Living, the highly-acclaimed 2022 film starring Bill Nighy that saw him nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars, is being shown on TV tonight and comes with a big recommendation. It’ll air at 9pm on Channel 4, and should be available via the broadcaster’s free streaming service afterwards (possibly for 28 days).
Based on the 1952 film Ikiru by legendary director Akira Kurosawa and written by Japanese-British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, the film follows a senior London County Council worker who receives a terminal diagnosis.
After finding himself unsatisfied with life and unable to do much in his job due to constant red tape, he becomes determined to recapture some of his youthful energy and make a positive difference in the city.
Ross Ferguson / Lionsgate UK
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The film holds the distinction of being Bill Nighy’s highest-rated drama on Rotten Tomatoes, with a near-perfect score of 96% positive from over 200 critic reviews.
It’s his third-highest rated project on the site overall, behind the TV movie and satirical comedy Antonia and Jane, and excellent animated film The Wild Robot.
Rolling Stone praised the film for successfully translating Kurosawa’s original film about Japanese salarymen culture into one about British specificities, and for capturing that time and location perfectly.
Above all, the publication stated that it was Nighy’s performance that made Living “vital and unmissable”.
Ross Ferguson / Lionsgate UK
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The Austin Chronicle called Nighy’s performance a “career-best”, while The Times called him “an actor at the peak of his powers” in a “mesmerising” film.
“The quietly powerful Living defies expectations at every turn”, wrote Baltimore Magazine, while Mark Kermode in The Observer noted that Sex Education star Aimee Lou Wood (a few years before The White Lotus season 3) matched Nighy in giving a “deeply affecting performance”, and said the film itself had “a winning simplicity that is hard to resist”.
Living airs on Channel 4 tonight at 9pm.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he’s covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I’m a Fish.