The best films to see at the London Film Festival 2024: from Blitz to Nightbitch

Twelve days of reddish carpet thrills, 39 satellite premieres, 253 films (in a mind-boggling 63 antithetic languages, FYI). Yes, the London Film Festival is backmost successful municipality from October 9.

Besides the accustomed clutch cracking films, determination are surface talks with cinematic geniuses specified arsenic Andrea Arnold, Steve McQueen, Denis Villeneuve and Daniel Kaluuya, arsenic good arsenic immersive creation and escaped events.

If you’re suffering enactment paralysis astir what to bargain tickets for, present are a twelve delicious twelve movies to commencement disconnected with Tickets and programme astatine whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff

This is however to blast disconnected with section flavour: an opening gala /and/ satellite premiere of a London story, made by a Londoner, who happens to beryllium 1 of the planet’s champion directors. Steve McQueen tells the communicative of a young lad (Elliott Heffernan) who jumps the bid taking him to safety, determined to instrumentality to his household successful the war-torn East End. Saoirse Ronan, Stephen Graham, Harris Dickinson, Kathy Burke and, er, Paul Weller supply starry fire-power. I tin perceive the sirens of applause already. October 9 (7pm); 10 (3.20pm); 11 (2.45pm); 18 (8.50pm)

The closing gala mightiness dependable crazy, but it’s however Pharrell Williams wanted Morgan Neville to marque the movie of his beingness story: successful Lego animation. Even if you’re lone somewhat funny astir 1 of the 21st century’s large originative renaissance men, everything is going to beryllium awesome arsenic Jay-Z, Missy Elliott, Daft Punk and Snoop Dogg (in their ain voices) articulation him to archer his communicative ceramic by brick. October 20 (7.15pm and 8.40pm)

Unlike Pretty Woman, which it has been compared to, Sean Baker’s Anora had the cinematic borderline and affectional gusto to triumph the Palme d’Or astatine Cannes this year. Young Brooklyn enactment idiosyncratic Ani (Mikey Madison, surely a superstar aft this performance) is swept disconnected her feet, and vice-versa, by Vanya, the lad of a Russian oligarch. On quality of their whirlwind marriage, the chaotic thrust gets wilder arsenic Vanya’s disapproving parents interaction down successful New York. October 11 (9.10pm); 15 (11.45am); 20 (8pm)

I was forcing backmost the tears conscionable watching the trailer for this. A romance that begins with Florence Pugh mowing down Andrew Garfield with her car careers done the afloat gamut of highs and lows arsenic fate’s heartless cruelties intervene implicit a decades-long relationship. John Crowley antecedently made Brooklyn, but you mightiness request a bigger container of tissues for this one. October 17 (6pm); 18 (11.30am); 20 (9.15pm)

What did Jacques Audiard, French maestro auteur of modern, gritty classics specified arsenic A Prophet and The Beat That My Heart Skipped, bash next? Well, a Spanish-language, philharmonic phantasy astir a Mexican cartel brag undergoing sex reassignment astir apt wouldn’t beryllium among your archetypal guesses. Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez pb the multi-Cannes-winning ensemble. Really, truly looking guardant to this. October 11 (6pm); 14 (2.40pm); 20 (5.30pm)

Does Amy Adams – really – crook into a dog? was the internet’s confused effect to the trailer for Nightbitch. Maybe, possibly not… One happening for definite is that Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) has created a chaotic fable of motherhood, arsenic Adams puts her vocation connected clasp to attraction for her toddler – lone to participate a darkly comic and surreal after-dark satellite of liberation. October 16 (6pm); 17 (12pm); 20 (3pm)

A invited instrumentality for expansive aged chronicler of British life, Mike Leigh. Reuniting with Secrets & Lies prima Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Leigh is arsenic emotionally piercing arsenic ever (the clue’s successful the title). Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy, whose anguish with beingness has erupted into unstoppable disapproval of everything astir her (including immoderate hilariously prime lines). With her household already connected eggshells, tensions boil implicit during a Mother’s Day weekend. Raw, yes, but you cognize it volition person a bosom of gold. October 14 (6pm); 16 (2.30pm); 20 (8.30pm)

You’ve heard this 1 before: older expat becomes infatuated by elusive young antheral successful exotic climes. However, erstwhile it’s Luca Guadagnino seductively directing Daniel Craig arsenic the protagonist from William Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novel, and the mounting is hot, saucy 1940s Mexico City… it each sounds alternatively irresistible, doesn’t it. October 17 (8.45pm); 18 (2.15pm); 19 (2.45pm)

Now that Saltburn-mania has ran its course, we tin relish Barry Keoghan simply arsenic the brilliantly unnerving surface beingness helium is. Although Christopher Andrews’ brutal debut (in contention astatine the festival) pitting Keoghan against Poor Things’ Christopher Abbott arsenic the younger procreation incapable to interruption a humor feud betwixt rival Irish sheep-farming families isn’t for the faint-hearted. Animal-lovers with delicate triggers beryllium forewarned. October 18 (8.40pm); 20 (6.40pm)

Like Aardman dipped successful grimy, gothic weirdness, Oscar-winner Adam Elliot’s stop-motion communicative of twins separated astatine puerility successful 1970s Australia is our prime to triumph champion film. And it’s got each the kookiness cult cineastes could privation for arsenic Gilbert is sent to unrecorded with spiritual fundamentalists portion Grace shacks up with swingers (who erstwhile made emotion to John Denver and played ping-pong with Fidel Castro). Bonus: Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Nick Cave are connected dependable duty. October 10 (8.40pm); 12 (12.30pm); 18 (8.20pm)

From acold beyond the shores of Western film-making comes our prime to instrumentality the champion debut prize: Sandhya Suri’s gnarly, intellectually thrilling north-Indian constabulary procedural with a fierce feminist edge. After her bull husband’s death, housewife Santosh (Shahana Goswami) reluctantly inherits his occupation nether a section scheme, whereupon she is instantly immersed successful the horrors of the caste strategy and misogyny aft a teenage miss is murdered. October 13 (2.50pm); 18 (5.10pm)

Okay, truthful not really a film, but we can’t defy a sneak peek (it’s not connected Disney+ until 2025) of the archetypal 2 episodes of the caller play from Peaky Blinders creator Steve Knight. Two champion friends (Malachi Kirby and Francis Lovehall) get successful 1880s London from Jamaica and brushwood the duplicate perils of a notorious seasoned boxer (Stephen Graham) and the person (Erin Doherty) of an all-female gang. Things tin lone get ferocious… October 11 (6pm)

Serial biopic nonconformist Pablo Larraín (Jackie, Spencer, Neruda) peers down the operatic disguise of Maria Callas successful this reimagining of the legend’s last days successful 1970s Paris. Angelina Jolie (not rather a dormant ringer for Callas) fleshes retired the psyche of the ailing vocalist arsenic she wanders the French capital, tallying her beingness to an adoring journalist. October 18 (6pm); 19 (11.15am); 20 (12.30pm)