Twelve days of red carpet thrills, 39 world premieres, 253 films (in a mind-boggling 63 different languages, FYI). Yes, the London Film Festival is back in town from October 9.
Besides the usual clutch cracking films, there are screen talks with cinematic geniuses such as Andrea Arnold, Steve McQueen, Denis Villeneuve and Daniel Kaluuya, as well as immersive art and free events.
If you’re suffering option paralysis about what to buy tickets for, here are a dozen delicious dozen movies to start off with Tickets and programme at whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff
Blitz (dir: Steve McQueen)
This is how to blast off with local flavour: an opening gala /and/ world premiere of a London story, made by a Londoner, who happens to be one of the planet’s best directors. Steve McQueen tells the tale of a young boy (Elliott Heffernan) who jumps the train taking him to safety, determined to return to his family in the war-torn East End. Saoirse Ronan, Stephen Graham, Harris Dickinson, Kathy Burke and, er, Paul Weller provide starry fire-power. I can hear the sirens of applause already. October 9 (7pm); 10 (3.20pm); 11 (2.45pm); 18 (8.50pm)
Piece by Piece (dir: Morgan Neville)
The closing gala might sound crazy, but it’s how Pharrell Williams wanted Morgan Neville to make the film of his life story: in Lego animation. Even if you’re only slightly curious about one of the 21st century’s great creative renaissance men, everything is going to be awesome as Jay-Z, Missy Elliott, Daft Punk and Snoop Dogg (in their own voices) join him to tell his story brick by brick. October 20 (7.15pm and 8.40pm)
Anora (dir: Sean Baker)
Unlike Pretty Woman, which it has been compared to, Sean Baker’s Anora had the cinematic edge and emotional gusto to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year. Young Brooklyn sex worker Ani (Mikey Madison, surely a superstar after this performance) is swept off her feet, and vice-versa, by Vanya, the son of a Russian oligarch. On news of their whirlwind marriage, the chaotic ride gets wilder as Vanya’s disapproving parents touch down in New York. October 11 (9.10pm); 15 (11.45am); 20 (8pm)
We Live in Time (dir: John Crowley)
I was forcing back the tears just watching the trailer for this. A romance that begins with Florence Pugh mowing down Andrew Garfield with her car careers through the full gamut of highs and lows as fate’s heartless cruelties intervene over a decades-long relationship. John Crowley previously made Brooklyn, but you might need a bigger box of tissues for this one. October 17 (6pm); 18 (11.30am); 20 (9.15pm)
Emilia Pérez (dir: Jacques Audiard)
What did Jacques Audiard, French master auteur of modern, gritty classics such as A Prophet and The Beat That My Heart Skipped, do next? Well, a Spanish-language, musical fantasy about a Mexican cartel boss undergoing gender reassignment probably wouldn’t be among your first guesses. Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez lead the multi-Cannes-winning ensemble. Really, really looking forward to this. October 11 (6pm); 14 (2.40pm); 20 (5.30pm)
Nightbitch (dir: Marielle Heller)
Does Amy Adams – actually – turn into a dog? was the internet’s confused response to the trailer for Nightbitch. Maybe, maybe not… One thing for sure is that Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) has created a wild fable of motherhood, as Adams puts her career on hold to care for her toddler – only to enter a darkly comic and surreal after-dark world of liberation. October 16 (6pm); 17 (12pm); 20 (3pm)
Hard Truths (dir: Mike Leigh)
A welcome return for grand old chronicler of British life, Mike Leigh. Reuniting with Secrets & Lies star Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Leigh is as emotionally piercing as ever (the clue’s in the title). Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy, whose anguish with life has erupted into unstoppable criticism of everything around her (including some hilariously choice lines). With her family already on eggshells, tensions boil over during a Mother’s Day weekend. Raw, yes, but you know it will have a heart of gold. October 14 (6pm); 16 (2.30pm); 20 (8.30pm)
Queer (dir: Luca Guadagnino)
You’ve heard this one before: older expat becomes infatuated by elusive young man in exotic climes. However, when it’s Luca Guadagnino seductively directing Daniel Craig as the protagonist from William Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novel, and the setting is hot, saucy 1940s Mexico City… it all sounds rather irresistible, doesn’t it. October 17 (8.45pm); 18 (2.15pm); 19 (2.45pm)
Bring Them Down (dir: Christopher Andrews)
Now that Saltburn-mania has ran its course, we can relish Barry Keoghan simply as the brilliantly unnerving screen presence he is. Although Christopher Andrews’ brutal debut (in competition at the festival) pitting Keoghan against Poor Things’ Christopher Abbott as the younger generation unable to break a blood feud between rival Irish sheep-farming families isn’t for the faint-hearted. Animal-lovers with sensitive triggers be forewarned. October 18 (8.40pm); 20 (6.40pm)
Memoir of a Snail (dir: Adam Elliot)
Like Aardman dipped in grimy, gothic weirdness, Oscar-winner Adam Elliot’s stop-motion tale of twins separated at childhood in 1970s Australia is our pick to win best film. And it’s got all the kookiness cult cineastes could wish for as Gilbert is sent to live with religious fundamentalists while Grace shacks up with swingers (who once made love to John Denver and played ping-pong with Fidel Castro). Bonus: Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Nick Cave are on voice duty. October 10 (8.40pm); 12 (12.30pm); 18 (8.20pm)
Santosh (dir: Sandhya Suri)
From far beyond the shores of Western film-making comes our choice to take the best debut prize: Sandhya Suri’s gnarly, intellectually thrilling north-Indian police procedural with a fierce feminist edge. After her cop husband’s death, housewife Santosh (Shahana Goswami) reluctantly inherits his job under a local scheme, whereupon she is immediately immersed in the horrors of the caste system and misogyny after a teenage girl is murdered. October 13 (2.50pm); 18 (5.10pm)
A Thousand Blows (dir: Tinge Krishnan, Nick Murphy)
Okay, so not actually a film, but we can’t resist a sneak peek (it’s not on Disney+ until 2025) of the first two episodes of the new drama from Peaky Blinders creator Steve Knight. Two best friends (Malachi Kirby and Francis Lovehall) arrive in 1880s London from Jamaica and encounter the twin perils of a notorious veteran boxer (Stephen Graham) and the leader (Erin Doherty) of an all-female gang. Things can only get ferocious… October 11 (6pm)
Maria (dir: Pablo Larraín)
Serial biopic nonconformist Pablo Larraín (Jackie, Spencer, Neruda) peers behind the operatic mask of Maria Callas in this reimagining of the legend’s final days in 1970s Paris. Angelina Jolie (not quite a dead ringer for Callas) fleshes out the soul of the ailing singer as she wanders the French capital, tallying her life to an adoring journalist. October 18 (6pm); 19 (11.15am); 20 (12.30pm)
