10 Criminally Underrated Films Turning 10 Years Old In 2020

1. Cemetery Junction

Jennifer Lawrence Winter's Bone
Columbia Pictures

After the success of The Office and Extras Ricky Gervais made the next natural step and announced his directorial debut: a pseudo-autobiographical tale of blue(ish)-collar life in and around the titular area of Cemetery Junction. Suffice to say, anticipation was high.

But, like the 15:45 from Bath Spa to London Paddington, Cemetery junction sidled into cinemas and sidled out with limited fanfare or awards. Maybe it was the fact Gervais’s movie, for the most part, plays it straight, aping the kitchen sink dramas that formed the comic’s inspiration. There are no real quotable one liners or re-enact-worthy sequences echoing around offices or boozers across the country followings its release. But this is exactly what makes the movie such a gem.

From Christian Cooke’s star-making turn as head lad Freddie to Gervais and Julia Davis as his bickering parents, the film oozes charm and certainly bravado when it comes to Freddie and his rogue(ish) pals scheming their way into a better life, away from the hum of small town living. Give it another 20 years and this one will be sat alongside This Sporting Life and Saturday Night & Sunday Morning as a fondly-remembered Brit dramas.

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Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing. He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.