The Netflix film tells a fictional story inspired by the Homeless World Cup.
The first trailer has been released for Netflix’s upcoming football drama The Beautiful Game, which tells a fictional story about England’s homeless football team taking on the Homeless World Cup in Rome.
Inspired by the real Homeless World Cup – and made with the support of the organisation – the film stars Bill Nighy and Michael Ward and will be released in select UK cinemas on Thursday 21st March before arriving on Netflix eight days later.
The trailer introduces us to striker Vinny (Ward) and manager Mal (Nighy) with an early scene showing the latter observing the former take a flamboyant penalty kick and remarking that it “had swagger”.
We then hear Vinny say in voiceover: “I was a player… Vinny Walker, legend in the making”, before Mal explains that he was a pro but has now been living in his car for months.
The rest of the trailer sees Mal recruit Vinny for England’s homeless team – although he is initially reluctant to be labeled as homeless – before the big trip to Rome for the tournament is teased, with Vinny clearly somewhat awestruck upon his arrival at the competition.
You can watch the trailer in full above, which also teases some conflict between Vinny and some of his teammates, plenty of inspiration words from Mal, and appearances from other recognisable names such as It’s A Sin’s Callum Scott Howells, Shadow and Bone star Kit Young and Taskmaster’s Susan Wokoma.
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The full synopsis for the film provided by Netflix reads: “Mal is the manager of England’s homeless football team, taking his players to Rome with the hope of being crowned champions of the Homeless World Cup, a global street soccer tournament.
“At the last minute, he decides to bring with them a talented striker Vinny, who could give them a real chance at winning, but only if he’s ready to let go of his past and become part of the team.
“Made with the support of the Homeless World Cup, The Beautiful Game is a film of second chances – where homeless teams from around the world find that all roads lead to Rome, and everything’s to play for.”
The Beautiful Game is released in select UK cinemas on Thursday 21st March and on Netflix on Friday 29th March.
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