10 Best British Films Of The Last Decade

8. The King's Speech

king's speech
The Weinstein Company

This Best Picture-winning masterpiece is an all-time classic crowd-pleasing underdog movie, an extremely charming period drama packed with wit, humour and unexpected emotional resonance.

Colin Firth won a well-deserved Best Actor Oscar for his astonishing performance as the eventual King George VI, while Geoffrey Rush isn't far behind as his speech and language therapist Lionel Logue, not to mention Helena Bonham Carter's irresistible turn as George's sassy wife, Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

In lesser hands this could so easily have been yet another stuffy prestige pic about British history, but Tom Hooper's unconventional framing techniques and an incredibly charming script from David Seidler ensure there's a prevailing universality to George's story.

Did it deserve to beat The Social Network for Best Picture? Absolutely not, but considering how fantastic the movie is regardless, it's hard to be that mad.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.