{"id":277002,"date":"2025-11-22T09:42:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T09:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/277002\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T09:42:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T09:42:09","slug":"benedict-cumberbatchs-powerful-british-drama-is-available-to-watch-now-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/277002\/","title":{"rendered":"Benedict Cumberbatch’s “powerful” British drama is available to watch now in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Thing with Feathers, the “powerful” British drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch, is now available to watch in the UK. Released in cinemas today<\/a>, the film stars Cumberbatch as a father who is left to raise his two sons following the death of his wife. <\/p>\n

Adapted from Max Porter’s debut novel Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, the film<\/a> sees Cumberbatch star alongside David Thewlis. They are joined in the cast by Vinette Robinson, Sam Spruell, Jessie Cave, Leo Bill, Tim Plester, Adam Basil and Garry Cooper. <\/p>\n

Written and directed by Dylan Southern, who had previously worked mainly in the documentary genre, The Thing with Feathers<\/a> is described as “a lyrical exploration of love, loss and the strange ways we heal”. <\/p>\n

The synopsis reads: “Following the death of his wife, a young father’s hold on reality crumbles and a strange presence begins to stalk him from the shadowy recesses of the apartment he shares with his two young sons. <\/p>\n

“A man-like crow (voiced by Thewlis), seemingly brought to life from the father’s work as an illustrator, is about to become a very real part of all of their lives, ultimately guiding them towards the new shape their family must take.”<\/p>\n

\"benedict<\/p>\n

Anthony Dickenson\/ Courtesy of Sundance Institute<\/p>\n

Related: Best streaming services<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite its interesting premise, the film has received mixed reviews from critics and currently has an approval rating of just 56% on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> from 41 reviews, with critics praising Cumberbatch’s performance while noting the film’s lack of plot. <\/p>\n

“The film hangs on Cumberbatch giving good anguish and he does give top, five-star anguish but it\u2019s not sufficient to sustain a film that otherwise has barely any plot,” penned The Spectator<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Daily Telegraph<\/a> wrote: “[Cumberbatch] is doing everything he can to keep the film in touch with reality. But the problems are insurmountable. The material is just so ill-suited to this unpoetic quasi-horror approach.”<\/p>\n

“Cumberbatch\u2019s haggardly expressive face could tell the story alone, but Southern keeps resorting to jump-scares and cage-match fracases with the crow,” opined The Financial Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"benedict<\/p>\n

Vue Lumi\u00e8re<\/p>\n

Related: Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch’s “unmissable” ’80s remake is now available to watch at home<\/a> <\/p>\n

Screen International<\/a> said of the film: “There\u2019s much that is brilliant here, although the loss of nuance in translation from page to screen reduces a potent brew of emotions to more literally-depicted stages and consequences of pure, overwhelming, overwrought grief.”<\/p>\n

Deadline<\/a> called the film “a powerful portrayal of grief”, writing: “As a work of art, The Thing with Feathers is something special, a fantastic calling card for an auteur in waiting. As a movie, however, it won\u2019t (and maybe can\u2019t) be for everyone.”<\/p>\n

The Thing with Feathers is out now in cinemas in the UK and Ireland.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends is here! Buy Ariana & Witches in newsagents or online<\/a>, priced at just \u00a38.99.
<\/p>\n

\"Lettermark\"<\/p>\n

Reporter, Digital Spy<\/p>\n

Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV<\/a> and movies<\/a> at Digital Spy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Thing with Feathers, the “powerful” British drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch, is now available to watch in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[379,113330,381,96,1156,2839,113329,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-277002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-d8069fee-4f80-47be-b947-08d5c223bb54","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-locale-gb","tag-movies","tag-shorttitle-benedict-cumberbatchs-drama-is-out-now-in-the-uk","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}