Bill Nighy's "wonderful" British real-life drama is now streaming for free

The Beautiful Game is once again streaming for free on Channel 4's streaming service after airing on TV, but as is the case with films on 4, it's only for a limited time. In this case, you've got 26 days left to watch it before it leaves again.

The 2024 drama sees Bill Nighy play Mal, the manager of England's homeless football team who are set to travel to Rome to take part in the Homeless World Cup.

Striker Vinny, played by Micheal Ward, could be the key to their victory, but only if he can work through his issues and learn to be part of the team.

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The film was directed by Thea Sharrock, who also helmed Wicked Little Letters, with the script being written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the author of the beloved children's book Millions.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a very strong critic score of 88% positive from 41 collected reviews.

The Associated Press said: "Is it a little glossy and sanitized with a jaunty score? Sure. But it also thoughtfully explores themes of redemption, invisibility, pride and sportsmanship without being preachy or condescending."

"Even when you can practically hear the film's formulaic gear-shifting, it's hard not to be won over," wrote Variety, "Not least by the real-life backstory guiding its less authentic fiction."

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Over on IMDb, the film has a user score of 6.3/10, although this is an average of all 9,300 ratings rather than the percentage of reviews that are generally positive.

One enthusiastic viewer called the film "wonderful" and wrote: "I thought it would just be a lighthearted pastime, a silly comedy, but I'm already here crying after less than 20 minutes of the film, thinking and lamenting the problems of an unjust society."

The Beautiful Game can be streamed now on Channel 4.

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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.