Home > PSB Lists >

Films that have featured PSB songs

This list is the "flipside" of part of my separate list of Pet Shop Boys songs that have been used in films and "non-musical" TV shows. In other words, it presents the same data—at least with regard only to films—but organized in a different way. Please note, however, that it does not include "TV movies," documentaries originally shown on television, concert films, and "direct-to-video" films. And it ignores the Boys' own latter-day score for the silent classic Battleship Potemkin.

The films are listed in the order in which they were released into circulation:

It Couldn't Happen Here (U.K. 1988)

Well, duh! Lots of early PSB tunes were used in the Pet Shop Boys' very own feature film—some in their entirety, others only as brief snippets:

"Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)"

"Suburbia"

"It's a Sin"

"West End Girls"

"What Have I Done to Deserve This?"

"Love Comes Quickly"

"Rent"

"Hit Music"

"Always on My Mind"

"King's Cross"

"Two Divided by Zero"

"It Couldn't Happen Here"

"One More Chance"

"I Want to Wake Up"

Scandal (U.K. 1989)

"Nothing Has Been Proved" was composed specifically for this film and played (the original Dusty Springfield version, of course) over the end credits.
Lethal Weapon 2 (U.S. 1989)

The Eight Wonder/Patsy Kensit rendition of the Tennant-Lowe song "I'm Not Scared" is used in this movie, in which Kensit herself has a role as a secretary being romanced by Mel Gibson's character.
Mr. Frost (France/U.S. 1990)

Liza Minnelli's version of the PSB song "So Sorry, I Said" plays during the end credits.
Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud (France 1995)

"I Want a Dog" (the Introspective mix) could be heard in a party scene.
Vacanze Di Natale 2000 ("Christmas Holiday 2000") (Italy 1999)

Used "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More" near the conclusion of the film.
CyberWorld (U.S. 2000)

This celebration of 3D animation featured the music video of "Liberation" among its segments.
Donnie Darko (U.S. 2001)

"West End Girls" was used in a dance scene only in the original "rough cut" of the film, later replaced by Duran Duran's "Notorious"
Party Monster (U.S. 2003)

"It's a Sin" can apparently be heard during a hallucination scene
Melissa P (Italy 2005)

Both "Being Boring" and "It's a Sin" were used in this film.
Montag Kommen die Fenster ("The Windows Will Arrive on Monday" or "Windows on Monday") (Germany 2006)

"To Speak Is a Sin" serves in one scene as the music to which a group of couples dance rather forlornly in a bar.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (U.S. 2007)

This Adam Sandler comedy employs "Always on My Mind" during a gay benefit/costume party scene.

Turbo (U.S. 2008)

This ski film includes a sequence during which the Michael Mayer Kompakt Remix of "Flamboyant" plays.
Bronson (U.K. 2009)

Famously (and/or infamously) makes use of "It's a Sin" during a scene set in a mental institution in which the patients dance to the song.
Cea mai fericita fata din lume ("The Happiest Girl in the World") (Romania 2009)

"Rent" can be heard playing on a car radio near the start of hte film.

El cónsul de Sodoma ("The Consul of Sodom") (Spain 2009)

This film biography of the Spanish poet Jaime Gil de Biedma includes a scene in which the elderly protagonist watches a nude young man dance to the PSB version of "Always on My Mind."
Diana (U.K. 2013)

This film dealing with the final years of the Princess of Wales shows the distraught Diana seeking to console herself by going out to a club where she eventually dances to "West End Girls."
Mountains May Depart (China 2015)

Chinese director Jia Zhangke employs the PSB version of "Go West" as background music in the opening and closing scenes of this film. As he has stated, he chose it because the film, set during an extended period beginning in 1999, begins at a time when discos were becoming extremely popular in China. "'Go West' was my favorite song and it left a deep impression on me. Because whenever they played this song, all the young people in the disco, it didn't matter whether you know each other or not, would line up and start dancing together."

Blinded by the Light (U.K. 2019)

Set in 1987, this movie centers on the son of a Pakistani immigrant to Britain, who become enamored of the music of Bruce Springsteen. Although most of the film's music is indeed by Springsteen, other period music can be heard as well, including an opening sequence set to the Pet Shop Boy's "It's a Sin." One of the characters also specifically asserts that it's the best #1 hit of the year.
Matthias & Maxime (Canada, 2019)

This film briefly includes the PSB rendition of "Always on My Mind" during a scene in which the character McAfee, while walking through the train station and literally bumping into Matthias, is listening to it on his headphones.
Medusa Deluxe (U.K. 2022)

This 2022 murder mystery includes a character whose cellphone employs a segment of PSB's "West End Girls" as its ringtone. (The film's director, Thomas Hardiman, reportedly persuaded the Boys to grant permission for their song to be used this way in the film after their initial reluctance, explaining to them that it was a personal tribute to a friend of his who had inspired the film.)

Tetris (U.K./U.S. 2023)

Based on events surrounding Dutch videogame designer Henk Rogers's efforts to secure the rights to the video game Tetris in the late 1980s, this film employs "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" over an extended portion of the closing credits.
Unsyncable (Canada, 2023)

This documentary follows a diverse group of Canadian and U.S. senior citizens as they prepare for and take part in synchronized swimming competitions. The PSB remake of "Always on My Mind" serves as background music during a beach sequence that introduces one of these elderly athletes, Cris Meier-Windes.
All of Us Strangers (U.K., 2023)

Described by Wikipedia as a "romantic fantasy… loosely based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada," this film concerns a gay man on the cusp of a new relationship who somehow finds himself back at his childhood home, complete with his deceased parents, just as they were in the circa 1987 when he was 12 years old shortly before his parents were killed in a car crash—only he himself is an adult. Not surprisingly, the film includes music of this mystical late-eighties "resetting," with the PSB version of "Always on My Mind" playing a significant and highly symbolic role (his mother even sings some of its lyrics directly to him), perhaps because the main character's late parents are indeed very often if not literally always on his mind. (The song also features very prominently in the film's trailer.) What's more, the Introspective version of "I Want a Dog" can be heard in another scene set in a dance club.
Saltburn (U.K./U.S., 2023)

This dark comedy-thriller about an Oxford University student, Oliver, who becomes embroiled with a fellow student, Felix, and his aristocratic family (shades of Brideshead Revisited!) includes a karaoke scene in which Felix's American cousin induces Oliver to sing the Pet Shop Boys' "Rent," an apparent attempt to humiliate Oliver by suggesting he is parasitically sponging off their wealthy family ("I love you, you pay my rent").
Dreamworld (U.K., 2024)
Obviously. With the full title Dreamworld: The Greatest Hits Live at the Royal Arena Copenhagen, this theatrical film received limited release at special screenings worldwide in early 2024 and featured essentially the full set list of the Boys' lengthy Dreamworld Tour.
The Apprentice (2024)

This ironically titled film about the "apprenticeship" of the young Donald Trump under the infamous lawyer Roy Cohn features the PSB rendition of "Always on My Mind" about two-thirds of the way through during a scene in which Trump enters a party celebrating the opening of Trump Tower. (It's somewhat anachronistic seeing as how Trump Tower opened in 1983, several years before the PSB hit version of the song.)

Finally, it would be remiss of me not to note—

Cool World (U.S. 1992)

The Electronic song "Disappointed" plays during a scene set in a casino. While of course it's not really a "Pet Shop Boys song," it was co-written by Neil and features his lead vocals, so it's well worth noting here.

All text on this website aside from direct quotations (such as of lyrics and of other nonoriginal content) is copyright © 2001-2024 by Wayne Studer. All Rights Reserved. All lyrics and images are copyright © their respective dates by their respective owners. Brief quotations and small, low-resolution images are used for identification and critical commentary, thereby constituting Fair Use under U.S. copyright law. Billboard chart data are copyright © their respective dates by Billboard Media, LLC.