November 5 is known as Bonfire Night and while there’s a devastating lack of films and TV centred around the historical day, we’ve collated the very best recommendations to make your night that tiny bit more entertaining.
Here are our recommendations for Bonfire Night across film and TV. Some of them reference the infamous Gunpowder Plot directly and some simply capture the essence of rebellion and liberty.
V for Vendetta
Credit: Warner Bros Pictures
Classic, you simply can’t go wrong with this. Adapted from a graphic novel, V for Vendetta is perhaps the best known film to include Guy Fawkes in any way. A masked freedom fighter (Hugo Weaving wearing a Guy Fawkes mask) drafts Evie (Natalie Portman) to aid him in terror attacks that shake the dystopian, fascist Britain of the future.
The Hunger Games franchise
Credit: Lionsgate
Technically, the four The Hunger Games films have nothing to do with Guy Fawkes or the Gunpowder Plot. Yet, The Hunger Games does include elements of liberation, rebellion and freeing an entire nation through violence. Both The Hunger Games and the people behind the Gunpowder Plot seem to agree that the future is only changed by acts of bloody violence.
Gunpowder
Credit: BBC
This BBC 3-part drama was a direct adaptation of the events that led to what we now celebrate as Bonfire Night. Kit Harington portrays Robert Catesby while Tom Cullen plays Guy Fawkes himself in this quality production.
Mr. Robot
Credit: NBCUniversal Television Distribution
What an excellent time to revisit Mr. Robot. Rami Malek’s Elliott becomes a part of hacktivist group fsociety, who wear masks similar to the real hacker group Anonymous. Their masks are, of course, the same as V’s in V food Vendetta, a Guy Fawkes one.
Sherlock – The Empty Hearse
Credit: BBC
Remember when Benedict Cumberbatch was known as BBC’s quirky iteration of Sherlock Holmes rather than Marvel’s Doctor Strange? ‘The Empty Hearse’, which first aired in 2014, follows Holmes and Watson as they attempt to stop a terrorist attack on November 5.
The Matrix
Credit: Warner Bros.
Another film that has absolutely nothing to do with the Gunpowder Plot, but it again captures the essence of it all. The Matrix, directed by the Wachowskis, remains a stone cold classic of its genre. Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, joins a rebellion against the machines that have all but enslaved humanity.
