From Wikipedia, the free enclyopedia. Clio Barnard is a British director of documentary and feature films. She won widespread critical acclaim and multiple awards for her debut, The Arbor, an experimental documentary about Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar. In 2013 she was hailed as a significant new voice in British cinema for her film The Selfish Giant, which premiered in the Director's Fortnight section of the Cannes film festival.
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Biography from TMDB.
- Director, writer and producer
- 5 on MovieCove · 12 credits in all
What are Clio Barnard's films like?
Across their 5 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Survival.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 4
Light 0 · Serious 1 · Dark 3
Grounded 3 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 1 · Charged 0 · Intense 3
Steady 2 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 0
Casual 1 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 0 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 3
Resolved 1 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet3
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Clio Barnard's films?
As of October 24, 2026, all 5 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Clio Barnard's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
12 credits, 5 with a MovieCove page.
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
The Essex Serpent(2022)
Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all shows
Ali & Ava(2021)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
Dark River(2017)
Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films
The Selfish Giant(2013)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
The Arbor(2010)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
Dark Glass (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Road Race (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
Random Acts of Intimacy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)
Headcase (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
Hermaphrodite Bikini (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)
Bedlam (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1991)
Career shape
A full career of 12 titles, 11 of them dated from 1991 to 2022.
Biggest box office
The Selfish Giant (2013)
Highest rated
The Selfish Giant (2013)
Most popular right now
The Essex Serpent (2022)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Clio Barnard's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 80th percentile, the median of all 4; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 83rd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th1
- 25th to 49th1
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
None of their 5 titles divides audiences: 3 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the atmosphere 79/100 and the pacing 54/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Clio Barnard work with?
People who share at least 2 of Clio Barnard's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Harry Escott shares the most, 4.
Writers
- Lila RawlingsShared titles: Dark River (2017), The Selfish Giant (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Lila Rawlings
Actors
- Natalie GavinShared titles: Ali & Ava (2021), The Arbor (2010)See all 2 shared titles with Natalie Gavin
- Shaun ThomasShared titles: Ali & Ava (2021), The Selfish Giant (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Shaun Thomas
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Harry EscottShared titles: Ali & Ava (2021), Dark River (2017), The Selfish Giant (2013), The Arbor (2010)See all 4 shared titles with Harry Escott
- Nick FentonShared titles: Dark River (2017), The Selfish Giant (2013), The Arbor (2010)See all 3 shared titles with Nick Fenton
- Ole Bratt BirkelandShared titles: Ali & Ava (2021), The Arbor (2010)See all 2 shared titles with Ole Bratt Birkeland
Producers
- Tracy O'RiordanShared titles: Ali & Ava (2021), Dark River (2017), The Selfish Giant (2013), The Arbor (2010)See all 4 shared titles with Tracy O'Riordan
- Lizzie FranckeShared titles: Ali & Ava (2021), Dark River (2017), The Selfish Giant (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Lizzie Francke
- Ameenah Ayub AllenShared titles: Ali & Ava (2021), Dark River (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Ameenah Ayub Allen
- Hugo HeppellShared titles: Ali & Ava (2021), Dark River (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Hugo Heppell
