From Trading Floor to Fight Floor
Boxing movies love a comeback story, but Unlicensed aims its punches somewhere more specific than the usual underdog arc. Written, directed by and starring Mark Hampton, the British indie drama follows disgraced city broker Danny Goode, a man who’s fallen a very long way in a very short time. After serving time for insider trading, Danny walks out of prison to find the City has moved on without him. The money’s gone, the status is gone and his relationships with his estranged wife and young son are hanging by a thread.
Short of cash and hiding a growing gambling addiction, Danny spots a fast way out: an unlicensed boxing match with a hefty cash prize. It’s a terrible idea – which, of course, is exactly why a man on the edge takes it.
Gambling as the Real Opponent
Hampton has said he wanted to “do a different take on the traditional boxing movie,” swapping the rags-to-riches fantasy for a story about what happens when a man whose life is built on risk suddenly runs out of safety nets. Having worked in the City himself, he channels that world’s high-stakes, win-lose mentality into Danny’s secret habit.
“Danny’s an addict. That’s the real battle he’s fighting,” Hampton explains. “Like so many addicts, he hides his addiction even from himself – it’s only when he starts to open up about it that his journey towards redemption can really begin. Danny’s biggest fight isn’t in the ring.”
The timing feels pointed. Recent UK figures suggest tens of thousands of young people are already experiencing gambling harms, with knock-on effects at home, at school and on mental health. Unlicensed folds that reality into its character study, asking what happens when a culture of “just one more bet” collides with family responsibility.
One Shot at Redemption
Visually, the film leans into sweat-slicked gyms, cramped locker rooms and the almost claustrophobic intimacy of the ring. Behind-the-scenes shots show Hampton taking a real pounding as both performer and director, surrounded by a small, focused crew. The boxing itself is brutal but grounded, a physical extension of Danny’s internal spiral – every round another attempt to punch his way out of the corner he’s backed himself into.
Underneath the bruises, this is a story about priorities. Hampton, a father himself, frames Danny’s arc as a shift from material success to emotional accountability: learning that the real win isn’t the purse, it’s whether he can show up for his son.
A British Indie With Something to Say
Based in Cambridge, Hampton is no stranger to the screen – with recent appearances in Heads of State (Amazon Studios), Lift (Netflix) and One More Shot (Sky Cinema) – and has picked up awards on the festival circuit for both acting and directing. Unlicensed extends that run into feature territory, premiering at the London Independent Film Festival, with packed screenings in Cambridge, Soho and at London’s Genesis Cinema.
“LIFF has been a champion of independent cinema for many years and gives emerging filmmakers a fantastic platform,” Hampton says, crediting the festival and the Genesis team for backing a film that tries to do more than just stage a good scrap.
Where to Watch
Unlicensed is available now on VOD, including iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Prime Video and Rakuten, with the trailer streaming via Britflicks. For fans of character-driven boxing films like The Fighter or Bleed for This – and anyone interested in how gambling culture seeps from trading floors into living rooms – this British indie might be worth going a few rounds with.
