Belfast: 10 Best Movies & TV Shows Set In Belfast

Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical film Belfast, a tour of the titular town during the ’60s from the viewpoint of a 9-year-old boy, reveals Northern Ireland’s capital just before it would be mired in the turbulence of the Troubles. Though Belfast has been the site of much violence, Branagh’s film reminds viewers that it’s also been the backdrop of unabashed joy.

In the typical fashion of Irish cinema, it’s often witty, sometimes sad, but always inspirational, as the spirit of its characters shine through their circumstances and emerge battle-weary but aggressively hopeful. The movies and TV series set in Belfast capture the same infectious magic, whether they’re highlighting the chaos of the Troubles, friends, and lovers from opposite sides of the political/religious divide, or simply trying to find the humor in the misfortunes of Northern Irish people.

In The Name Of The Father (1993) – Available On Amazon Prime

When 4 men are suspected in the Guilford pub bombing in London, Belfast’s own Gerry Conlon is mistaken for an IRA terrorist and gets hauled off to prison for the crime. When the real perpetrators are discovered, it’s a race in court to prevent Conlon from receiving a life sentence.

Based on the true story of the “Guilford Four” that gripped headlines in the mid-70s, this searing drama is as explosive as the crime it chronicles, with a career-defining lead performance by one of Ireland’s most celebrated actors, Daniel Day-Lewis, in one of his best movies.

Mickybo And Me (2004) – Available On Netflix

When 2 boys, one Protestant and the other Catholic, grow up in a city marked by strong lines of division over politics and religion, their only option is to run away like their Western idols, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in this heartwarming story about friendship being stronger than division.

Mickybo and Me effectively highlights how the Troubles in Belfast posed a difficult time for families, their deleterious effects most often felt by their youngest members. The innocence of a child’s perspective in the film makes clear what’s truly important and meaningful in the lives of the adults around them. The children are told they shouldn’t be friends, but they don’t understand the concepts of shame and bitterness, revealing the inherent flaws in the scruples of their older counterparts.

Belfast (2021) – In Theaters

Director and actor Kenneth Branagh’s tribute to his childhood town, and the people who shaped him into the creative force he is today, Belfast is both wistful and exuberant. It’s perhaps why, more than anything, it perfectly captures the emotional complexity of “the ones who stayed, the ones who left, and all those who were lost” in the calm before the storm.

By taking place in 1969, it chronicles one boy’s innocent summer before the city would become a wartorn husk in the Troubles, and as seen through his eyes, there is a filter of innocence to the growing turmoil swirling around him. As Belfast‘s brave little Buddy tries to make sense of it all, the explanation by adults effectively seems to reveal the senselessness of the coming violence that may force them to leave behind their family home.

Good Vibrations (2012) – Available On Amazon Prime

This biopic about Terri Hooley, a beloved record store owner who helped bring about Belfast’s thriving punk scene, provides an intimate portrait of a man who felt his community could use a little chaos amidst the real political discord of the ’70s and ’80s in Northern Ireland.

While some music-focused biopics focus on the person behind the idealism, this one often focuses on the idealism behind the person, using the radical, rebellious, idealist figure of Hooley to show how important music is politically and socially in tumultuous times. Even in the most “bombed out half-mile in Europe,” he inspires young musicians to keep creating and bringing life back to the city.

The Fall (2013-2016) – Available On Netflix

Belfast becomes the backdrop for a cunning game of cat and mouse when a London detective is on the trail of a serial killer in the gripping series The Fall. The local authorities have little experience with a sexually motivated killer, and as the bodies mount, DSI Stella Gibson (in one of Gillian Anderson’s best TV roles) begins to suspect he might just be hiding in plain sight.

Viewers learn from the beginning that the killer is living a double life, and part of the thrill comes from knowing exactly how many steps ahead of her task force he is, and how close she comes to determining his identity. The series is precise and detail-oriented, with a molten emotional core as raw as the city the action takes place in.

’71 (2014) – Available On Pluto

When a young British soldier finds himself unexpectedly alone on the streets of Belfast after his unit abandons him, he must navigate his way back to safety while riots continuously rage. Along the way, he must steer clear of bombings, internal turmoil in the IRA, and corrupt members of his own unit.

While the central story is certainly gripping, ’71 isn’t a simplistic narrative catering to climactic violence, but an acknowledgment that once one conflict appears to end, collateral damage often continues. It also reveals a brutal look at the British participation from the perspective of one of their own at the start of the Troubles in 1971.

The Boxer (1997) – Available On Amazon Prime

When a young teen boxer from Belfast takes the rap for the IRA, he gets a 14-year sentence and a chip on his shoulder. When he returns to his old neighborhood in his early thirties, he reopens the local gym and begins reconnecting with his former life, all the while fending off abuse from his former IRA associates.

Daniel Day-Lewis trained for 3 years to prepare for this role and could have boxed at the professional level after the film was released. But it’s not just his complete commitment to the role that makes the film great and should be considered one of Daniel Day-Lewis’ best movies — it’s the raw view of Belfast and its citizens, trying to forge an uneasy truce in the midst of sectarian violence.

Seacht (2008-2012) – Available On BBC Select

The Irish-language drama Seacht follows seven students who attend Queen’s University in Belfast, cataloging their trials, tribulations, and romantic entanglements as they navigate its Art Department. In the competitive world of the performing arts, they’ll know by their first year if they have what it takes to go all the way and make their dreams realities.

Any fans of Irish entertainment looking to get the real Northern experience can’t go wrong with Seacht, not only because it involved an exhaustive search for its young talent, but because it’s presented completely in Gaelic with subtitles.

Jacqueline (1956) – Available On Amazon Prime

Belfast’s famous ship-building provides the framework for the melodrama Jacqueline, wherein a hard-drinking family man nears ruins his marriage and the future of his children by spending more time at the pub than in the rigging. His adorable daughter Jacqueline must come to the rescue and persuade his boss and her mother to give him another chance.

Anyone wanting a taste of Belfast in the early ’50s will appreciate this slice-of-life tale that takes place slightly before the events of Belfast, and while it can at times get heavy-handed with its formulaic anecdotes, it doesn’t pull its punches when it comes to examining a very real fact of life for some working-class Irish families.

Cal (1984) – Available On Amazon Prime

Forbidden love is at the heart of Cal when a member of the IRA feels remorse over falling for the wife of a slain Protestant police office, the consequences of which cause ripple effects throughout both their lives. Though they try to resist their feelings for one another, their mutual distress brings them closer together.

Cal quietly and aptly reveals the effects on various people from just one act of violence in Belfast’s underworld of guerilla warfare. The ache of the movie doesn’t just come from two star-crossed lovers, but from the fact that Cal carries a heavy secret that he must hide from his lover (while hiding himself from the police), while the widow is forced to process not only the death of her husband but the fact that his family thinks he would still be alive if he hadn’t married a Catholic woman.

About The Author

Kayleena Pierce-Bohen
(1344 Articles Published)

Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she’s particularly proud of. When she isn’t writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she’s working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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