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Let Him Have It

Let Him Have It

Drama · 1991

In 1950s England, slow-witted Derek Bentley falls in with a group of petty criminals led by Chris Craig, a teenager with a fondness for American gangster films. Chris and Derek's friendship leads to their involvement in the true case which would forever shake England's belief in capital punishment.

Movie details

Let Him Have It

“The shocking story of an unbelievable miscarriage of justice.”

1991 Drama 1h 55m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.1 / 10

3.8K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

84 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

In 1950s England, slow-witted Derek Bentley falls in with a group of petty criminals led by Chris Craig, a teenager with a fondness for American gangster films. Chris and Derek's friendship leads to their involvement in the true case which would forever shake England's belief in capital punishment.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Let Him Have It?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Peter Medak

Written by

Robert Wade · Neal Purvis

Christopher Eccleston

Christopher Eccleston

Derek Bentley

Paul Reynolds

Paul Reynolds

Christopher Craig

Tom Courtenay

Tom Courtenay

William Bentley

Eileen Atkins

Eileen Atkins

Lilian Bentley

Iain Cuthbertson

Iain Cuthbertson

Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe

Tom Bell

Tom Bell

Fairfax

Clive Revill

Clive Revill

Pierrepoint

Court is in session

Put Let Him Have It on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.