FilmsHard TimesLike this

Films like Hard Times.

Hard Times (1988) reads as Heavy, measured, measured dickens / industrial, grounded in texture. Nihilistic, mid-stakes, cold. Every film below is ranked by distance across the same twelve hand-scored axes — with what it keeps, and where it walks away. Not a genre dump.

Here on Earth (1993) poster
1. Here on Earth1993

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Rebellion (1993) poster
2. The Rebellion1993

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

I Can't Sleep (1994) poster
3. I Can't Sleep1994

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Shot in the Forest (1991) poster
4. The Shot in the Forest1991

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Revenge (1989) poster
5. Revenge1989

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Himala (1982) poster
6. Himala1982

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Golden Horseshoes (1989) poster
7. Golden Horseshoes1989

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

East Palace, West Palace (1996) poster
8. East Palace, West Palace1996

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Betty (1992) poster
9. Betty1992

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Sheer Madness (1983) poster
10. Sheer Madness1983

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Face to Face (1984) poster
11. Face to Face1984

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Fraulein (1986) poster
12. Fraulein1986

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the bone-dry seriousness — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

These are Hard Times’s neighbours — where are yours?

Rate five posters and the same twelve axes read you — then tonight’s pick comes from your own centre of taste.

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