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Bend It Like Beckham

Play trailer 2:00 Poster for Bend It Like Beckham PG-13 2003 1h 52m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
85% Tomatometer 157 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra), the daughter of a strict Indian couple (Anupam Kher, Shaheen Khan) in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton (Keira Knightley), who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.
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Bend It Like Beckham

Bend It Like Beckham

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Critics Consensus

Inspiring, compassionate, and with a sly undercurrent of social commentary, Bend It Like Beckham is a lively feel-good movie that genuinely charms.

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Critics Reviews

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Namrata Joshi Outlook 01/03/2019
2/4
The film caricaturises every character, save the lead players and their sympathisers, in the most obvious manner. Go to Full Review Nell Minow Common Sense Media 10/14/2010
4/5
Superb tale of a girl's struggle for her dreams. Go to Full Review Jumana Farouky TIME Magazine 08/01/2008
The acting is as nimble as the footwork. Go to Full Review Noah Berlatsky Everything is Horrible (Substack) May 10
Bend It Like Beckham is a rom com and a sports drama. Rather than choosing desire or identity, it treats them as if they’re interchangeable. Go to Full Review Kanishk Devgan Film Companion 03/30/2021
...a very earnest and uplifting exploration of the daughter of Indian immigrants who just wants to play some football. Go to Full Review Shannon Melero Jezebel 11/10/2020
For any film to be a great sports film it must have staying power, beyond ample training montages and a great comeback game, and Bend It Like Beckham has all of that in spades and more. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jacob B @JB3.0 8h An enjoyable sports comedy with great performances from its two leads (to the point that not only are they mistaken for lesbians in the film itself but Keira Knightley herself is open to making the idea canon if anyone was ever arsed to make a sequel), solid social commentary and an overall feel-good vibe. Long story short, Bend it Like Beckham is a predictable - not that this kind of genre was ever the type of film you saw for its plot twists; here, it's the focus on Indian culture and the conflict over the heroine's sister's wedding that contribute to this film standing out - yet delightful watch, even if you don't care about football a.k.a. soccer in Yank-friendly terms. See more alan g @agenser Feb 4 A beautiful movie about family, friendship andsoccer. See more Andy C @RT89413398 Nov 15 Corny and hammy throughout - but still a great feel good watch. The script and acting actually improve as the film goes on as if it were made in two halves. See more Will B @Wiggyb123 Aug 18 Very good film this, didn’t quite know what to expect from it but was well worth a watch. Nothing really to do with Beckham 🤣 See more Stephen C @bob25009 Jul 8 Funny in 1 hour and 52 minutes. Rated PG-13 for Sexual Content and Language. See more Rehan T @RT81460504 05/18/2025 It was long and boring. Also, it was a hard watch with that British accent... See more Read all reviews
Bend It Like Beckham

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Cast & Crew

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Gurinder Chadha

Director

Parminder Nagra

Jesminder 'Jess' Kaur Bhamra

Keira Knightley

Jules Paxton

Anupam Kher

Mr. Bhamra

Archie Panjabi

Pinky Bhamra

Shaznay Lewis

Mel

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Bend It Like Beckham

Bend It Like Beckham: Trailer 1 Bend It Like Beckham: Trailer 1 2:00 View more videos
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Bend It Like Beckham

Left to Right: Keira Knightly, Parminder Nagra and Shaznay Lewis in BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. Kulvinder Ghir (Teetu) & Archie Panjabi (Pinky Bhamra) Parminder Nagra (Jess) & Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Joe) Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Joe) & Parminder Nagra (Jess) Keira Knightley (Jules) & Shaznay Lewis (Mel) Parminder Nagra (Jess) Keira Knightley (Jules) A scene from BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. Parminder Nagra in BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. Left to Right: Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley in BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra), the daughter of a strict Indian couple (Anupam Kher, Shaheen Khan) in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton (Keira Knightley), who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.
Director
Gurinder Chadha
Producer
Deepak Nayar, Gurinder Chadha
Screenwriter
Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha, Guljit Bindra
Distributor
Fox
Production Co
Kintop Pictures, Scion Films, Helkon Media AG, Film Council, British Screen Productions
Rating
PG-13 (Sexual Content|Language)
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
British English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 12, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$32.5M
Runtime
1h 52m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)