Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £6.99 a month
Last and First Men
Two billion years ahead of us, a future race of humans finds itself on the verge of extinction. Tilda Swinton narrates this visually stunning lament for humanity by acclaimed composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (Sicario, Arrival).
Director: Jóhann Jóhannsson
Overview
Two billion years ahead of us, a future race of humans finds itself on the verge of extinction. Almost all that is left in the world are lone and surreal monuments, beaming their message into the wilderness…Based on the cult science fiction novel by Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men is the first and only feature-length film directed by acclaimed composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (Sicario, Arrival).
Situated halfway between fiction and documentary and beautifully filmed in 16mm black and white, Jóhannsson artfully combines music, image and narration (voiced by Tilda Swinton), to form a powerful poetic meditation on memory and loss.
Related
Watership Down Watership Down
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 92 mins Director: Martin Rosen
An apocalyptic vision pushes a group of rabbits to abandon their warren in search of a new home, in this landmark British animation.
Requiem for a Village Requiem for a Village
Documentary 1975 68 mins Director: David Gladwell
The idyllic, pastoral past of a Suffolk village is reborn through memory in this extraordinary, little-known film from director David Gladwell.
Un Chien Andalou Un Chien Andalou
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1928 16 mins Silent Director: Luis Buñuel
A scabrous study of desire, the subconscious and anti-clericalism - Buñuel and Dalí’s provocative first film is a classic of Surrealist cinema.
Eden and After Eden and After
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1969 98 mins Director: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet’s sensual fantasy follows a group of students who enter a bizarre sado-masochistic realm after taking a mysterious drug.
Gallivant Gallivant
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1997 100 mins Director: Andrew Kötting
Andrew Kötting takes a terrific, twisting coastal tour of the UK with his family.
Fata Morgana Fata Morgana
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1971 76 mins Director: Werner Herzog
Herzog’s intense, dreamlike mediation on desert life as if seen by an alien.
I Am Love I Am Love
Drama 2009 114 mins Director: Luca Guadagnino
Tilda Swinton and Luca Guadagnino’s sumptuous, operatic vision of an aristocratic family disrupted by unstoppable forces of passion.
The Man from London The Man from London
Drama 2007 139 mins Director: Béla Tarr
Tilda Swinton stars in this profoundly nocturnal Georges Simenon adaptation.
The Protagonists The Protagonists
Drama 1999 87 mins Director: Luca Guadagnino
The rarely seen debut by acclaimed director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) is a bizarre drama-documentary recreating a motiveless London murder.
The Eternal Daughter The Eternal Daughter
Drama 2021 96 mins Director: Joanna Hogg
Joanna Hogg's enthralling ghost story, featuring an astonishing performance by her regular collaborator Tilda Swinton.
The Souvenir The Souvenir
Drama 2018 120 mins Director: Joanna Hogg
Sight and Sound's 2019 film of the year is the compelling, semi-autobiographical drama from acclaimed writer-director Joanna Hogg.
Wittgenstein Wittgenstein
Biopic 1993 72 mins Director: Derek Jarman
Written for Channel 4 by radical literary theorist Terry Eagleton and directed by Derek Jarman, Wittgenstein is a bold, offbeat biography, exploring the politics and sexuality of the great, troubled philosopher.
Chocolat Chocolat
Drama 1988 100 mins Director: Claire Denis
Claire Denis' fully formed debut offers a child’s-eye-view of racial and sexual tension that bubbles with unspoken desires.
Paterson Paterson
Comedy 2016 118 mins Director: Jim Jarmusch
Adam Driver excels in this effortlessly charming tale of a bus driver poet in New Jersey, filmed with typically groovy elan by Jim Jarmusch.
Eat the Night Eat the Night
Thriller 2024 107 mins Director: Caroline Poggi and Johnathan Vinel
Siblings find passion and peril online and in the real world, in this visually electric French drama.
Bound Bound
Gangster 1996 109 mins Director: Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski
A seductive neo-noir and cult classic centring on lesbian desire in dangerous circumstances.
High Life High Life
Science Fiction 2019 113 mins Director: Claire Denis
The messiness of sex, the mysteries of birth and the moving spectacle of devoted parenting in the face of impending oblivion create a potent atmosphere in Claire Denis’ English-language debut.
Pornomelancholia Pornomelancholia
Drama 2022 94 mins Director: Manuel Abramovich
Soulful docufiction featuring real-life porn actor Lalo Santos.