The Selfish Giant

The Selfish Giant

R 2013 · 91 min · ★ 7.2 · Drama

A hyperactive boy and his best friend, a slow-witted youth with an affinity for horses, start collecting scrap metal for a shady dealer.

Directed by Clio Barnard · Written by Clio Barnard

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

PhiloAMC Plus Apple TV channelAMC+ Amazon ChannelAMC+ Roku Premium ChannelAMC+Sundance Now

Rent or Buy

Amazon VideoApple TV StoreGoogle Play MoviesYouTube

Cast

Trailers & Videos

Make it a double feature

3h 2m together

The Selfish Giant

The Arbor

Both from Clio Barnard.

More from Clio BarnardSee all →

The ArborThe Arbor · 2010
The Arbor
7.32010
MovieDramaDocumentary
The lives of the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar and Lorraine, one of her daughters, and the community of Bradford, in the 30 years since the 18-year-old Andrea penned a play about growing up in the community titled "The Arbor".
Random Acts of IntimacyRandom Acts of Intimacy · 1999
Random Acts of Intimacy
7.01999
MovieDrama
Random Acts of Intimacy is a film about brief moments of contact and sexual intimacy. It addresses notions of erotic memory, sexual fantasy, sexual desire and romantic love. It explores the possibility that sex with strangers might be the closest we get to realising current notions of romantic love - intense, passionate, impulsive.
Ali & AvaAli & Ava · 2022
Ali & Ava
6.72022
MovieDramaRomance
Sparks fly after Ali and Ava meet through their shared affection for Sofia, the child of Ali’s tenants whom Ava teaches. Ali finds comfort in Ava’s warmth and kindness while Ava finds Ali’s complexity and humour irresistible. As the pair begin to form a deep connection they have to find a way to keep their newfound passion from being overshadowed by the stresses and struggles of their separate lives and histories.​
The Essex SerpentThe Essex Serpent · 2022
The Essex Serpent
6.62022
SeriesDrama
London widow Cora Seaborne moves to Essex to investigate reports of a mythical serpent. She forms a surprising bond of science and skepticism with the local vicar—but when tragedy strikes, locals accuse her of attracting the creature.
Dark RiverDark River · 2017
Dark River
5.62017
MovieThrillerDrama
After her father dies, a young woman returns to her Yorkshire village for the first time in 15 years to claim the family farm she believes is hers.
Hermaphrodite BikiniHermaphrodite Bikini · 1995
Hermaphrodite Bikini
1995
Movie
Director Clio Barnard, using Harry and Paintbox techniques, intercut with a Hi-8 video diary, presents a non-narrative collage addressing sexual difference and artifice, both imagined and real.
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Dec 4, 2026
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning · 2026
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
2026
MovieDrama
Childhood friends Patrick, Shiv, Rian, Oli, and Conor played together, skipped school together, and dreamt of the lives they would have one day. Now they’re thirty, and the future they imagined is slipping quietly out of reach.
Dark GlassDark Glass · 2006
Dark Glass
2006
MovieDrama
A psychological micro-drama that moves from the sanctuary of a domestic garden to the half-remembered shadows of a house, Clio Barnard’s Dark Glass peers back into a semi-veiled interior world of fraught, ambivalent memories. Shot on a mobile phone camera to accentuate a feeling of intimacy and immediacy, the flickering nature of the footage also emphasises the film’s uncanny, otherworldly quality.
HeadcaseHeadcase · 1997
Headcase
1997
Movie
This is a home-movie horror film. Its heroine, Stretch, adopts a severed head as her companion and hijacks her own story to investigate it for herself and for her audience.

More Like This

Short Sharp ShockShort Sharp Shock · 1998
Short Sharp Shock
6.71998
MovieCrimeDrama
Gabriel, Bobby and Costa are old friends from Altona, a multicultural hood in Hamburg. Just out of prison, Gabriel wants to turn his back on crime, but the others continue to operate as petty criminals. Friendships are tested as the trio navigate a dark world of mafia bosses and deals gone wrong.
Summer in BerlinSummer in Berlin · 2005
Summer in Berlin
6.32005
MovieComedyDrama
An intimate study of two women friends who come to each other because of troubles with everyday life and with men and thus try to enjoy a life based on their ideas.
Popular MusicPopular Music · 2004
Popular Music
6.32004
MovieComedyDrama
Matti and Niila, growing up in the mid-sixties in the harsh and conservative environment of a Finnish-speaking part of Tornedalen in Swedish Laponia, close to the Finnish border. Their big dream is to become rock stars. In the present the now grown-up Matti feels guilt for the death of his drug-addicted rock star friend Niila.
Stranger Than ParadiseStranger Than Paradise · 1984
Stranger Than Paradise
7.21984
MovieComedyDrama
New York layabout Willie forms an unexpected bond with his young Hungarian cousin Eva when she pays him a surprise visit. Later, Eva moves in with their aunt in Cleveland, and Willie takes his best friend Eddie to see her—a visit that culminates in a strange, eventful trip to Florida.
Cléo from 5 to 7Cléo from 5 to 7 · 1962
Cléo from 5 to 7
7.71962
MovieDrama
Agnès Varda eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer set adrift in the city as she awaits test results of a biopsy. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman’s life, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a spirited mix of vivid vérité and melodrama, featuring a score by Michel Legrand and cameos by Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina.
Beyond SilenceBeyond Silence · 1996
Beyond Silence
6.91996
MovieDramaMusic
Beyond Silence is about a family and a young girl’s coming of age story. This German film looks into the lives of the deaf and at a story about the love for music. A girl who has always had to translate speech into sign language for her deaf parents yet when her love for playing music grows strong she must decide to continue doing something she cannot share with her parents.
Grbavica: The Land of My DreamsGrbavica: The Land of My Dreams · 2006
Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams
6.92006
MovieDramaHistory
A woman and her daughter struggle to make their way through the aftermath of the Balkan war.
BreathlessBreathless · 1960
Breathless
7.51960
MovieDramaCrime
A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.
Ronia: The Robber's DaughterRonia: The Robber's Daughter · 1984
Ronia: The Robber's Daughter
7.01984
MovieAdventureDrama
Ronia lives happily in her father's castle until she comes across a new playmate, Birk, in the nearby dark forest. The two explore the wilderness, braving dangerous Witchbirds and Rump-Gnomes. But when their families find out Birk and Ronia have been playing together, they forbid them to see each other again. Indeed, their fathers are competing robber chieftains and bitter enemies. Now the two spunky children must try to tear down the barriers that have kept their families apart for so long.
Leave No TraceLeave No Trace · 2018
Leave No Trace
6.82018
MovieDrama
A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, rarely making contact with the world. But when a small mistake tips them off to authorities, they are sent on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own.
Cha Cha Real SmoothCha Cha Real Smooth · 2022
Cha Cha Real Smooth
7.12022
MovieComedyDrama
Fresh out of college and stuck at his New Jersey home without a clear path forward, 22-year-old Andrew begins working as a party starter for bar/bat mitzvahs—where he strikes up a unique friendship with a young mom and her teenage daughter.
People on SundayPeople on Sunday · 1930
People on Sunday
7.21930
MovieDrama
A semi-documentary experimental 1930 German silent film created by amateurs with a small budget. With authentic scenes of the metropolis city of Berlin, it's the first film from the later famous screenwriters/directors Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter