Young lovers Ruth and Jimmy decide to get married after Ruth unexpectedly gets pregnant. But their quiet lives in Sheffield, England, are threatened when the Soviet Union and United States go to war. After a nuclear attack destroys a NATO base 20 miles from Sheffield, the town falls into chaos. Ruth and Jimmy are separated as the fallout spreads. Ruth must struggle to survive alone in the post-apocalyptic landscape.

Threads is an important and understandably devastating response to, the (nuclear) state of Britain in the 1980s. It is arguably the bleakest films ever to be broadcast on the BBC and remains as powerful and terrifying as ever.

Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair is presented in partnership with the American Cinematheque and Prince Charles Cinema.