

The Selfish Giant
A hyperactive boy and his best friend, a slow-witted youth with an affinity for horses, start collecting scrap metal for a shady dealer.
TMDB
7.2/10
254 votes
IMDb
Not rated yet
View on IMDb
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- —
- Box office
- $12.2K
- Language
- English
- friendship
- horse
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd)
- yorkshire
- based on short story
- woman director
- school suspension
- bradford
Top billed cast











Behind the camera
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for United States. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
Stream
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Release dates
United StatesUS
- Theatrical (limited)R20 Dec 2013
United KingdomGB
- Theatrical1525 Oct 2013
CanadaCA
- Theatrical (limited)24 Jan 2014
BelgiumBE
- Theatrical1415 Jan 2014
DenmarkDK
- Theatrical1124 Apr 2014
FranceFR
- PremiereCannes Film Festival16 May 2013
- Theatrical18 Dec 2013
GreeceGR
- PremiereThessaloniki International Film Festival6 Nov 2013
- TheatricalΚ-1513 Feb 2014
- PhysicalDVD6 Aug 2014
IrelandIE
- Theatrical1525 Oct 2013
NetherlandsNL
- Theatrical1430 Jan 2014
SpainES
- Theatrical13 Nov 2013
SwedenSE
- PremiereStockholm International Film Festival7 Nov 2013
- Theatrical28 Mar 2014
Frequently asked questions
The Selfish Giant was released on 25 October 2013.
Audience reviews
3- R7/10
r96sk
7/9/2020
Very much enjoyed this, from a film point of view of course given the dark and saddening tone of the story. <em>'The Selfish Giant'</em> is a gritty drama involving two kids who get mixed up in the wrong world. At the beginning I was worried it was going to turn into a cliché-filled, overly stereotypical tale of less well-off families. It does in small doses, but feels legitimate for the majority. Cast-wise it …
- G6/10
griggs79
3/28/2025
_The Selfish Giant_ is an interesting watch—gritty, heartfelt, and beautifully shot, with powerful performances from its young leads. There’s a rawness to it that feels authentic, and the friendship at its centre is touching in that bruised, kitchen-sink way. But as much as I wanted to be moved, something about it felt a bit… manipulative. Like it knew exactly how to push the poverty-porn buttons. It lingers on the h…
- C7/10
CinemaSerf
6/12/2025
“Arbor” (Conner Chapman) is a bit of a tearaway who’s on medication that his elder brother frequently sells and hates going to school. His best mate is “Swifty” (Shaun Thomas) - a gentle giant of a boy, and the two are inseparable. When a brawl at school sees the former excluded permanently and his pal for a fortnight, they decide to turn their heads to scrap collection. A perilous business where much of what they ar…
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