In a working-class part of South London live Raymond; his wife, Valerie; brother-in-law, Billy; mother-in-law, Janet; and grandmother-in-law, Kathy.

Valerie goes out on the town, and when Ray sees an attractive male friend of hers, he flies into a jealous rage, ordering her out of the pub and into the car.

Back home, he accuses her of sleeping with the male friend, and brutalizes her severely, causing her to miscarry.

The film depicts the environment Oldman witnessed growing up on a council estate in South East London.

It also features 428 uses of the word "fuck" and its derivatives,[5] more than any film at the time until Summer of Sam surpassed it two years later, but it remains the highest-ranked (as of 2019) with regards to the average number of utterances per minute of running time, with 3.34 / min (leaving aside Swearnet: The Movie, which is more of a concept movie revolving around that very theme, and Fuck, a documentary about the word in question).

The website's consensus reads: "Foul-mouthed and unrelentingly bleak, Nil by Mouth is a prickly viewing experience that nevertheless impresses with its authentic blue collar angst and ferocious performances.

"[7] Reviewing Nil by Mouth for its 25th anniversary, the Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw gave it five out of five, praising its performances and "pure invention, energy and seriousness".

The film grossed £142,200 ($230,364) from 61 screens in its opening weekend in the United Kingdom, placing 10th at the UK box office.

[3] In 2017, a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers, and critics for Time Out ranked Nil by Mouth the 21st-best British film.