In our list of movies to watch at the 2025 BFI London Film Festival, our writers recommend 35 films to see at LFF, from anticipated world premieres to hidden gems!
The 2025 BFI London Film Festival is starting soon, and here’s a list of movies to watch at LFF! This year marks the 69th edition of the festival. It will take place on 8 – 19 October, 2025 in London and in venues around the UK. As always, there will be gala screenings, films in competition, many strands, and a series of talks and events. The festival will screen 177 feature films, 33 shorts, and 4 expanded works this year. There is so much to look forward to, and we have you covered!
The tickets are already on sale and more will be released next week, so it’s time to decide what to watch at the 2025 BFI London Film Festival. Take a look at the list below, where the Loud and Clear Reviews writers recommend 35 movies you shouldn’t miss! They are in alphabetical order, you’ll find an additional list at the end! Enjoy LFF, and follow us for live updates from the festival:
1. Anemone
Dare
Director: Ronan Day-Lewis
Countries: United Kingdom, United States
Since Phantom Thread was released in 2017 (and earned him another Oscar nomination), Daniel Day-Lewis has been retired from acting. Now though, he is back with a film he has co-written with his son Ronan, who also directs. Set in Northern England, it follows the middle-aged Jem Stoker (Sean Bean) as he journeys to reunite with his brother Ray (Day-Lewis). The two have been estranged for years, with Ray living in a remote cabin in the woods. The reason for this looks set to be examined in a dark drama focused on father-son and brotherly bonds. Samantha Morton and Samuel Bottomley (California Schemin’) also star. (Daniel Allen)
2. Blue Moon
Gala
Director: Richard Linklater
Countries: United States, Ireland
Richard Linklater has spent his 2025 exploring the nuts and bolts of creating art. Before mimicking Godard with Nouvelle Vague, he crafted a handsome ode to Broadway’s past with Blue Moon. Ethan Hawke gives a stupendous performance as Lorenz Hart, lamenting his now-past collaborations with Richard Rogers (Andrew Scott), after Rogers scores his biggest hit with Oklahoma! Where Nouvelle Vague apes the style of Á Bout de Souffle, Blue Moon employs bright lights and colours to evoke Broadway’s heyday, and fills its scenery with even brighter stars. With Margaret Qualley and Bobby Cannavale filling out the cast, Blue Moon is as delightful a portrait of regret as you can imagine. (Philip Bagnall)
3. Calle Malaga
Love
Director: Maryam Touzani
Countries: Morocco, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium
Carmen Maura shines as a woman who refuses to be anything but herself in Calle Malaga, from The Blue Caftan‘s Maryam Touzani. The film takes place in Tangier, northern Morocco, a city that’s home to a large Spanish community that settled there in the 1930s. It’s also the writer-director’s hometown, which makes Calle Malaga a personal tale too. We follow the 79-years-old María Ángeles (Maura), who has been calling Tangiers her home for her entire life.
One day, her estranged daughter Clara (Marta Etura), who lives in Spain, shows up at the titular apartment to inform her that she’s going to sell it, which means that María Ángeles needs to go. So begins an adventure for our protagonist, during which she realizes she’s the one who controls her own story. It was one of the best movies we saw at the Venice Film Festival, and it’s not to be missed. (Serena Seghedoni)
4. The Chronology of Water
Dare
Director: Kristen Stewart
Countries: United States, France, Latvia
Kristen Stewart takes a seat in the director’s chair for her feature debut The Chronology of Water. We follow the story of Lidia Yuknavich (Imogen Poots) as she navigates her life through a multitude of obstacles, including grief, addiction and violence. Lidia has a passion for swimming, something she’s not only good at, but where she feels the most safe. Achieving anything in life comes with hurdles, but Lidia faces some of the toughest battles, leaving her wondering when her big break will finally come. Stewart promises an unapologetic drama that shows us the highs and lows of a woman’s life across five chapters. (Bethany Lola)
5. Exit 8
Cult
Director: Genki Kawamura
Country: Japan
Genki Kawamura, producer of Your Name., Monster, and The Colours Within, adapts the 2023 adventure game of the same name and gives us a psychological horror about a commuter who gets lost in the Tokyo subway. The premise is simple: our protagonist (Kazunari Ninomiya, of Letters from Iwo Jima) needs to reach the titular exit. But if you’ve ever been to Japan, you’ll know it’s not so easy. In Exit 8, things are made even more complicated and terrifying by the oddities our “lost man” experiences. We can’t wait to find out more. (Serena Seghedoni)
6. Father Mother Sister Brother
Love
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Countries: United States, Ireland, France
The winner of the Golden Lion at the 2025 Venice Film Festival is a film divided in three chapters that all focus on estranged families. Though these families are very different, they have some things in common, from recurring objects to the characters’ clothes and the lines they say, but the most noticeable aspect is the lack of communication, be it the result of a complicated history or physical distance. It’s also an unmistakably Jim Jarmusch movie, with plenty of subtle humor, a good dose of pessimism, and a lot of things to say about the things that actually matter in life. You might not connect with every story in the same way, but it will definitely entertain you and give you a lot to think about. (Serena Seghedoni)
7. The Fence (Le Cri des Gardes)
Dare
Director: Claire Denis
Country: France
A tension packed ride is assured in Claire Denis’ latest English language film The Fence, after her first in 2018 with High Life. Based on the 1979 play “Black Battles with Dogs” by Bernard-Marie Koltès, the film throws us into a British owned construction site in West Africa where Alboury (Isaach de Bankolé) arrives to retrieve his brother’s body, having found out he has died that same day. Workers Horn (Matt Dillon) and Cal (Tom Blyth) sit on a secret, as they don’t give up the body as easily as they should, leaving everyone with questions as to why everything isn’t a straightforward handover. (Bethany Lola)
8. Hamnet
Gala
Director: Chloé Zhao
Countries: United States, United Kingdom
Chloé Zhao’s heartrending Hamnet arrives in London as one of the most acclaimed films of the year, following appearances at Telluride and TIFF. It is based on the bestselling novel by Maggie O’Farrell (who co-writes the film with Zhao), which imagines the early meeting of Agnes and William Shakespeare and how the playwright was inspired to write ‘Hamlet’ over the grief of losing their only son. Paul Mescal (also at LFF with The History of Sound) is Shakespeare, whilst Jessie Buckley plays his wife Agnes. With its raw tackling of love, grief and storytelling, early indications are that you’ll need tissues ready for this one. (Daniel Allen)
9. Human Resource
Love
Director: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit
Country: Thailand
Writer-director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit returns to the BFI London Film Festival after Fast & Feel Love (2022) with another promising philosophical film. The protagonist of Human Resource, which premiered in Venice last month, is a reserved HR manager who one day discovers she’s pregnant. Her routine, which mainly consists of interviewing new hires and taking part in wellness initiatives, changes as she starts to think about mortality, happiness, and her future. We are intrigued. (Serena Seghedoni)
10. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Thrill
Director: Mary Bronstein
Country: United States
Rose Byrne’s career has been anything but linear, playing the role of a human among cartoon rabbits in Peter Rabbit and continuously being hailed as an icon in the horror community for her character in the Insidious franchise. This time, Byrne plays a mother who is desperately looking for solutions when her family and personal life are about to shatter into a million different pieces. It’s a performance that has already been hailed as Oscar worthy, and another anxiety-inducing hit for A24 to tick off of their ever growing list. If anything, If I had Legs I’d Kick You is a perfect thematic follow up to last year’s Nightbitch, which was also screened at the BFI London Film Festival. (Bethany Lola)
11. Is This Thing On?
Gala
Director: Bradley Cooper
Country: United States
With two best picture nominations under his belt already, Bradley Cooper has all eyes on him for his latest feature Is This Thing On?. In bustling New York, a couple make the choice to end their marriage, leaving them both with the chance to start their lives again. It’s Will Arnett’s time to shine (finally, he’s a top billed actor in a film!), as Alex, one half of the soon to be divorced couple, alongside Laura Dern, who plays his other half, Tess. The excitement for this one reigns high, with stills from the film gracing the internet for the past couple of months and the response to them being overwhelmingly positive. Will Cooper make it three for three? We’ll soon see! (Bethany Lola)
12. It Was Just an Accident
Gala
Director: Jafar Panahi
Countries: Iran, France, Luxembourg
This year’s Palme d’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival comes from Jafar Panahi. It all starts when a man named Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi), who’s driving in Tehran with his wife and child, hits a dog. When they find a garage to get their car repaired, the owner, Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), mistakes Eghbal for the man who tortured him years before, when he was in prison. Soon, a fight escalates into a worrying situation where lives might be at stakes. Panahi shows us the scars of a whole country, in a road trip film that acts as a sharp critique of the Iranian regime. (Serena Seghedoni)
13. Lurker
Thrill
Director: Alex Russell
Countries: United States, Italy
A fan manages to infiltrate his favorite musician’s inner circle in Alex Russell’s Lurker, which received universal praise at many festivals this year, and which our own Emma Vine calls “one of the biggest surprises of the year.” A friendship/bromance soon turns into obsession in a film that looks at celebrity culture, fandom, and social dynamics, with fantastic performances from Archie Madekwe and Théodore Pellerin. We can’t wait for London Film Festival audiences to see it! (Serena Seghedoni)
14. Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, Dile Que No Soy Malo)
First Feature Competition
Director: Joel Alfonso Vargas
Country: United States
The nineteen-year-old Rico (Juan Collado), who lives in a Dominican-American community in the Bronx, is the protagonist of Joel Alfonso Vargas’s Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, Dile Que No Soy Malo), one of the standouts at Sundance and Berlin Film Festival this year. The movie takes place over one summer, when Rico’s routine of playing videogames, flirting with girls, and selling homemade “nutcracker” cocktails on the beach is disrupted when Destiny comes knocking on his door. And by Destiny, we mean his teen girlfriend (Destiny Checo), who has just found out she’s pregnant.
Destiny moves in with Rico’s family – his “mami” Andrea (Yohanna Florentino) and his sister Sally (Nathaly Navarro) – and, just like that, Rico transforms himself into the “man of the house”. Except that his definition of that was shaped by an absent father and the patriarchal society all around him. Mad Bills to Pay is a stunning, clever analysis of toxic masculinity that’s as thought-provoking as it is surprisingly funny and entertaining. It’s the best directorial debut we’ve seen in a long time, and you shouldn’t miss it. (Serena Seghedoni)
15. My Father’s Shadow
First Feature Competition
Director: Akinola Davies Jr
Countries: United Kingdom, Nigeria
My Father’s Shadow, the feature film directorial debut from Akinola Davies Jr., was one of the success stories from Cannes in 2025. Co-written with his brother Wale, My Father’s Shadow is set against the backdrop of the 1993 Nigerian election and draws on the siblings’ own personal experience of losing their father at a young age.
Sope Dírísù is the titular father, an enigmatic man who sees little of his two young sons (played by real-life brothers Chibuike Marvellous and Godwin Egbo). My Father’s Shadow follows the trio spending time together over a short period of time, as they each begin to understand one another better. Davies Jr’s debut is one of the standout films in the First Feature Competition strand, and could signal a striking new voice emerging in British-Nigerian cinema. (William Stottor)
16. No Other Choice
Gala
Director: Park Chan-wook
Country: South Korea
A standout from the 82nd Venice Film Festival, No Other Choice is the latest satirical thriller from Park Chan-wook. Based on The Ax by Donald Westlake (the second adaptation of this source material), Park’s film follows recently sacked Man-soo (Lee Byung-hun) in a twisted, difficult, and ultimately violent bid to find a new job. It promises to be a wickedly daring, darkly comedic stinger of a film that will, in typical Park fashion, lead to unpredictable pastures.
Park’s films, from his Vengeance Trilogy (2002-2005) that includes Oldboy (2003) to his enthralling The Handmaiden (2016), are always visually brave, interspersed with moments of shocking violence amidst cutting commentaries on past and contemporary society. No Other Choice looks to be more of the same from one of the world’s most exciting filmmakers—and that can only be good news. (William Stottor)
17. Nouvelle Vague
Gala
Director: Richard Linklater
Country: France
The day I first saw Breathless as a film student, many moons ago, remains one of the most prominent moments of my life, where I really fell in love with the art of filmmaking. Nouvelle Vague revisits the process of making Breathless in a documentary style homage to director Jean-Luc Godard, hopefully enticing newcomers to the French New Wave and giving them the chance to become infatuated in the crime filled romance like I did. Zoey Deutch and newcomers Aubrey Dullin and Guillaume Marbeck star as Jean Seberg, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean-Luc Godard, respectively. The film is directed by romance icon Richard Linklaker; expect alluring black and white visuals and performances like no other, as we are transported back to 1959 Paris. (Bethany Lola)
18. One Woman One Bra
First Feature Competition
Director: Vincho Nchogu
Countries: Kenya, Nigeria
Kenyan writer-director Vincho Nchogu brings her debut feature to the BFI London Film Festival. One Woman One Bra takes place in the rural village of Sayet Village, where an orphaned girl named Star must prove her family lineage to claim the deed to her land. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival to critical acclaim, and it sounds like another promising debut to watch at LFF. (Serena Seghedoni)
19. Peter Hujar’s Day
Create
Director: Ira Sachs
Countries: United States, Germany
Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall star as photographer Peter Hujar and writer Linda Rosenkrantz in Peter Hujar’s Day, which recreates a real-life conversation the two creatives had in 1974 but which is really about the things they don’t say to each other. We won’t say any more to let you discover this gem on your own, but if you’re familiar with Ira Sachs’ (Keep the Lights On, Passages) work, then you already know what you’re in for. Sachs’ storytelling craft is on full display here, but it’s Hall and Whishaw’s performances that make Peter Hujar’s Day the stunning achievement that it is. (Serena Seghedoni)
20. Reflection in a Dead Diamond
Debate
Directors: Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani
Countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, France
Horror homaging duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani follow up 2017’s Let The Corpses Tan with another gorgeous blend of beaches and bloodshed. They demonstrate their admiration of European horrors by casting the star of many such films, Joe Dinan, as an ex-spy reflecting on his misdeeds after the mysterious woman in the neighbouring hotel suite disappears. Reflection in a Dead Diamond continues the co-writers and directors’ fondness for combining the salacious bloodletting of gialli with the elegance of other genres, in this case the spy caper. Think Topkapi as interpreted as Lucio Fulci, and Reflection in a Dead Diamond is almost as fun as that sounds.
21. Rental Family
Gala
Director: Hikari
Countries: United States, Japan
Japanese writer-director Hikari (known mostly for her work on the shows Tokyo Vice and Beef) brings us this heartwarming tale based on a unique scenario. Brendan Fraser plays Philip, an American actor who lives in Tokyo but has struggled for work (besides a toothpaste commercial). Looking for work, he stumbles across a ‘rental family’ company, which provides clients with actors who stand-in as funeral mourners or absent fathers. Philip relishes taking on these roles and finding a sense of connection. But what will happen when the line between performance and reality becomes increasingly blurred? (Daniel Allen)
22. Resurrection
Love
Director: Bi Gan
Country: China
Resurrection premiered earlier this year at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, picking up the Prix Spécial award. It is Bi Gan’s third feature film, but his first in seven years since 2018’s enthralling and stylish Long Day’s Journey into Night. Whilst rightly lauded—in particular for its final 59 minutes, which consists of a single long take—this film felt heavy in style but slightly too light in substance. Set in a future where humanity has lost its capacity to dream, Resurrection looks likely to ace both aspects.
Little is known about Resurrection’s plot other than the above, but the intriguing nature of Bi’s film is enhanced by his fascinating directorial style and the lure of Jackson Yee, one of the stars of Better Ways (2019), in a leading role. Clocking in at 160 minutes, the film will undoubtedly have a lot of style, and hopefully plenty of substance, to sink your teeth into. (William Stottor)
23. Rose of Nevada
Official Competition
Director: Mark Jenkin
Country: United Kingdom
We loved the new film from Mark Jenkin (Bait, Enys Men) when it premiered at Venice last month. Now LFF audiences get the chance to witness this unorthodox, ethereal film from the Cornish director, whose use of 16mm film and post-production sound have become trademarks. When a fishing boat that went missing 30 years ago mysteriously returns, Nick (George MacKay, also at LFF with Broken English) and Liam (Callum Turner) form a new crew and set out to sea. However, they return to find they have gone back in time – and are mistaken for the original fishermen. (Daniel Allen)
24. Seeds
Documentary Competition
Director: Brittany Shyne
Country: United States
The documentary Grand Jury Prize winner of this year’s Sundance Film Festival takes us to the American South, where generations of Black farmers deal with systemic injustice and discrimination. Filmed over the course of seven years by director-cinematographer Brittany Shyne, Seeds looks at the cultural history and spiritual heritage of a community. The first reviews describe it as both an exploration of racism, politics, and capitalism, and a poignant ode to resilience. (Serena Seghedoni)
25. Sentimental Value
Gala
Director: Joachim Trier
Countries: Norway, France, Germany, Denmark
After going down a storm at the Cannes Film Festival (where it won the Grand Prix), Joachim Trier’s follow-up to The Worst Person In The World may be his finest film yet. Worst Person star Renate Reinsve plays Nora, a theatre actress whose emotions become conflicted when her estranged director father (Stellan Skarsgård) hires an American starlet (Elle Fanning) for a role he wrote for Nora. Once again, Trier and co-writer Eskil Vogt use suburban Oslo as a canvas for universal feelings of betrayal, self-doubt and reconciliation. This masterwork is at once tumultuous and tender. (Philip Bagnall)
26. Silent Friend
Debate
Director: Ildikó Enyedi
Countries: Germany, Hungary, France
Met with astonishment at the Toronto and Venice Film Festivals, Silent Friend has already become one of the hidden gems of 2025. Writer-director Ildikó Enyedi (On Body and Soul) crafts an ambitious triptych of stories, centred on a giant gingko tree in a German arboretum. The inhabitants of these stories (set in 1908, 1972 and 2020) busy themselves with their very human concerns, but Enyedi draws them and us back to the power of the plants in the garden, mesmerised by their capacity for stillness in an increasingly loud and fast world. (Philip Bagnall)
27. Sink (Gharaq)
First Feature Competition
Director: Zain Duraie
Country: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France
Sink (Gharaq) premiered at TIFF 2025 to universal acclaim, making it one of our most anticipated debuts to watch at the BFI London Film Festival. It tells the story of Nadia (Clara Khoury, of The Voice of Hind Rajab), mother of three children in Jordan. One of them is Basil (Mohammad Nizar, of Selahy), who one day has an altercation with a teacher. Though this is due to undiagnosed mental health issues that cause him to have manic episodes, Basil is suspended. In the film, we follow Nadia as she starts fearing for her family. This is a personal story for writer-director Zain Duraie, who told Screen she wanted to “shed light on the stigma and silence surrounding mental illness in the Arab world“. Which makes Sink an essential watch at the BFI London Film Festival. (Serena Seghedoni)
28. Sirāt
Dare
Director: Oliver Laxe
Countries: Spain, France
Oliver Laxe’s Cannes prizewinner is at once a road movie, a mystery, a hangout, a horror and a long deep night of the soul. Luis (Sergi López) attempts to track down his missing daughter through a series of raves in Morocco and Mauritania, but as his journey becomes more perilous, and his raver travel companions start to doubt him, he is pushed to his limits and beyond by the sun, the music and his own pain. Laxe’s film is purposefully propulsive and perplexing, never letting the audience get ahead of its intoxicating atmosphere and building tension for even a second. (Philip Bagnall)
29. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
Gala
Director: Scott Cooper
Country: United States
Jeremy Allen White stars in one of the most anticipated biopics of the year, from Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper. The film takes us back to the early 1980s, when Bruce Springsteen retreats to New Jersey to work on a country-folk album (“Nebraska”, 1982) that nobody expected him to make. If you’re familiar with “The Boss,” you’ll know that there’s much to explore here, not only musically but in terms of a difficult family history that led to him struggling with depression and ultimately creating some of his darkest, most personal songs. With so much material to explore, iconic music from one of the most beloved artists in music history, and a fantastic cast that also includes Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham and Odessa Young, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere has the potential to be a layered, surprising biopic. (Serena Seghedoni)
30. The Thing With Feathers
Love
Director: Dylan Southern
Country: United Kingdom
Benedict Cumberbatch excels in this adaptation of Max Porter’s novel of the same name. The The Power of the Dog star plays “Dad,” cartoonist and father to his seven years old “Boys” (Richard and Henry Boxall). All three are grieving the loss of their wife/mother. “Dad” is finding it particularly hard to adapt to his new “Sad Dad” status – so hard, in fact, that his intrusive thoughts start to take shape. Soon, an odd-looking, childish yet disquieting crow starts to materialize at random times. Just like all intrusive thoughts, “Crow” (Eric Lampaert) is cruel and judgemental; he’s even violent, at times. But surprisingly, he can be loving and caring too.
Storytelling-wise, this is a film that will test your patience, as it’s not always easy to understand exactly what’s going on, especially when another character starts to show up. Yet this is a film that will deeply affect you in ways that you can’t explain. It was one of our favorite films at the Berlin Film Festival and it’s a must-watch at LFF. (Serena Seghedoni)
31. Train Dreams
Love
Director: Clint Bentley
Country: United States
Train Dreams has a lot going for it: the writing/directing duo of Sing Sing, one of 2023’s best films, reuniting; it being based on the acclaimed novella of the same name by Denis Johnson; and an impressive cast, headed by Joel Edgerton, who, for many who have seen the film, gives what could be a career-best performance.
Prior to Train Dreams, the aforementioned duo of Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley have co-written three films; Kwedar directed Transpecos (2016) and Sing Sing, whilst Bentley directed Jockey (2021). With Train Dreams, Bentley takes directorial responsibilities, for a film that looks to be a visually resplendent, achingly poignant portrait of a logger working and journeying across the USA. With a beautiful visual style that invokes thoughts of Terrence Malick, Train Dreams could be one of the most unforgettable films to play at the London Film Festival this year. (William Stottor)
32. Twinless
Laugh
Director: James Sweeney
Countries: United States
Writer-director James Sweeney’s dark comedy has been screened at multiple festivals in the U.S. this year, including Sundance, where it won the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award, and Tribeca. Though the film is out now in U.S. theaters and coming soon to digital platforms in the U.S. and Canada, a U.K. and Ireland release date hasn’t been announced yet. The BFI London Film Festival is the perfect occasion to check out one of the most beloved movies of the year.
Dylan O’Brien, winner of Sundance’s U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for his performance, plays Roman, a young man whose identical twin brother died. Roman joins a support group for bereaved twins and meets Dennis (James Sweeney), who’s his polar opposite, but who reminds him of their brother. Soon, the two become very close friends, but something’s about to be revealed. Both a laugh-out-loud comedy and a poignant exploration of grief, Twinless should definitely be on your watchlist. (Serena Seghedoni)
33. A Useful Ghost
First Feature Competition
Director: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke
Countries: Thailand, France, Singapore
What if your dead wife returned to the land of the living in the shape of a vacuum cleaner? As absurd as it sounds, the irresistible premise of Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s A Useful Ghost (Phi Chidi Kha – ผีใช้ได้ค่ะ) is perfect to explore the film’s themes. This tale takes place in Thailand, where the word “dust” can mean multiple things. The first is the pollution affecting the country, as a result of large factories operating in it. But it’s also a term associated to citizens whose standing in society is so low that they aren’t treated like humans. A Useful Ghost finds clever ways to tackle both subjects, with a good dose of humor and absurdism, but also a grounded story that has a lot to say about memory and collective trauma. You’re in for a wild ride. (Serena Seghedoni)
34. Wasteman
Thrill
Director: Cal McMau
Country: United Kingdom
You’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger rising British star in acting right now than David Jonsson. Since his breakout performance in Rye Lane (2023), the actor has hit even bigger heights with impressive performances in Alien: Romulus (2024) and The Long Walk (2025). Now, after flitting off to outer space and then a dystopian America, Jonsson is back in Britain for a down-to-earth, prison-based thriller titled Wasteman.
Another bright British actor sharing the screen in Wasteman is Tom Blyth (Benediction, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes). Blyth is Dee, a new cellmate of Jonsson’s Taylor. With parole approaching, Dee’s dangerous and violent actions rope Taylor in, threatening his imminent release. Cal McMau makes his feature film directorial debut in the Thrill section with Wasteman, in what promises to be an uncompromising, brutal snapshot of a seemingly inescapable prison system. (William Stottor)
35. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Opening Night Gala
Director: Rian Johnson
Country: United States
Kicking off this year’s London Film Festival is the latest entry in Rian Johnson’s modern whodunnit series, featuring the return of Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). After the autumnal Knives Out and the sun soaked, COVID-era Glass Onion, this new film is being described as a darker, more Gothic locked-room murder mystery that involves a church in a small town. Expect another unpredictable and entertaining mystery from Johnson with another all-star cast that includes Josh Brolin, Glenn Close, Andrew Scott, Jeremy Renner, Cailee Spaeny and Josh O’Connor as the priest who becomes Blanc’s right-hand man. (Daniel Allen)
2025 BFI London Film Festival, More Movies to Watch:
- & Sons
- After the Hunt
- Bad Apples
- Black Rabbit White Rabbit
- Broken English
- Bugonia
- Cover-Up
- The Death of Bunny Munro
- Die My Love
- Frankenstein
- The Girls
- Hedda
- Jay Kelly
- The Kidnapping of Arabella
- Landmarks
- Left-Handed Girl
Love Me Tender - Love, Brooklyn
- The Mastermind
- Miroirs No. 3
- Orwell: 2+2=5
- Pillion
- A Sad and Beautiful World
- The Secret Agent
- Sholay
- Singing Wings
- Sound of Falling
- The Testament of Ann Lee
- The Voice of Hind Rajab
- Weightless
- The World of Love
The 2025 BFI London Film Festival will take place on 8 – 19 October in London and in cinemas across the UK. Take a look at the official London Film Festival schedule!
