Rita, Sue and Bob Too

Rita, Sue and Bob Too
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAlan Clarke
Screenplay byAndrea Dunbar
Based onRita, Sue and Bob Too and The Arbour
by Andrea Dunbar
Produced byOscar Lewenstein
Sanford Lieberson
Starring
CinematographyIvan Strasburg
Edited bySteve Singleton
Music byMichael Kamen
Production
companies
British Screen
Umbrella Entertainment
Distributed byFilm Four International
Release date
  • 29 May 1987 (1987-05-29)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£993,000

Rita, Sue and Bob Too is a 1987 British comedy-drama film directed by Alan Clarke and starring Michelle Holmes, Siobhan Finneran, George Costigan, and Lesley Sharp. Set in Bradford, West Yorkshire, the film is about two teenage schoolgirls who are groomed into having a sexual affair with by a married man. As underage girls cannot consent, the married man raped them. It was written by Andrea Dunbar, who adapted the film from two of her stage plays: Rita Sue and Bob Too (1982) and The Arbour (1980), which were first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London. The plays were loosely based on Dunbar's experiences growing up in the council housing at Buttershaw.

The strapline of the film was "Thatcher's Britain with her knickers down." It received a divisive reaction at the time of its release. Still, over time the film has become a cult hit for its depiction of working class life in Britain during the 1980s. In 2017, Rita, Sue and Bob Too was given a digital restoration by the British Film Institute.