21 of the all-time best films featuring Glasgow as chosen by Glaswegians
These are 21 of the best films which are filmed in Glasgow
As we head into the winter months, nothing quite beats drawing the curtains early on a dark cold night and picking out a good film to watch. There’s a great selection of movies set in the city or filmed in Glasgow to choose from while you spot local landmarks in scenes.
Suggestions include a film written by Peter McDougall that was originally released as a television play, but is now considered a film in its own right. One popular pick, Just a Boys’ Game, featured Glasgow actors but Greenock can claim that film as its own. The same applies to Ken Loach’s Sweet Sixteen.
Honourable mentions, not included in this list, include 2005 action thriller Unleashed which starred the likes of Jet Li and Morgan Freeman and filmed in Broomhill; Hobbs and Shaw and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny which both featured a lot of Glasgow scenes. The cast for eighties film Gregory’s Girl included members of the Glasgow Youth Theatre but it was filmed in Cumbernauld.
We asked our readers to tell us their favourite film featuring Glasgow hundreds replies with these brilliant suggestions.
1. My Name is Joe
My Name is Joe is a 1998 Ken Loach film which follows a recovering alcoholic who strikes up a romance with a health visitor, it was filmed in council estates around the city and featured many recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, and ex-convicts in its production and cast.
2. Red Road
Kate Dickie stars as Jackie who works as a CCTV operator. “Each day she watches over a small part of the world, protecting the people living their lives under her gaze. One day a man appears on her monitor, a man she thought she would never see again, a man she never wanted to see again. Now she has no choice, she is compelled to confront him.”
3. Trainspotting
Trainspotting features Ewan MacGregor and Robert Carlyle amongst others as we follow the life of Renton who is deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene. Glasgow locations such as The Crosslands pub, Café D’Jaconelli and The Volcano nightclub feature in the film. Photo: Third Party
4. Under the Skin
“A mysterious young woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. However, events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery” with the film starring Scarlett Johansson.