The film stars Maxine Peake, Paddy Considine, Tony Pitts, Stephen Graham, and Alun Armstrong.

[1] Funny Cow had its world premiere at the London Film Festival on 9 October 2017,[2] and was released in the United Kingdom on 20 April 2018, by eOne.

[12] Mark Kermode also made it his Film Of The Week[13] for the April 2018 theatrical release and reviewed it again for the August 2018 DVD release[14] Noting the division in critics' perception of the film and central character, Kermode emphasised that "its heart is absolutely in the right place but I think that is because it is not ashamed to depict the world it is actually representing".

[citation needed] The film garnered two BIFA nominations in 2018:[15] Best Actress for Maxine Peake and Best Music for Richard Hawley.

The website's consensus reads, "Funny Cow rests almost entirely on Maxine Peake's performance -- which proves more than capable of shouldering the weight of this affecting period drama.