The stars were out in full force (Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Allen White, Andrew Scott, Daniel Craig) for the 69th BFI London Film Festival which has wrapped up after a full ten days of 247 films from 79 countries, Q&A’s, glitter, red carpet, hits and a few misses. Herewith are a few of the films we were able to catch, some very good and some disappointing, however it was impossible to watch every film.
Sirat: A father goes on a search for his daughter who is traipsing in raves in the Moroccan dessert. Unexpected events transpire in this very unique film that goes places where you would not expect. Expect to hold your breathe throughout. To be released in the UK in November.
The History of Sound: Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor fall in love over their love of music. The buzz on this film is spot on – it’s beautifully told and shot, directed by Oliver Hermanus and written by Ben Shattuck, and it lives up to expectations. Early 2026 release date.
Dreams: Jessica Chastain is perfect as a wealthy benefactor of a ballet school who falls in love with one of the foreign students and stops at nothing to keep him in her orbit. Real life ballet dancer and actor IsaacHernández matches Chastain in the acting department – and it’s only his second movie. Their scenes together are explosive. Written and Directed by Michel Franco.
The Stranger: Celebrated French Director Francis Ozon does it again and brings us a beautiful film about a loner who is just getting by through life with a job and a girlfriend and the recent death of his mother but his life changes after an unexpected tragic event, yet he himself doesn’t change. You won’t forget this one anytime soon.
Mad Bills to Pay: 19 year old Rico (a very good and natural Juan Collado) gets his 16 year old girlfriend pregnant and wants to do the right thing even though he’s still living with his mom and sister in an apartment in the Bronx and makes a living selling alcoholic drinks on the beach. What makes this film rise above all others is the acting, and the real life storyline – it’s like you are in the same room watching everything unfold. Touching – it’s perfectly written and directed by Joel Alfonso Vargas.
Lurker: In the age of social media this can happen to any up and coming celebrity; a fan ingratiates himself into the life of a rising pop star and is then asked to be in his entourage as the official photographer, but when things go awry the lurker takes revenge to not lose control. Lurker is creepy and unsettling.
Lucky Lu: An immigrant who delivers food on his bike in NYC’s Chinatown struggles to survive on the cusp of his wife and child joining him from China. It’s a heartbreaking tale, especially after Lu gets his bike stolen and gets ripped off by his new ‘landlord.’ Chang Chen is fantastic as Lu in this fine film written and directed by Lloyd Lee Choi.
Pillion: Alexander Skarsgard takes on a role as a master in a BDSM relationship where his submissive is played by Harry Melling (Harry Potter star). Their relationship starts out slow but then goes full speed ahead. This film will blow your socks off as it is very sexy (more so than what you expect). Written and directed by Harry Lighton – this is his first film.
The Voice of Hind Rajab: This one had members of the audience openly crying. The true story of a very young girl who is in a car that has just been shot up at in war torn Gaza where she is actually surrounded by her dead family. The rescuers speak to her via a mobile phone while trying to get a rescue vehicle to save her. The actual voice of Hind Rijab during that call is used in this film that could’ve been made as a documentary as well but instead it is very emotional drama. Extremely powerful and very timely.
Olmo: A young boy who wants to get into mischief but can’t because he’s been tasked with watching over his disabled father while his mother works all the time and his sister refuses to do anything. Filmed in New Mexico, Olmo is a sweet growing up tale with a bit of drama and angst thrown in.
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere: The supposedly true story of when Bruce Springsteen was making his 1983 album Nebraska while dealing with the memories of his abusive father and the drama of a new relationship that he just wasn’t ready for. Jeremy Allan White plays the Boss. It is a film full of conflict but it would’ve been better if we were presented with a biopic and not just a snapshot of his long successful career. White is adequate enough but a bit downtrodden all the time as Springsteen, while Stephen Graham steals all his scenes he’s in as his father. Now in cinemas, Deliver Me From Nowhere has opened to mixed reviews.
Peter Hujar’s Day: Director Ira Sachs’s intimate new film stars Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall in a vividly cinematic rendering of a conversation recorded in 1974 between influential photographer Peter Hujar and writer Linda Rosenkrantz. It doesn’t quite meet expectations and it would’ve been better to have seen a full biopic of Hujar and not a filmed conversation.
Photos courtesy of BFI
