Threads (1984) on Netflix
Ruth Beckett and Jimmy Kemp are planning a wedding and a first child in Sheffield. A superpower crisis over Iran escalates, and Britain prepares for nuclear war.
- Netflix2.7/5
- IMDb7.9/1028,598 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
In Sheffield, Ruth Beckett and Jimmy Kemp plan to marry after Ruth learns she is pregnant. The Soviet Union invades northern Iran after a United States-backed coup there, and an American ultimatum demanding a joint withdrawal expires. After a limited nuclear exchange at Mashhad, America and the Soviet Union go to war, and Britain braces for the possibility of a nuclear attack. Society destabilizes over two days: anti-war protests are put down by force, and Sheffield residents strip the shops in panic buying and looting. City council officials set up emergency operations in a makeshift basement bunker. Ruth's family intend to take cover in their cellar, while Jimmy's relatives build a lean-to out of mattresses and doors, following the Protect and Survive leaflets.
Cast
- Henry Moxonas Mr. Beckett
- June Broughtonas Mrs. Beckett
- Sylvia Stokeras Granny Beckett
- Harry Beetyas Clive Sutton
- Ruth Holdenas Marjorie Sutton
- Ashley Barkeras Bob
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Threads (1984)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The makeup for extras playing third-degree-burn victims consisted of Rice Krispies and tomato ketchup, while the prop umbilical cord that Ruth bites through after giving birth was made from liquorice.
- Jackson recalled that BBC productions were usually followed by congratulatory phone calls from friends and colleagues, but none came after the first screening of Threads. He thought at first it had been poorly received, then realized that "people had switched off their TVs and just sat quietly thinking".
- The film was shot on a budget of £400,000 (equivalent to £1.34 million in 2024), yet it was the first of its kind to depict a nuclear winter and has been cited as the film "which comes closest to representing the full horror of nuclear war and its aftermath".
- Jackson stated that he had it on good authority that Ronald Reagan watched the film's American broadcast. A cartoon in The Times two days after the broadcast showed a couple reading a headline of "Reagan's peace speech" and asking, "Do you think he saw Threads?"
- Michael Beecroft, who was working as a traffic warden in real life, was cast as a traffic warden guarding an improvised detention camp and appears for only about thirty seconds, yet stills of his bandaged, rifle-wielding character publicised the film; his identity was unknown until 2024, when BBC Radio Sheffield found him.
- The scenes taking place six weeks after the attack were shot at Curbar Edge in the Peak District National Park, and because weather conditions were too fine to pass off as a nuclear winter, stage snow was spread around the rocks and heather and cameramen installed light filters to block out the sunlight.
- Auditions were advertised in The Star and took place in the ballroom of Sheffield City Hall, where 1,100 candidates turned up. Extras were chosen on the basis of height and age, told to look "miserable" and to wear ragged clothes, and the majority were CND supporters.
- Licensing difficulties forced the 1987 release to replace Chuck Berry's recording of "Johnny B. Goode" with an alternative recording, and the original music over the opening narration, an extract from the Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss conducted by Rudolf Kempe, was removed for the same reason.
