Netflix brings us the trailer for a sports film with an interesting twist. The Beautiful Game is based on a true story of a soccer event, The Homeless World Cup. The film stars Bill Nighy (Living, About Time), Micheal Ward (Empire of Light, The Book of Clarence), Susan Wokoma, Callum Scott Howells, Kit Young (Shadow and Bone, upcoming FX series, Alien), Sheyi Cole, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Robin Nazari, Aoi Okuyama, Cristina Rodlo, Tadashi Watanabe, Kazuhiro Muroyama and Valeria Golino.
The official synopsis from Netflix reads,
“Mal (Bill Nighy, Living, About Time) 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 (Micheal Ward, Empire of Light, The Book of Clarence), 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 movie comes from director Thea Sharrock (Me Before You, Wicked Little Letters) from a script by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Producers of the movie includes Blueprint Pictures’ Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin & Ben Knight with Anita Overland and Colin Farrell. Diarmuid McKeown, Claudine Farrell and Ollie Madden and Daniel Battsek for Film4 are on board as executive producers.
The Homeless World Cup Foundation was established in 2001 with the first Homeless World Cup taking place in Graz, Austria in 2003. The Foundation’s mission is to use football to support and inspire people who are homeless to change their own lives; and to change perceptions and attitudes towards people who are experiencing homelessness. The 2024 Homeless World Cup will take place in Seoul, S Korea.
For more information about the Homeless World Cup, you can visit: www.homelessworldcup.org