
National Theatre Live: The Brightening Air(2025)
How much of living is really just forgetting?
The family home is more than merely a building. It can be a destination of pilgrimage, an inherited investment, a repository of memory or even magic. And, for brother and sister Stephen and Billie, home is all they have. Mucking along in their decaying farmhouse, they're doing just fine. That is, until the arrival of an ex-clergyman uncle with an unscrupulous plan, a sister-in-law seeking a miracle, and a prodigal brother hell-bent on trouble.
Movie: National Theatre Live: The Brightening Air
Top 8 Billed Cast
Brendan
Recommendations Movies
6.1Landline(en)
A teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan during the 1990s discovers that her father is having an affair.
7.1Mickybo and Me(en)
The film tells the story of two boys who become friends at the start of the Troubles in 1970. The boys share an obsession with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, with the consequence that they run away to Australia.
6.2Somewhere in Queens(en)
Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.
6.9Oh, Hello on Broadway(en)
Two delusional geriatrics reveal curious pasts, share a love of tuna and welcome a surprise guest in this filming of the popular Broadway comedy show.
6.3Almost Friends(en)
A man in his mid-20s, still living at home with his mother and stepfather, puts all his eggs in one basket: the girl who works at his local coffee shop. The problem is, she has a serious boyfriend. As they become closer, the line between friendship and intimacy is blurred, and the situation forces both to examine where they are in their lives.
6.4The Honey Pot(en)
In Venice, a millionaire hires an actor to help him prank three greedy exes into thinking he's dying and leaving his fortune to one of them.
7.1Stage Door(en)
A spirited heiress wishing to break into theatre on her own merit arrives at a boardinghouse where aspiring young actresses and showgirls are brought together through their cynicism and disappointments.
6.1About Alex(en)
When a group of old college friends reunite over a long weekend after one of them attempts suicide, old crushes and resentments shine light on their life decisions, and ultimately push friendships and relationships to the brink.
6.5Juniper(en)
When a self-destructive teenager is suspended from school and asked to look after his feisty alcoholic grandmother as a punishment, the crazy time they spend together turns his life around.
5.9Better Start Running(en)
An eclectic band of misfits becomes an unlikely family as they take a wild journey in the name of love while on the run from an overzealous FBI duo who want them dead or alive - preferably dead.
6.2My Own Love Song(en)
A wheelchair-bound singer and her best friend embark on a roadtrip to Memphis.
6.2The Adults(en)
Eric returns home for a short visit and finds himself caught between reuniting with his sisters and chasing a victory with his old poker group. As the trip extends, Eric finds it increasingly difficult to avoid confrontations and revelations as his carefully constructed façade of his adulthood gives way to old childhood conflicts.
6.3Hooking Up(en)
Bailey and Darla embark upon a misguided and mutually deceitful form of therapy, one in which they must drive across the country, re-enacting Darla's colorful history as a sex addict. As their true motivations for the road trip come to light, the unlikely pair force one another to confront their issues, discovering that there might actually be more to love than just sex.
6.0It Runs in the Family(en)
This is the story of a dysfunctional New York family, and their attempts to reconcile
6.8The House of Tomorrow(en)
The film tells futurist, architect, and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller's incredible story through two teens hoping to get laid, become punk gods, and survive high school.
5.9Match(en)
A Seattle couple travel to New York to interview colorful former dancer Tobi for research on a dissertation about dance. But soon, common niceties and social graces erode when the questions turn personal and the true nature of the interview is called into question.
6.1Playing God(en)
A brother and sister con-artist duo find themselves scamming a grieving billionaire by convincing him they can introduce him to God, face-to-face.
7.2Carnage(en)
Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behavior throws the discussion into chaos.
6.3Family Weekend(en)
A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
Similar Movies
6.5National Theatre Live: Hamlet(en)
Olivier Award-winner Hiran Abeysekera (Life of Pi) is Hamlet in this fearless, contemporary take on Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. Trapped between duty and doubt, surrounded by power and privilege, young Prince Hamlet dares to ask the ultimate question–you know the one. National Theatre Deputy Artistic Director, Robert Hastie (Standing at the Sky’s Edge, Operation Mincemeat) directs this sharp, stylish and darkly funny reimagining.
10.0National Theatre Live: Retrograde(en)
Hollywood's so-called Golden Age. Ten years before becoming the first Black man to win an Oscar, a young Sidney Poitier arrives to sign a life-changing contract that could make him a star. But there's a catch. As he becomes entangled in events larger than he imagined, Sidney is forced to make an impossible choice – one that will reshape his future, the Civil Rights Movement, and the soul of a nation. From award-winning writer Ryan Calais Cameron (For Black Boys...), exploring integrity, betrayal, and the personal cost of success, Retrograde asks what would you sacrifice to achieve your dream? Backed by double Oscar and BAFTA nominee Colman Domingo as producer, Amit Sharma's 'perfectly pitched production' (Independent) features Ivanno Jeremiah (Constellations), Stanley Townsend (Kaos), and Oliver Johnstone (Antigone).
0.0National Theatre Live: Mrs. Warren's Profession(en)
Vivie Warren is a woman ahead of her time. Her mother, however, is a product of that old patriarchal order. Exploiting it has earned Mrs. Warren a fortune – but at what cost?
0.0National Theatre Live: The Fifth Step(en)
After years in the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, James becomes a sponsor to newcomer Luka. The pair bond over black coffee, trade stories and build a fragile friendship out of their shared experiences. But as Luka approaches step five – the moment of confession – dangerous truths emerge, threatening the trust on which both of their recoveries depend.
0.0Le Soulier de Satin(fr)
Video recording of the stage play "Le Soulier de Satin", played by La Comédie-Française at Paris during the 2024-2025 season, and directed for the stage by Eric Ruf. The play was recorded by Arnaud Desplechin.
9.0All My Sons(en)
Two families, related by friendship and love, face up to the consequences of greed and avarice in the post-war years. Love and death play equal roles in determining the outcome of events.
0.0Hamlet(en)
A ghostly visitor with a shocking secret, a daughter devastated by loss, a deadly duel – and the most famous question in all of drama. Just some of the reasons why Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy will hold you spellbound.
8.5National Theatre Live: Present Laughter(en)
As he prepares to embark on an overseas tour, star actor Garry Essendine’s colourful life is in danger of spiralling out of control. Engulfed by an escalating identity crisis as his many and various relationships compete for his attention, Garry’s few remaining days at home are a chaotic whirlwind of love, sex, panic and soul-searching.
10.0Private Lives(en)
Elyot Chase and Amanda Prynne are glamorous, rich, reckless…and divorced. Five years later, their love for one another is unexpectedly rekindled when they take adjoining suites of a French hotel while honeymooning with their new spouses. This chance encounter instantly reignites their passion, and they fling themselves headlong into a whirlwind of love and lust once more, without a thought for partners present or turbulences past. This Chichester Festival Theatre production of Noël Coward’s Privates Lives was filmed live at London's Gielgud Theatre.
6.0The Three(ru)
A husband, a wife and another woman. Only three are in the frame.
8.0Back to Back(en)
These dueling one-act comedies highlight the work of playwright John Mortimer. In "The Dock Brief," an ill-prepared attorney is put to the test when his client confesses to killing his wife. In "What Shall We Tell Caroline?" a father with good intentions tries to protect his wife and daughter from the bad things in life.
6.0VeggieTales: Twas the Night Before Easter(en)
It's Easter time in Crisper County and cable news reporter Marlee Meade (Petunia Rhubarb) is hunting for a way to help others. On a tip that the old town theater will be shut down, Marlee cooks up a plan to save the stage and make a difference through the power of musical theater! With a cast of costume-clad townies, massive props and a 20-foot robot rabbit - "Up With Bunnies" is hatched! There's only one thing missing - the star of the show! When news spreads that singing sensation Cassie Cassava (Melinda Dolittle) is arriving to perform in her hometown church's Easter service, Marlee gets worried. Concerned about the competition, she schemes to steal the starlet for her own pageant! But when things go haywire, will it be curtains for Marlee's dreams - or will she discover the true meaning of Easter and what helping others is really all about?
8.5The Gin Game(en)
Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey, two elderly residents at a nursing home for senior citizens, strike up an acquaintance. Neither seems to have any other friends, and they start to enjoy each other's company. Weller offers to teach Fonsia how to play gin rummy, and they begin playing a series of games that Fonsia always wins. Weller's inability to win a single hand becomes increasingly frustrating to him, while Fonsia becomes increasingly confident. While playing their games of gin, they engage in lengthy conversations about their families and their lives in the outside world. Gradually, each conversation becomes a battle, much like the ongoing gin games, as each player tries to expose the other's weaknesses, to belittle the other's life, and to humiliate the other thoroughly.
6.4Bluebeard(fr)
Paris, France, during the First World War. While thousands of soldiers die every day on the battlefields, Henri Landru, a seemingly respectable furniture dealer, married and father of four children, relentlessly feeds his own sinister factory of death.
5.8Geliebte Hochstaplerin(de)
Roberto Bolle smuggles himself as a stowaway on an ocean liner that of Hamburg gen New York sets sail. On board is also his lover Barbara Shadwell, whom he wants to marry, but who, at the request of her mother, the syrup millionaire Ceila Shadwell, should marry the oatmeal millionaire David.
5.0BLACKland(hu)
The film is a stage play hybrid showcasing dark and absurd sketches based on contemporary Hungarian news of the 2000's with campy, senseless musical interludes in-between. Highly experimental in nature that - like Marmite - will split its' crowd into ones that'll love it and others that'll loathe it. There's no middle grounds here. The topics included are: The Hungarian Olympians' doping scandal, political terrorism, the national elections... and more.
6.4Love Liza(en)
Following the unexplained suicide of his wife Liza, website designer Wilson Joel turns to huffing gasoline fumes and remote control gaming while avoiding an inevitable conflict with his mother-in-law.
6.9Likely Consequence(zh)
Filmed performance of Yang's one-act two-character play which shifts back and forth from comedy to much darker tones as a married couple try to figure out what to do with the body of a man the wife has killed in their kitchen.
0.0The Shape of Things(en)
When college student Adam falls hard for Evelyn, an ambitious art major, the meaning of both art and friendship are pushed to their limits. Neil LaBute’s Olivier Award nominated chilling comedy is now streaming exclusively on Original Online, direct from its hit run at Park Theatre, London.















