For Queen and Country is a 1988 crime drama film co-written and directed by Martin Stellman and starring Denzel Washington in Panavision.

Washington stars as Reuben James, a Black British former paratrooper, who joined the British Army to escape the poverty of inner city London; Reuben fights in the Falklands War, and upon returning home he finds that society ignores and challenges him while trying to adjust to normal life.

In 1979, Black British paratrooper Reuben James is attacked by IRA militants while leaving a pub in Northern Ireland.

He and Reuben attempt to celebrate the latter's return to civilian life at a nightclub, but are turned away by the bouncer.

Returning home, Reuben finds his flat being burgled by children Oscar and Hayley.

Several of his friends, including a man named Lynford, get arrested, but Bob tells him not to get involved.

Since he was born in St Lucia, a change in British nationality law has stripped him of his citizenship.

Knowing about the deal with Colin and Sadiq, Kilcoyne later threatens to send Reuben to jail unless he says who killed Harry.

Worrell said the character "Reuben James" was inspired by a friend's struggles to readjust to civilian life after serving in the Falklands War, with the decision to make him St. Lucian stemming from Worrell's own background from St. Lucia and concerns over his British citizenship.

Producer Tim Bevan clarified that Denzel Washington's casting was not due to a lack of suitable black British actors but rather a strategic move aimed at the American market, with Atlantic Pictures contributing the majority of the $3.5 million budget after Washington's involvement.

To prepare for the role, Washington immersed himself in East End London life, residing with a mixed-race working-class family to perfect his Cockney accent, and even hired a chauffeur fluent in the dialect to transport him to set.

Legal disputes arose when Zenith Productions filed a lawsuit against AEG Acquisition Corporation, alleging breach of a distribution agreement encompassing For Queen and Country, Patty Hearst (1988), and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1989).

Despite AEG's failure to fulfill payment obligations for the films, they purportedly sold television rights without Zenith's consent.

Despite AEG's bankruptcy, they eventually agreed in February 1989 to pay $1 million for distribution rights to each film.

[9] Leonard Maltin described the film as a "striking, laced-in-acid contemporary thriller of life in Thatcherite Britain".