Nobody chains a teenager in a basement and makes you question who the real villain is. Heel does exactly that, and it does it with two of the best actors working in British film today. The Heel review short answer: this is one of the most unsettling, emotionally complex thrillers to arrive in 2026, and it will stay with you for days after the credits roll. Originally titled Good Boy, the film is now on VOD and it is already generating serious conversation.
What Is Heel About?
The Heel plot follows Tommy (Anson Boon), a 19-year-old criminal from London who spends his nights partying, using drugs, and inflicting violence on strangers. One night, on the tail end of a blackout bender, he is abducted by a man named Chris (Stephen Graham) and wakes up chained to the ceiling of a basement inside an isolated Yorkshire estate. Chris and his wife Kathryn (Andrea Riseborough) want to turn Tommy into a "good boy." They have a system. It is disturbing, and it works.
Think A Clockwork Orange relocated to a posh English countryside home, with a young son in the house and a housemaid who may or may not suspect what is happening upstairs and downstairs. The Heel plot is not about escape in the traditional thriller sense. It is about what happens when confinement starts to feel like the only structure someone has ever known. Director Jan Komasa is Polish, and this is his first English-language film. He makes it count.
The Heel Cast and Performances
The Heel cast is built around a trio that would carry almost any film. Stephen Graham has been getting well-deserved attention since Adolescence, and here he plays Chris with something even more unsettling than rage: calm certainty. In the scene where he first explains his "programme" to a chained Tommy, Graham delivers it with the steady patience of someone who has practiced the speech many times and completely believes every word.
Andrea Riseborough as Kathryn is a different kind of threat. She appears hollow, almost medicated in her stillness, but Riseborough layers in something beneath that surface that only becomes clear later. The real standout, though, is Anson Boon as Tommy. He was in 1917 as a teenager. Here he is all grown up and carrying a 110-minute film on his back, playing a character who is obnoxious, violent, and then somehow, quietly, heartbreaking. Kit Rakusen as Jonathan, the couple's young son, deserves a mention too. He plays innocence inside a deeply strange household with an instinctive ease that is genuinely impressive for an actor his age.
Direction, Visuals, and Score
Jan Komasa is not interested in making you comfortable. The film was shot in Yorkshire and Warsaw, and the estate feels genuinely remote and sealed off from the outside world. Production designer Gini Godwin uses the space brilliantly: the basement Tommy starts in is claustrophobic, and as he earns more freedom, the house opens up in ways that feel like reward and trap at the same time.
The pacing is slow-burn for the first third, and if you go in expecting a conventional thriller, the deliberate rhythm will test your patience. Stay with it. The second act tightens everything, and by the time the film reaches its final stretch, the tension is near-unbearable without a single conventional action beat. Composer Leila Djansi keeps the score sparse and unnerving. There are long stretches of near-silence where the only sound is the chain running along its ceiling track, and those moments are more effective than any jump scare could be.
What People Are Saying About Heel
Audience reaction since the VOD release has been broadly strong, with viewers on Reddit and Letterboxd consistently praising the central performances. The most common note from general audiences is that the film is harder to watch than the trailer suggests, but in a way that most viewers seem to respect. Several posts described feeling genuinely disturbed after the ending, in the best sense. Critics have been even more enthusiastic.
Heel currently holds a remarkable 94% on Rotten Tomatoes from 18 critic reviews, making it one of the best-reviewed thrillers of 2026 so far. Its IMDb score sits at 6.7, which tells you something about the audience split between those who find the film rewarding and those who find it too slow or too bleak. YouTube reviewers have repeatedly compared it to the early work of Yorgos Lanthimos, particularly Dogtooth, which is a useful reference point. If you enjoy films in that vein, check out our picks for the best psychological thriller movies streaming right now for more films that operate in the same unsettling register.
Is Heel Worth Watching?
Is Heel worth watching? For anyone who responds to character-driven psychological thrillers, absolutely yes. This is the kind of film that independent cinema was built to make: too dark, too specific, and too morally complicated for a major studio. Fans of Dogtooth, Possessor, or Parasite will find it rewarding in ways that few 2026 films have managed so far. For a similar tone in a different setting, have a look at our review of Adolescence for another recent Stephen Graham performance worth your time.
If you want a thriller with a clean resolution, a likeable protagonist, and a clear villain, Heel will not give you what you need. It asks you to hold contradictory feelings at once, and it does not apologize for that. This is a home viewing film rather than a theatrical one, not because it is small, but because its best moments land hardest in intimate, quiet conditions. Turn your phone off and pay attention.
Where to Watch Heel
Heel streaming is not yet available on subscription platforms. It is currently on VOD in the United States via Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home, with rental prices starting at $6.99 and a purchase price of $16.99. A limited theatrical run via Magnolia Pictures began on March 6, 2026, in select US cities. In the UK, Signature is handling the release. For more great films available to rent right now, our guide to the best movies on VOD this month is worth checking before you browse.
Heel is the kind of film that critics love and general audiences argue about, and both reactions are correct. Stephen Graham and Anson Boon turn a disturbing premise into something genuinely moving, and Jan Komasa directs it all with a control that never wavers. Watch it. Then sit quietly for a few minutes after it ends. You will need to.
Frequently Asked Questions About Heel (2026)
Where can I watch Heel (2026)? Heel is currently available to rent or buy on VOD in the US via Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home. Rental starts at $6.99. A limited theatrical run began March 6, 2026. It is not yet on any subscription streaming service.
What was Heel originally called? The film was originally titled Good Boy. The title was changed before its US theatrical release to avoid confusion with the 2026 horror film of the same name directed by Ben Leonberg, which follows a dog protecting its owner from supernatural forces. The two films are completely unrelated.
Is Heel based on a true story? No. Heel is an original fictional story. The screenplay was written by Bartek Bartosik and Naqqash Khalid. Director Jan Komasa has said the film began with a philosophical question about freedom, isolation, and whether care can exist inside control.
Who directed Heel? Heel was directed by Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa, whose previous work includes Corpus Christi (2019), which earned an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film. This is his first English-language film.
What is Heel rated? Heel is rated R for strong violence, disturbing content, language, and brief drug use. It is not suitable for children.
How long is Heel? The runtime is 110 minutes, approximately one hour and fifty minutes.
Is Heel similar to A Clockwork Orange? Multiple critics have made that comparison. Both films explore forced rehabilitation, social conditioning, and whether violent young men can be changed by external intervention. Heel is more intimate and less stylized, but the thematic territory overlaps.
What is Heel's Rotten Tomatoes score? Heel holds a 94% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 18 reviews, making it one of the best-reviewed thrillers of early 2026. Its IMDb score is 6.7 out of 10, reflecting a more divided general audience response.
Is Heel a horror film? It is classified as a black comedy thriller, though it has elements that horror fans will respond to. The tone is deeply unsettling, the violence is real, and the psychological atmosphere is closer to art-house horror than conventional thriller.
Will Heel come to Netflix or Max? No streaming acquisition has been announced as of March 2026. Given its limited theatrical release through Magnolia Pictures, a streaming deal is possible in the coming months, but nothing has been confirmed.
