My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown poster

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My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown

1989 · Movie · 103 min
A

MEANRANK

85/100

Averaged across 9 ratings · 204.3K votes

Every rating

Platform pages last read 30 September 2026. IMDb’s figure comes from IMDb’s own data file, which we re-read about once a month.

78–98 out of 100

Mostly agreed

Lowest is IMDb on 78, highest is Rotten Tomatoes critics on 98. Critics average 98, everyone else 81.

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No one expects much from Christy Brown, a boy with cerebral palsy born into a working-class Irish family. Though Christy is a spastic quadriplegic and essentially paralyzed, a miraculous event occurs when, at the age of 5, he demonstrates control of his left foot by using chalk to scrawl a word on the floor. With the help of his steely mother — and no shortage of grit and determination — Christy overcomes his infirmity to become a painter, poet and author.

Details

Director
Jim Sheridan
Released
7 April 1989
Country
Ireland, United Kingdom
Language
English
Runtime
103 min
Rated
R
Budget
$645.2K
Box office
$14.7M
Awards
12 wins, 13 nominations

This title elsewhere

Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis

Christy Brown

Brenda Fricker

Brenda Fricker

Mrs. Brown

Alison Whelan

Sheila

Marie Conmee

Sadie

Cyril Cusack

Cyril Cusack

Lord Castlewelland

Awards & nominations

See all 25 →

3 major awards won · 12 wins from 25 nominations across 11 ceremonies

Academy Awards 1990 Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis Winner
Academy Awards 1990 Best Supporting Actress Brenda Fricker Winner
Independent Spirit Awards 1990 Best Foreign Film My Left Foot Winner
Academy Awards 1990 Best Picture Noel Pearson Nominee
Academy Awards 1990 Best Director Jim Sheridan Nominee
Academy Awards 1990 Best Adapted Screenplay Shane Connaughton and Jim Sheridan Nominee
Golden Globe Awards 1990 Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Brenda Fricker Nominee
Golden Globe Awards 1990 Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Daniel Day-Lewis Nominee
Show all 25 awards across 11 ceremonies

Awards from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.