--- description: The new film about the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 is both horrifying and deeply moving. Read TIME's review. title: Peterloo Review: Mike Leigh's Film Is History With Heart image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta487927dddfbd855/698947ca8fd2ee15d135e0d9/peterloo-english-massacre-timeoff-movie-review.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Director Mike Leigh Revisits a Little-Known 1819 Massacre in ‘Peterloo’  by [Stephanie Zacharek](/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Film Critic Apr 4, 2019 10:08 AM CUT  Peterloo is a story of resilience in the face of brute force Peterloo is a story of resilience in the face of brute forceEntertainment One  by [Stephanie Zacharek](/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Film Critic Apr 4, 2019 10:08 AM CUT You might need to be something of an English-history nut to truly love _Peterloo_, Mike Leigh’s somber and ambitious film about[ the Peterloo Massacre of 1819,](http://time.com/5416727/peterloo-true-story/ "undefined") in which 18 people were killed and many more were injured when cavalry soldiers charged a group of roughly 60,000 citizens who had gathered peacefully in Manchester’s St. Peter’s Field to campaign for parliamentary reform. But even if you’ve never heard of the Peterloo Massacre, this picture–beautifully staged and shot, with a you-are-there urgency–will reward your patience. _Peterloo_ focuses partially on one family, that of a young Manchester man named Joseph (David Moorst), an army bugler who has recently returned from the Napoleonic Wars with a case of PTSD. Joseph’s mother, Nellie (Maxine Peake), is a careworn but persistent woman who sells meat pies to keep the family afloat–when she can afford to make them. Poverty and hunger are so widespread that the citizens have begun to stage secret meetings, seeking the parliamentary representation they’ve long been denied. When renowned political reformer Henry Hunt (Rory Kinnear) comes to Manchester to deliver a big speech, the residents of the city and surrounding towns turn out in hopeful droves to hear him, unaware that the local authorities will stop at nothing to shut them down. The climax, as Leigh stages it, is both horrifying and deeply moving. _Peterloo_ shows what can happen when tyrants use brute force. It also proves the ineffectiveness of swords and bayonets, or their modern-day counterparts, in breaking the will of the people. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5564177/peterloo-movie-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5564177/peterloo-movie-review/"},"headline":"Director Mike Leigh Revisits a Little-Known 1819 Massacre in ‘Peterloo’","datePublished":"2019-04-04T10:08:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:13:24.549Z","description":"The new film about the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 is both horrifying and deeply moving. 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