The trailer for Netflix’s The Beautiful Game looks like a feel-good winner
For more than two decades, the Homeless World Cup has been a powerful force in the fight against homelessness: more than 1.2 million people have taken part in the tournament, from almost 70 different countries, and it has had a life-changing impact on many. And it looks like an upcoming Netflix move The beautiful game did a great job of bringing that drama and tension to the screen.
The film stars Bill Nighy as the manager of the English homeless football team that travels to Rome for the World Cup. His star player is the talented but troubled Vinny, played by Michel Ward. If he can let go of his past and become a team player, he could just take England to the top. But that won’t be easy.
When can you watch The Beautiful Game on Netflix?
The beautiful game hits Netflix on March 29, and it looks like it’ll be worth waiting for: It’s written by multi-award-winning novelist and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who played excellently in a band called Dead Trout in the 1970s and who, more pertinently, was described by the late film critic Roger Ebert as one of the few truly inventive modern screenwriters. His musical drama from Manchester 24 hour party people was spectacular, and he was one of the brilliant minds behind the incredible opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Michael Ward doesn’t have much of a history, but the actor is another award winner: He won the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2020 and received another BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2022 for his role in the Sam Mendes drama Kingdom of Light. You may know him from Top Boy, where he played Jamie Tovell in a storyline I’m still not over.
Here Ward teams up with legendary actor Bill Nighy, whose boards groan under the weight of BAFTAs and Golden Globes. Like Cottrell-Boyce, he was also in a band with an excellent name, The Love Ponies. The music’s loss is clearly the acting’s gain. Finger crossed The beautiful game drives its heartwarming premise all the way to our list of the best Netflix movies.