The Best Stephen Frears Movies Ranked And Where to Watch them

If you're looking for the best Stephen Frears movies of all time then here is a definitive list. We rank every movie directed by Stephen Frears based on their popularity score from IMDB from best to worst. Click on the ‘see more’ button to find out where to watch them in Australia covering all streaming services. In March 2024 there are 21 films in this list.

List of the Best Movies Directed by Stephen Frears In Order of Popularity

  1. A Very English Scandal
  2. Dangerous Liaisons
  3. Philomena
  4. High Fidelity
  5. The Queen
  6. Dirty Pretty Things
  7. The Hit
  8. Liam
  9. My Beautiful Laundrette
  10. Victoria & Abdul
  11. The Lost King
  12. The Van
  13. Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight
  14. Gumshoe
  15. Hero
  16. The Program
  17. Tamara Drewe
  18. The Hi-Lo Country
  19. Chéri
  20. Mary Reilly
  21. Lay the Favorite

Stream the top 21 Movies directed by Stephen Frears

1. A Very English Scandal

Seasons: 1

Rated: TV-14

7.7/10

It's the late 1960s, homosexuality has only just been legalised and Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the Liberal party, has a secret he's desperate to hide.

2. Dangerous Liaisons

Rated: R

7.6/10

In 18th century France, Marquise de Merteuil asks her ex-lover Vicomte de Valmont to seduce the future wife of another ex-lover of hers in return for one last night with her. Yet things don’t go as planned.

3. Philomena

Rated: PG-13

7.6/10

A woman searches for her adult son, who was taken away from her decades ago when she was forced to live in a convent.

4. High Fidelity

Rated: R

7.4/10

When record store owner Rob Gordon gets dumped by his girlfriend, Laura, because he hasn't changed since they met, he revisits his top five breakups of all time in an attempt to figure out what went wrong. As Rob seeks out his former lovers to find out why they left, he keeps up his efforts to win Laura back.

5. The Queen

Rated: PG-13

7.3/10

The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, following the death of Diana, to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public's demand for an overt display of mourning.

6. Dirty Pretty Things

Rated: R

7.3/10

An urban hotel in London is a gathering and flash point for legal and illegal immigrants attempting to cobble together their lives in a new country. The immigrants include Senay, a Turkish woman, and a Nigerian doctor named Okwe who is working as a night porter at the hotel. The pair discover the hotel is a front for all sorts of clandestine activities. Their only wish is to avoid possible deportation. Okwe becomes more entangled in the goings on when he is called to fix a toilet in one of the rooms. He discovers the plumbing has been clogged by a human heart.

7. The Hit

Rated: R

7/10

Ex-gangster Willie Parker has betrayed his former "colleagues" and now lives in Spain where he thinks he can hide from their vengeance...

8. Liam

Rated: R

6.9/10

A morality tale of xenophobia, religious prejudice, mob violence, poverty, and their effect on two children in Liverpool during the Depression. When a shipyard closes, Liam and Teresa's dad loses his job. Liam, who's about 8, making his first Holy Communion, gets a regular dose of fire and brimstone at church. Teresa, about 13, has a job as a maid to the Jewish family that owns the closed shipyard. The lady of that house is having an affair, and Teresa becomes an accomplice. Liam stutters terribly, especially when troubled. Dad comes under the sway of the Fascists, who blame cheap Irish labor and Jewish owners. A Molotov cocktail brings things to a head.

9. My Beautiful Laundrette

Rated: R

6.8/10

A British-Pakistani man renovates a rundown laundrette with his male lover while dealing with drama within his family, the local Pakistani community, and a persistent mob of skinheads.

10. Victoria & Abdul

Rated: PG-13

6.8/10

Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.

11. The Lost King

Rated: M

6.7/10

An amateur historian defies the academic establishment in her efforts to find King Richard III's remains, which were lost for over 500 years.

12. The Van

Rated: R

6.7/10

In a working-class quarter of Dublin, 'Bimbo' Reeves gets laid off from his job and, with his redundancy payout, buys a van and sells fish and chips with his buddy, Larry. Due to Ireland's surprising success at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, their business starts off well, but the relationship between the two friends soon becomes strained as Bimbo behaves more like a typical boss.

13. Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight

Rated: Not Rated

6.7/10

Muhammad Ali’s historic Supreme Court battle from behind closed doors. When Ali was drafted into the Vietnam War at the height of his boxing career, his claim to conscientious objector status led to a controversial legal battle that rattled the U.S. judicial system right up to the highest court in the land.

14. Gumshoe

Rated: GP

6.5/10

A would be private eye gets mixed up in a smuggling case.

15. Hero

Rated: PG-13

6.5/10

Bernie Laplante is having a rough time. He's divorced, his ex-wife hates him and has custody of their son, the cops are setting a trap for him, then to top it all, he loses a shoe whilst rescuing passengers of a crashed jet. Being a thief who is down on his luck, Bernie takes advantage of the crash, but then someone else claims credit for the rescue.

16. The Program

Rated: R

6.5/10

An Irish sports journalist becomes convinced that Lance Armstrong's performances during the Tour de France victories are fueled by banned substances. With this conviction, he starts hunting for evidence that will expose Armstrong.

17. Tamara Drewe

Rated: R

6.2/10

A young newspaper writer returns to her hometown in the English countryside, where her childhood home is being prepped for sale.

18. The Hi-Lo Country

Rated: R

6.1/10

An intimate story of the enduring bond of friendship between two hard-living men, set against a sweeping backdrop: the American West, post-World War II, in its twilight. Pete and Big Boy are masters of the prairie, but ultimately face trickier terrain: the human heart.

19. Chéri

Rated: R

6.1/10

A sumptuous dramatic comedy set in late 19th Century France, during the Belle Epoque, a period of social and cultural excess in European upper classes which ended only as the First World War erupted.

20. Mary Reilly

Rated: R

5.8/10

A housemaid falls in love with Dr. Jekyll and his darkly mysterious counterpart, Mr. Hyde.

21. Lay the Favorite

Rated: R

4.8/10

A former stripper's talent with numbers lands her a job with a professional gambler who runs a sports book in Las Vegas.