Films that can help your law degree

With remote learning there has been a bigger focus on self- learning. As a dyslexic I prefer to understand things through visuals rather than words so I was delighted when I found that some of my modules had films lists instead of reading lists. I thought I would share some of the films that have helped me develop a deeper understanding. It also be an idea to watch these films before your degree so you can talk about them in your personal statement of have them simply as a point of reference.

1. The Children Act

For the Module Medicine and the Law you will cover patient consent and autonomy as well as children and if the law can and should be able to decide what medical procedures should occur on them- even if they do not consent. In the Children Act a High Court judge must decide if she should order a life-saving blood transfusion for a teenager with cancer, despite his family’s refusal to accept medical treatment for religious reasons- this is a good film for demonstrating how judges make legal decisions on behalf on children. It also shows the other stakeholders perspectives as well as the child personal journey. I also like that it has Emma Thompson in!

2. My Sister’s Keeper

Again for the Medicine and Law module. Organ transplant is covered which is a controversial issue which is demonstrated in this movie particularly the idea of a saviour child. The film portrays when a young girl, seeks a lawyer’s help to earn medical emancipation from her parents when they force her to donate organs, blood and tissue to her leukaemia-stricken elder sister and help her live.

3. Mrs America

This is a bit of a cheat because it a series rather than a film but it showcases the feminist movement in America to gain the right to vote and more broadly the female liberation movement. I found this series useful for the Gender and Law module.

4. The Suffragette and The Nest

For Gender and the Law, you are able to choose your second essay title – it can be on anything related to the intersection between the two- I did mine on surrogacy and the legal implications. The series highlighted to me the relevance and implications of surrogacy and child exploitation. If I had not done the essay on this I would have done it on the Suffragettes so I would also highly recommend this film.

5. The Battle of Algiers

This film shows the Algerian people’s struggle to overthrow the French Colonial Government in the mid-1950s particularly how liberation was achieved. The film was shown in the Law and Disorder module as well as my politics module Gender and Development. The films also challenges the perception that terrorists are all males and instead shows the role women played in the liberation.

6. I, Daniel Blake

We were asked to watch this movie for Public Legal Education in order to understand how bureaucracy can prevent access to the law. It highlighted the need for change in the system and how people access it.