Classic New York crime dramas, intimate explorations of self and magical journeys into the forest – here are our top ten favourite films from the London Film Festival.
And breathe. After nine days and 24 films, I am finally home from the London Film Festival. How was it? Eh, not what I expected. I’ll save it for another time, but I have to say the atmosphere at the press screenings was not what I was expecting. Anyway, we are not here to hear my moaning. We are here to celebrate the amazing films I saw during the festival. Here are my ten favourites so you know what to put on your radar.
10. Rose (Dir. Markus Schleinzer)
2026 has been a year of actors giving multiple performances, but no one has been as successful in doing so as Sandra Hüller. It’s in Rose where she gives her best performance of the year. I’ll go one step further and say it’s a performance which, if there is any justice, will be nominated for an Oscar. It’s a man’s world, especially in 17th-century Germany. For a woman to survive, they have to be stripped of their autonomy. They are reduced to merely a vessel for their men to have kids and are moved around as if they are currency. For a woman to live, she has to do the impossible. That is the essence of director Markus Schleinzer’s drama. It is a reserved character study about a woman who fights against the established patriarchy. That is until the townsfolk start to become suspicious of her after an incident, leaving both her and her newly appointed wife, Suzanna (Caro Braun), facing the full might of a broken society.
9. Paper Tiger (Dir. James Gray)
It’s a sure bet that if you have Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson star in a film together, it is going to be a success. It’ll stress you out to no end, but it will be fantastic viewing. Seven years on from being at each other’s throats in Marriage Story comes Paper Tiger. James Gray’s crime thriller set in 80s New York is about a family who get involved in some shady dealings and have to deal with the life-threatening consequences. What transpires is an expertly done cautionary tale about family, the further deconstruction of the American dream and why you should always mind your own business – especially with the Russian Mafia. It is less interested in shootouts and violence and instead takes a character-focused approach not unlike The Godfather – slick dialogue, a fantastic tension-driven score, and a warm colour palette. It’s a subtle critique of a violent, corrupt system which is built to further dismantle your working-class families, and it’s enthralling to watch.
8) Animol (Dir. Ashley Walters)
If there is one thing UK film-makers love, it’s a prison drama. They can’t get enough of making them, and dads across the country eat them up. It’s a tired genre. Most films hit the same story beats and end without scratching the surface or offering any insight as to how these boys end up with such violent tendencies. If there was anyone I could trust to delve into these problems with real insight, however, it would be Ashley Walters. In his impressive debut feature Animol, he takes to the entry point for these troubled deviants – a young offenders institution. Walters proves to be as much of a talent behind the camera as he is in front of it and takes a nuanced approach to these incarcerated boys. It’s funny, considering one of the driving forces behind him stepping into the director’s chair was being told he couldn’t on the set of Top Boy. Who knows, maybe if they let him try, Top Boy wouldn’t have gone out with a whimper.
7. A Girl Unknown (Dir. Zou Jing)
Despite the heavy hitters on display at this year’s London Film Festival, it was Zou Jing’s A Girl Unknown that impressed me most. It comes by way of a soul-crushing coming-of-age story which follows a young Chinese girl who is passed between three families between the ages of 6 and 18. Each family, a new name. Every new house, a new identity. Her sense of belonging, further adrift each time. It’s a heartbreaking journey – one which takes on themes of grief, depression, generational trauma, societal pressures and searching for belonging when all you have experienced is displacement. Equally, it is a story of resilience and mental fortitude in the face of constant adversity. All these themes are handled with a great level of care and delicacy. It may not have been the best, but such a stunning effort from Jing on her debut is the biggest surprise of the festival. I will be eagerly waiting for whatever she does next.
6. Behemoth! (Dir. Tony Gilroy)
Behemoth! is a film which would be best experienced swirling a glass of red wine in your hand, while the crackle of a fire simmers in the background. It has a certain elegance to it. It holds itself with a level of class you’d expect if you were visiting a live orchestra. I felt like a slob sat there with my baseball cap on and a pair of trousers three days past their iron due date while Pedro Pascal glides around in his tux. Obviously, it works on more levels than just the vibe it exudes. 14 years on from Tony Gilroy’s last outing, we follow Alex who, after 20 years on the road performing, returns to his hometown LA, forcing himself to face the life he has spent decades ignoring. It’s not too dissimilar to last year’s Jay Kelly. It acts as an intimate exploration of an artist who has avoided the consequences of his actions, accompanied by an undeniably beautiful score. Gilroy’s conducting of the film is on tune, and all the performances strike the right note. Cue the standing ovation.
5. Ray Gunn (Dir. Brad Bird)
Brad Bird’s long-awaited passion project Ray Gunn is a pure animation delight. It’s a neo-noir crime mystery which has the perfect balance of silliness and maturity we have come to expect from his work. Though some of its bits can go on for too long, and the animation is hardly as good as its concept art, this is full of everything which has made his animated work so captivating. This is the film his career has been building towards. For a film pitched in the 90s, it’s very timely in what it has to say about our current world – the using of AI, artistic integrity, the power of the elites; and finding truth in a dishonest world namely and it sticks the landing on majority of them. This is Bird back to his best. The killer voice acting performances by Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson and Michael Giacchino’s brilliant score all make for an enjoyable time at the movies. The gun wasn’t jammed. We are so back.
4. Ink (Dir. Danny Boyle)
I need a cold shower after that one. Journalism has changed a lot over the years, but nothing has been as seismic as the rise of the infamous UK tabloid, The Sun. Once that train left the station, there was no going back. It sort of plays out like Oppenheimer, in that way. We are living in Rupert Murdoch and Larry Lamb’s world of news whether we want to or not. The clickbait, the sensationalised headlines, the constant belief that the ends justify the means are all a consequence of that group of rambunctious misfits’ desire to become the best. The ink will forever be on their hands. It’s fascinating to watch Jack O’Connell portray Lamb’s further descent from the grey to being completely morally bankrupt. Despite all this, Ink will rightfully be stained due to the AI usage. What an embarrassment from Danny Boyle. It makes it worse because his style is in full flow, and for him to ruin it with a few seconds of AI scenes is just silly. Do better.
3. Wild Horse Nine (Dir. Martin McDonagh)
Martin McDonagh’s follow-up to Oscar-nominated The Banshees of Inisherin, Wild Horse Nine is a sombre buddy tragicomedy which follows the crass but innately charming Chris, a CIA agent in the last week of his life. It’s 1973, and the historic overthrow of Salvador Allende’s government is just over the horizon. It wasn’t a good time to be a politician – assassinations, overthrows, secrets, the lot. Two of the men responsible for many cover-ups over the years are Chris (An Oscar-worthy John Malkovich) and Lee (An electric Sam Rockwell). While Chile was about to face their very own catastrophe, the long-term partners had been dispatched by their chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi), to Easter Island. It has been a desire of Chris’s to see the famous stone heads on the island before cancer got one back for the countless people he had killed. It is full of laugh-out-loud scenes from the whole cast, but its introspective and existential themes are what will leave the most impact.
2. Wildwood (Dir. Travis Knight)
This is Laika and animation at their peak. Dare I say, it may be their best yet. Travis Knight’s second directorial outing of the year follows Pure (voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee), who, after going to the town with her younger baby brother Mac, watches as her brother is taken by a murder of crows into the mysterious, magical forest. Determined to get him back, we watch as she, along with her classmate Curtis (Jacob Tremblay), ventures into the unknown in hopes of finding him there. There are some films I watch where the sheer magnitude of it makes it unthinkable to me that anyone could have made it. I was sat there completely spellbound for the whole 131 minutes. The mere thought of the efforts and work they had to put in gives me a headache. In a climate where an AI film is pushing to be nominated for an Oscar (yuck!), it feels important to highlight films which are showcases of pure brilliance. Wildwood is just that. Go and support it in any way you can.
1. Josephine (Dir Beth de Araújo)
Josephine is not only the most important film of the year, but it may be the best. One day, Damien (Channing Tatum) and his daughter Josephine (An incredible Mason Reeves) are on a routine run through Golden Gate Park. While racing through the forest, Josephine strays away from her father and stumbles upon a woman being sexually assaulted. Seeing such horrors, Josephine starts to act out, leading Damien and his wife Claire (Gemma Chan) to try and search for justice and a way for all of them to feel safe again. Director Beth de Araújo gives you nowhere to hide. We are placed in the mind of a confused, eight-year-old girl trying to make sense of something she can’t understand, and it is deeply upsetting to watch unfold, especially if you’re a parent. It is uncomfortable, but immensely powerful in its themes of the loss of innocence, honest communication and wrestling with the fact you can’t always protect those you love. By far and away the best film of the festival.
