''Peterloo'' is a 2018 British

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

, written and directed by

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Des ...

, based on the

Peterloo Massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliament ...

of 1819. The film was selected to be screened in the main competition section of the

75th Venice International Film Festival The 75th Venice International Film Festival was held from 29 August to 8 September 2018. Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro was named as the President of the Jury. '' First Man'', directed by Damien Chazelle, was selected to open the f ...

. The film received its UK premiere on 17 October 2018, as part of the

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

, at

HOME A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

. The screening marked the first time that the festival had held a premiere outside London. Leigh said he was delighted that ''Peterloo'' would be premiered "where it happened". It was released in the United Kingdom on 2 November 2018, by

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...

and in the United States on 5 April 2019, by

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

Background

The film ''Peterloo'' marks the 200th anniversary of the notorious

. On 16 August 1819, a crowd of some 60,000 people from Manchester and surrounding towns gathered in St Peter's Fields to demand Parliamentary reform and an extension of voting rights. At that time, Manchester had no

members of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

of its own while the whole of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

was represented by two county MPs. The meeting had been peaceful but, in the attempt to arrest a leader of the meeting, the armed government militias panicked and charged upon the crowd. The toll of casualties has always been disputed but as many as 18 people were killed and up to 700 wounded. The immediate effect of the massacre was a crackdown on reform, as the government feared that the country was heading towards armed rebellion. The outcry led to the founding of the ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...

'' and played a significant role in the passage through Parliament of the

Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

Plot

After the Battle of Waterloo, Joseph returns home from service in the Duke of Wellington's army to Manchester and his close-knit family headed by parents Joshua and Nellie. Joshua, son Robert, daughter Mary, and daughter-in-law Esther all earn a living by manual labour in a cotton mill. An economic depression makes work impossible for the traumatised Joseph to find and threatens the family's livelihood. The family is sympathetic to the radical campaigns for equal civil and political rights for all free men and against the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They wer ...

that prevent them from buying cheaper imported grain. Joshua, Joseph, and Robert attend political meetings where local agitators including John Knight, Samuel Bamford and John Bagguley speak out against the system of government; Nellie attends a meeting of the

Manchester Female Reform Society Manchester Female Reform Society was formed in July 1819. Based in Manchester, England, its aim was to spread democratic ideals among women. The Blackburn Female Reform Society was established in early July 1819 and sent a circular to other dist ...

. The local authorities, led by magistrates Colonel Fletcher, Reverend William Robert Hay, Reverend Charles Ethelston and Mr. Norris and Deputy Chief Constable Nadin, spy on the movement and wait for an excuse to arrest its leaders. The

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all nationa ...

, Lord Sidmouth, is determined to suppress radical politics. When a disgruntled Londoner smashes the window of the Prince Regent's coach, Sidmouth uses this as a pretext for suspending

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, ...

. Bamford and his friend Joseph Healey travel south to London to hear the famous radical Henry 'Orator' Hunt speak at a political meeting. Hunt has a reputation for vanity but Bamford persuades Manchester businessman Joseph Johnson to invite Hunt to address a mass meeting at St Peter's Fields; the Home Office discovers this invitation by intercepting Johnson's letter. Arriving at Manchester, Hunt goes into hiding in Johnson's home. Richards, a Home Office spy, is able to provoke Bagguley and fellow radicals Drummond and Johnston into publicly calling for armed insurrection, leading to their arrest and imprisonment. The magistrates plan to suppress Hunt's meeting and make an example of the attendees using the local mounted militia, the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry and a regular army detachment led by General

John Byng Admiral John Byng (baptised 29 October 1704 – 14 March 1757) was a British Royal Navy officer who was court-martialled and executed by firing squad. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen, he participated at the Battle of Cape Pass ...

. Hunt remains certain that he can lead a peaceful rally and sidelines Bamford, when he warns of the likelihood of brutal treatment by the authorities. On the day of the meeting, thousands of people march into Manchester from the surrounding towns to hear Hunt speak at St Peter's Fields, including Nellie and Joshua and their family. Bamford leads a procession from Middleton but leaves in disgust on finding that it has been arranged that only Hunt will be allowed to address the crowd. A special committee of magistrates has been assembled to take charge of events, chaired by Mr. Hulton. They appear to be in an upstairs room overlooking the gathering crowd. Norris, who urges restraint at least until any rioting might start, is overruled. Byng has left his deputy in command of the soldiers, to attend a genteel horse racing meet. Once Hunt begins to speak, Reverend Ethelston reads the

Riot Act The Riot Act (1 Geo.1 St.2 c.5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled and o ...

to the crowd. Although the crowd pays no attention to Ethelston, the magistrates are now legally empowered to disperse the meeting. The Yeomanry cavalry assault the peaceful assembly with

sabre A sabre (French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as t ...

s drawn, while Hunt and Johnson are arrested by Nadin's men. The army tries to clear St Peter's Fields but in the mayhem, the crowd is unable to escape before several people are killed and many more injured. Joseph is wounded with a sabre and later dies. The attending reporters furiously return to their newspapers to expose this atrocity, coining a mocking name for it, "The Massacre of Peterloo". Despite the massacre, the Prince Regent sends his congratulations to the magistrates for suppressing radicalism and restoring "tranquility".

Cast

* Rory Kinnear as Henry Hunt *

Maxine Peake Maxine Peake (born 14 July 1974) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her roles as Twinkle in the BBC One sitcom '' dinnerladies'' (1998–2000), Veronica Ball in the hit Channel 4 comedy drama '' Shameless'' (2004–2007), Mart ...

as Nellie * Pearce Quigley as Joshua * David Moorst as Joseph * Rachel Finnegan as Mary * Tom Meredith as Robert * Simona Bitmate as Esther *

Robert Wilfort Robert Kenneth Wilfort (born 2 June 1977) is a Welsh actor from Porthcawl, who has made many appearances on British television and film. He is best known for his role as Jason West in ''Gavin & Stacey'' His other television appearances have in ...

as Lord Liverpool the Prime Minister * Karl Johnson as Lord Sidmouth the Home Secretary *

Sam Troughton Sam John Troughton (born 21 March 1977) is an English actor who has made appearances in ''Robin Hood'', ''Alien vs. Predator'' (2004), as Aleksandr Akimov in ''Chernobyl'' (2019), and as Mr. Wilder in the BBC comedy series '' The Outlaws'' (2021 ...

as Mr. Hobhouse * Roger Sloman as Mr. Grout * Kenneth Hadley as Mr. Golightly * Tom Edward-Kane as Mr. Cob * Lizzy McInnerny as Mrs. Moss *

Alastair Mackenzie Alastair Mackenzie (born 8 February 1970) is a Scottish actor from Perth. Early life He was born in Trinafour, near Perth, and educated at Westbourne House School and Glenalmond College in Perthshire. Mackenzie left home at the age of 1 ...

as General Sir John Byng * Neil Bell as Samuel Bamford * Lisa Millett as Jemima Bamford * Philip Jackson as John Knight * John Paul Hurley as John Thacker Saxton * Tom Gill as Joseph Johnson * Lizzie Frain as Mrs. Johnson * Harry Hepple as

James Wroe James Wroe (1788–1844), was the only editor of the radical reformist newspaper the ''Manchester Observer'', the journalist who named the incident known as the Peterloo massacre, and the writer of pamphlets as a result that brought about the Refo ...

* Ian Mercer as "Dr" Joseph Healey * Adam Long as Wroe's Printer *

Nico Mirallegro ' Nico Cristian Mirallegro ( ; born 26 January 1991) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Barry "Newt" Newton in the soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' (2007–2010), Finn Nelson in '' My Mad Fat Diary'' (2013–2015), Joe Middleton i ...

as John Bagguley * Danny Kirrane as Samuel Drummond * Johnny Byrom as John Johnston *

Victor McGuire Victor McGuire (born 17 March 1964 in Tuebrook, Liverpool) is an English actor perhaps best known for playing Jack Boswell in series 1–3, 5-7 of Carla Lane's ''Bread'', Ron Wheatcroft in every series of '' Goodnight Sweetheart'' and its 2016 ...

as Deputy Chief Constable Nadin *

Stephen Wight Stephen Wight (born Stephen Gray; 27 February 1980) is an English actor. He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for his performance in the 2007 production of the play ''Dealer's Choice'', and had a minor role as Ben in the British dra ...

as Oliver the spy * Ryan Pope as Chippendale the spy *

Dorothy Atkinson Dorothy Caroline Atkinson (born 1966) is an English actress and singer. She has appeared in several plays by playwright Alan Ayckbourn and in films by Mike Leigh, including ''Topsy-Turvy'', ''All or Nothing'', and ''Mr. Turner'', which premiere ...

as Singing weaver *

Tim McInnerny Tim McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''. Early life McInnerny was bor ...

as the

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illne ...

* Marion Bailey as Lady Conyngham *

Vincent Franklin Vincent Warren Franklin (born 3 November 1966) is an English actor from Haworth, Keighley, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. He is best known for his roles in comedy television programmes. He has appeared in a number of feature films including ...

as Magistrate Rev. Ethelston * Jeff Rawle as Magistrate Rev. Hay * Eileen Davies as Mrs. Hay * Philip Whitchurch as Magistrate Col. Fletcher *

Martin Savage , birth_date = 12 October 1897 , death_date = 19 December 1919 , birth_place= Ballisodare, County Sligo, Ireland , death_place= Ashtown, County Dublin, Ireland , image=Martin savage.jpg , caption= , nickname= , allegiance= Irish Republican ...

as Magistrate Norris * Al Weaver as Magistrate Hulton * David Bamber as Magistrate Rev. Mallory * David Fielder as Magistrate Rev. Gutteridge * Fine Time Fontayne as Magistrate Clowes * Robert Gillespie as Magistrate Warmley * Jonathan Jaynes as Magistrate Tatton * Nicholas Lumley as Magistrate Rev. Perryn * Shaun Prendergast as Magistrate Bolt * Alan Williams as Magistrate Marriott *

Dorothy Duffy Dorothy Duffy (born 1980 in Douglas Bridge, Northern Ireland) is an Irish actress. She is best known for her performance as Rose / Patricia in ''The Magdalene Sisters ''The Magdalene Sisters'' is a 2002 drama film written and directed by Pe ...

as Mary Fildes * Victoria Moseley as Susannah Saxton * Christine Bottomley as Female reformer * Samantha Edwards as Female reformer *

Julie Hesmondhalgh Julie Claire Hesmondhalgh (born 25 February 1970) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her role as Hayley Cropper in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' between 1998 and 2014. For this role, she won Best Serial Drama Perf ...

as Female reformer * Kate Rutter as Female reformer * Katie West as Female reformer * Joseph Kloska as

Richard Carlile Richard Carlile (8 December 1790 – 10 February 1843) was an important agitator for the establishment of universal suffrage and freedom of the press in the United Kingdom. Early life Born in Ashburton, Devon, he was the son of a shoemaker w ...

* Leo Bill as John Tyas * Brian Fletcher as Edward Baines * Gary Cargill as John Smith * Patrick Kennedy as Colonel L'Estrange * Guy Williams as Lieutenant Col. Dalrymple * Michael Chadwick as 15th Hussar * Tristram Davies as 15th Hussar * Oliver Devoti as 15th Hussar * Dan Poole as 15th Hussar * Charlie Tighe as 15th Hussar * Ben Crompton as Tuke, the painter * Bryony Miller as Bessie *

Lee Boardman Lee Boardman (born 2 July 1972) is an English actor and narrator. He has appeared in the films '' Jack the Giant Slayer'' and '' Love's Kitchen'', and the television series ''Rome''. Career Boardman played Murray Priestman in '' Drop Dead Gor ...

as Nadin's Constable * Steve Garti as Nadin's Constable *

Michael Culkin Michael Culkin (born 2 July 1954) is an English theatre, film, and television actor probably best known for his role as Judge Buller in the BBC drama ''Garrow's Law''. He appeared as Rab Butler in the first two seasons of ''The Crown'', in '' ...

as a Lord *

Rachel Davies Rachel Davies is an English actress. She has numerous television credits to her name, including '' Boon'' (1986), '' A Little Bit Of Lippy'' (1989), ''Emmerdale'' (1993–94), '' Band of Gold'' (1995–96), '' Hillsborough'' (1996), and '' The C ...

as Pie buyer * Kieran O'Brien as Farrier *

Noreen Kershaw Noreen Kershaw is an English television actress and director. She trained at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre and, at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre, originated the title role of the play ''Shirley Valentine'', later made famous by P ...

as Drunken servant *

Bob Goody Robert Goody (born 16 April 1951) is a British actor, librettist, writer and former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Theatre work Bob Goody trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1973-1975). He was a founder member of the acclai ...

as Outraged reformer * Debbie Harding as Quizzical lady

Production

Filming began in May 2017. Production shot the interior of the Tarred Yarn Store in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, and the exterior of the Ropery at the

Chatham Historic Dockyard The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former royal/naval dockyard at Chatham in Kent, South East England. Chatham Dockyard covered 400 acres (1.6 km²) and was one of the Royal Navy's main facil ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

to double as a

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven b ...

in Manchester. St Mary's Marshes on the Isle of Grain also appears in a short scene at the beginning of the film, when a lonely figure is seen walking along the marshes. Much of the dialogue is in traditional

Lancashire dialect The Lancashire dialect or (colloquially, Lanky) refers to the Northern English vernacular speech of the English county of Lancashire. The region is notable for its tradition of poetry written in the dialect. Scope of Lancashire dialect La ...

. To achieve this, the director used the book ''The Dialects of South Lancashire'', which was written by the same Samuel Bamford who is portrayed in the film.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of , based on reviews with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''Peterloo'' proves writer-director Mike Leigh's populist anger remains undimmed – but that righteous fury occasionally overpowers the narrative."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

gives the film a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it a "brilliant and demanding film". The film obtained no BAFTA nominations for not meeting BAFTA's diversity requirements, and in this regard ''The Guardian''’s critic noted: "''Peterloo'' marks a rare failure for Film4".

References

External links

Peterloo
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* *
INSIDE military technical advising on Peterloo and Vanity Fair with Paul Biddiss
{{Mike Leigh 2018 films 2010s historical films Films directed by Mike Leigh Amazon Studios films Entertainment One films Film4 Productions films Films set in Manchester Films shot in Devon Films shot in Kent Films set in 1819 British historical films Peterloo massacre Films shot in Greater Manchester 2010s English-language films 2010s British films