The latest in our series of writers highlighting their most rewatched comfort films is a personal tribute to the inspirational British dramaFor me, feeling good isn’t about escape, it’s about confrontation. Staring the thing you truly care about in the eye and giving in to it. It’s about empowerment, courage, optimism. I’m a sucker for coming-of-age films, the idea of striving to be the person you want to be despite the circumstances around you, and no film hits home for me like Billy Elliot.The low-budget drama danced its way through cinema projectors and on to the screen in September 2000, a few weeks after my fourth birthday. The film, set in County Durham in 1984, focuses on Billy (played by Jamie Bell), the younger brother of Tony, who is part of the miners’ strike, alongside his father, Jackie, who is a widower. Billy is 11 and a reluctant boxer who finds himself drawn toward Sandra (Julie Walters) and her ballet classes, which are taking place in the boxing gym as their studio is being used to feed the striking miners. He knows these dreams are not for young men like him, and is petrified of how his older brother and father will respond to his newfound passion, but the chain-smoking Sandra sees a natural aptitude (and above all determination) in Billy and helps him to audition for the Royal Ballet School in London. Continue reading...

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jun/01/billy-elliot-feelgood-movie