krieps) gets an irreverent make-over in Austrian director Marie Kreutzer’s exhilarating BAFTA-nominated period drama, winner of Best Film at BFI London Film Festival 2022.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/All_the_Beauty_3-1920.jpg?itok=XqTKR3fw)
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Biopic 2022 122 mins Director: Laura Poitras
Oscar-winning director Laura Poitras presents an impassioned account of Nan Goldin’s life, art and her campaign against the Sackler family in her Venice Golden Lion winner.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/meeting-gorbachov-1920.jpg?itok=n6HOXbz7)
Meeting Gorbachev Meeting Gorbachev
Documentary 2018 91 mins Director: Werner Herzog and André Singer
Werner Herzog meets the former President of the Soviet Union in this invigorating portrait of a towering 20th-century figure.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/4d31227951940b9aaaed9c3a1520b347.jpg?itok=xoNTlCOy)
The Handmaiden The Handmaiden
Crime 2016 146 mins Director: Park Chan-wook
Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Stoker) channels Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith, to create a sumptuous twisty psychological thriller full of erotic intrigue.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/a95c685afc2fa844363e25a1f64cc0cf.jpg?itok=XN1SXEj9)
Arcadia Arcadia
Drama 2016 10 mins
Waking in the mysterious forest, amnesiac Samantha undertakes a journey accompanied by the witty yet puzzling Sebastian...
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/fca0967e227312e8dbcefa096fea2bb7.jpg?itok=gnVb1i2Q)
The Immigrant The Immigrant
Comedy 1917 24 mins Silent Director: Charles Chaplin
One of Chaplin’s most famous early shorts finds the Little Tramp aboard a ship bound for America, mistakenly accused of being a pickpocket.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/chesil2.jpg?itok=gKhqQcCB)
On Chesil Beach On Chesil Beach
Drama 2018 110 mins Director: Dominic Cooke
Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle play a young, married couple struggling to physically connect in this sensitive adaptation of Ian McEwan’s acclaimed novel.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/RBG%2520image%25203.jpg?itok=zPOgCBjW)
RBG RBG
Biopic 2018 99 mins Director: Julie Cohen and Betsy West
Revelatory documentary on an unexpected hero - former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/snowpiercer.jpg?itok=8o3DfCDK)
Snowpiercer Snowpiercer
Science Fiction 2013 126 mins Director: Bong Joon-ho
After a global catastrophe launches the world into a new ice age, the last of humanity are trapped on a high-speed train that circles the globe infinitely.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/0144dd361bd3a6407c0eb882e2eb96bf.jpg?itok=wHgGHwmG)
Half of a Yellow Sun Half of a Yellow Sun
Drama 2014 111 mins Director: Biyi Bandele-Thomas
Thandie Newton and Chiwetel Ejiofor star in the acclaimed adaption of the Orange Prize-winning novel.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/224bd89cf936ef0536b5787f6c3738f4_0.jpg?itok=zC4JmoDm)
Trespass Against Us Trespass Against Us
Crime 2017 99 mins Director: Adam Smith
Brendan Gleeson and Michael Fassbender are the father and son outlaws in this exhilarating crime drama with a Chemical Brothers soundtrack.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/slow-west-1920-peter.jpg?itok=hzqUEOfL)
Slow West Slow West
Western 2015 84 mins Director: John Maclean
A teenage boy treks through a harsh American west accompanied by a bounty hunter of dubious morality, in this indie western that’s dripped with blood and drenched in style.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/85a75170026ce3b21ebad505a5d34dff.jpg?itok=nObGIEze)
Macbeth Macbeth
Drama 2015 113 mins Director: Justin Kurzel
Fassbender is ferocious as the Scottish king in Justin Kurzel’s red-blooded and viscerally atmospheric Shakespeare adaptation.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/frank-player-1920x1080.jpg?itok=n_JqdYIl)
Frank Frank
Comedy 2014 95 mins Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Michael Fassbender is the man inside the papier-mâché head, in this fictionalised reimagining of the story of northern entertainer Frank Sidebottom.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Occupied-City_01.jpg?itok=WDTMxhBR)
Occupied City Occupied City
Documentary 2023 251 mins Director: Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen’s cinematic commemoration of the Holocaust offers a multidimensional experience full of gravity and sublimity.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Unicorns-01.jpg?itok=6jauxZRs)
Unicorns Unicorns
Romance 2023 120 mins Director: Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd
Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd have created a moving romance between an Essex mechanic and a South Asian drag queen.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/call-jane-01.jpeg?itok=E78Ed1Ja)
Call Jane Call Jane
Drama 2022 90 mins Director: Phyllis Nagy
Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver star in this confident directorial debut from Carol screenwriter Phyllis Nagy about a network of women providing safe abortions in 1960s America.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/kill.jpg?itok=LoP7_LMc)
Kill Kill
Action and Adventure 2023 105 mins Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
A pair of commandos square off against savage bandits in this breathless action thriller set on a moving train.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/mazzetti.jpg?itok=JF_zXz49)
Together with Lorenza Mazzetti Together with Lorenza Mazzetti
Documentary 2023 55 mins Director: Brighid Lowe
Brighid Lowe’s intimate documentary about the Italian-born artist and filmmaker who became a vital part of the Free Cinema movement in '50s Britain.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/PhantomParrot.jpg?itok=WPjypCuC)
Phantom Parrot Phantom Parrot
Documentary 2023 85 mins Director: Kate Stonehill
A top-secret surveillance programme is revealed in this razor-sharp analysis of technology, human rights and structural racism.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Rosalie-05.jpg?itok=bfxGGvgb)
Rosalie Rosalie
Period drama 2024 115 mins Director: Stéphanie Di Giusto
Enchanting tale of female empowerment in 19th century France, based on the true story of a famed ‘bearded lady’.