Between Cynthia Erivo commanding a courtroom, and Cameron Winter’s piano date with PTA, Wonderland assemble the most eagerly awaited pictures battling for the best in show at the BFI London Film Festival 2026.
After a slew of summer blockbusters, and South Bank scenes of cosmic alignment, the BFI London Film Festival is back for another elite autumnal agenda. Exhibiting the early favourites of Cannes, Venice, Telluride and TIFF, industry-leading hotshots and forward-thinking first-timers are poised to eclipse one another, as the esteemed event turns over a new, crimson coloured leaf for its 70th edition. Come the end of the year, it’s a bounty of crops for zealous cinephiles, and the last big ticket to black-tie excess before the red carpet race kicks off.
Chosen to screen in this year’s Official Competition, Dostoevsky comedy-drama The Idiot(s) vies for the Best Film Award beside Italy’s Ketticè, a semi-autobiographical account of adolescence backed by Monica Bellucci. A last-minute festival addition, Primetime is set to take over the stadium-style BFI IMAX. Catching all the RPatz commotion at a good time, now’s the perfect chance to have a hot ticket seat with Chris Hansen. Look deeper and you’ll find Paper Plane, the impassioned debut from writer/director newbie Saoirse Ronan, screening exclusively as part of the “I See Myself” short film programme. Participants in this year’s Screen Talks include Danny Boyle, Robert Eggers, Ava DuVernay, and Sofia Coppola.
As the countdown begins, Wonderland gathers 10 of the weightiest titles to be on the lookout for, from Luca Guadagnino’s OpenAI odyssey, to a landmark restoration of a lost cinema phenomenon. Keep reading for the full list…
Elsinore, by Simon Stone
There’s no better way to watch LFF’s Opening Night Gala Elsinore than at the Royal Festival Hall, just a couple of steps ahead of Great Britain’s illustrious National Theatre. It’s the site at the crux of this period portrait chronicling the far too short life of celebrated Scottish actor Ian Charleson. Capturing the heart and hardships of a struggling artist, Andrew Scott promises another tragic, moving masterclass after gracing LFF back in 2023 with his grief-stricken All of Us Strangers outing. Supported by Olivia Colman and Billie Piper, Simon Stone’s ode to a remarkable thespian will certainly hit close to home. Not just for its location choices. On screen, Charleson, replacing Daniel Day-Lewis, is readying himself to play Hamlet at the National Theatre. In 1989, he gave a career-defining performance, at the same time burdened by his late-stage HIV secret. While some critics have stoked the fire of conventional storytelling feedback, mutual praise in Scott’s assured execution makes an Oscar frontrunner of Elsinore.
Artificial, by Luca Guadagnino
Also a late arrival to LFF’s lineup, Luca Guadagnino follows last year’s After The Hunt Gala with a second contentious, of-the-moment backhander. Instead of tackling the Culture War, Artificial targets the ChatGPT addicts among us. Dropped by Amazon MGM, a studio with ties to OpenAI, expect a scathing dramatisation of the corporate conundrums behind the company’s controversial rise. Portraying its CEO Sam Altman, Andrew Garfield stars in a scandalous tale of Altman’s sudden firing in 2023, and subsequent power reinstatement only five days later. An ominous one-minute teaser was shared by Neon in September, with Garfield telling Anora breakout Yura Borisov, who plays OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, “We open Pandora’s box together. The future is inevitable. Countries will fall. Industries are going to collapse. And we get to be the ones to shepherd people into this new world.” Cooper Hoffman and Monica Barbaro round out the ensemble, and with the Italian auteur’s knack for turning flashpoints into feverish cultural footprints, Artificial could very well be the festival’s most provocative talking point.
La Bola Negra, by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi
Spain’s official Oscar submission, this rapturous queer epic made a splash at its Cannes premiere, picking up the award for Best Director to duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. An original musical monument unlike anything seen before, it’ll be impossible to ignore the outcome of this maximalist work from the visionary brains behind Veneno. Rooted in the unfinished play of the same name by Frederico García Lorca, who only made it through the first four pages before his murder in the Spanish Civil War, La Bola Negra threads the inherited stories of state shame and secretive sexuality through the lives of three Spanish men. Across 1932, 1937 and a contemporary 2017, interweaving a triptych of gay genealogy in today’s shifting political landscape is a marker of confident cinema. Led by singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente, featuring appearances from Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close, the film landed an overwhelming 20-minute ovation in the Grand Théâtre Lumière. Bold and breathtaking, judging by reputation alone, it’s bound to grip the unsuspecting British public.
Prima Facie, by Susanna White
Arriving at LFF carrying some serious theatrical baggage, Prima Facie first saw fanfare as Suzie Miller’s globally acclaimed one-woman play. In the hands of Jodie Comer, the role of barrister Tessa Ensler earned her both an Olivier and a Tony award. Now, in Susanna White’s screen adaptation, it’s Cynthia Erivo taking the stand. Accustomed to dominating courtroom proceedings by defending men accused of sexual assault, when Tessa herself is sexually assaulted, she is compelled to face the legal system she once trusted. Captivating audiences as The Color Purple’s Celie, Wicked’s Elphaba and, most recently, Count Dracula, et al. at the West End, Erivo’s stellar acting gigs have made her a household name. For a festival that relishes a starry awards season contender, Prima Facie has high standards to uphold. The film’s TIFF debut left several unconvinced by the transition from stage to screen, deeming it flat and overly didactic. But with a heavy hitter in Erivo at the helm of the witness box, her quietly powerful performance emerging as the strongest defense, Tessa’s testimony has to be seen to be believed.
Fjord, by Cristian Mungiu
Recipient of this year’s Palme d’Or, the second for Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu, who previously won in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Fjord proved to be one of Cannes’ most hotly debated titles of the year. A conversation starter also present at TIFF, this icy moral dilemma pits a conservative Christian immigrant couple against the progressive liberal system of a small remote Norwegian town. Any semblance of an idyllic relocation is shattered when their children are placed into protective care, amid suspicions around their wellbeing. Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve are the forces of nature behind Fjord, the latter continuing a hot streak after last year’s Sentimental Value. The film refuses to take sides, as reports have suggested, raising fundamental questions like why democracy demands self-criticism and compassion. Now, LFF audiences can make their own minds up about this divisive, decorated drama.
The Devils, by Ken Russell
Over 55 years in the making, censored for over half a century, Ken Russell’s cult masterpiece makes its grand return to cinemas in its definite version. A 4K restoration of the late British film pioneer’s director’s cut; 114 minutes, his approved edit, uncensored in all its God-fearing glory for the first time. Many believed such a recovery would never see the light of day. For 30 years, English film critic Mark Kermode promised Russell he’d find the missing footage, which included a single roll of film with a central sequence in it, censor cuts of sexual ecstasy, and the defiling of a crucifix. Accused of bewitching a convent of nuns, the inspired true story of 17th-century priest Urbain Grandier presents itself as a highly stylised spectacle starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave. No wonder, Derek Jarman also marks his feature film debut as production designer. Set for a nationwide release on 30 October, The Devils’ long-suppressed resurrection of religious hysteria will finally be experienced on a large scale, with every frame of uncut blasphemous infamy, exactly as intended.
Club Kid, by Jordan Firstman
Once a viral internet sensation, Jordan Firstman has made a convincing argument with his feature directorial debut that, beneath the bit, there’s a filmmaker waiting to be looked at with consideration and measured gravitas. Sebastián Silva’s self-critical Rotting in the Sun gave us a first glimpse into Firstman’s meta movie mind. Getting the Un Certain Regard stamp, Club Kid sees him operate the camera, at the same time front and centre playing a jaded New York club promoter whose debaucherous life turns upside down by the discovery that he has a son. Likely in the vein of Adam Sandler’s Big Daddy, Firstman’s film predicts a hilarious skewering of millennial malaise through the queer lens of the father-figure trope. There will undoubtedly be touching scenes, given the amount of chatter that took place immediately after its Cannes premiere. Snatching up the global rights to one of this year’s hottest bidding wars, A24 has won Club Kid for $17 million. A “heartwarming riot” according to Vogue, it’s time to put down the poppers for this one.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, by Bassam Tariq
The thrilling follow-up to Mogul Mowgli, which gripped LFF audiences in 2020, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother reunites Bassam Tariq with the consummate Mahershala Ali after their aborted Marvel reboot. Ali plays Latif, a devoutly religious assassin and father of three in Houston. When his wife dies, his equilibrium is disturbed, and when a hit goes south, he’s pulled towards a desperate journey to protect his children as forces close in around him. Rather than letting collaboration efforts fall through the black hole of the Blade universe, the pair channel a far more personal, compelling profile of grief, fatherhood, and faith. After years of waiting to see Ali wield a sword, there’s poetic licence in this action roller coaster instead. Born from the ashes of one of modern cinema’s most infamous near-misses, Tariq’s ambitious new film has already received strong praise at TIFF, particularly on account of sharp, inventive fight choreography.
Cameron Winter at Carnegie Hall, by Paul Thomas Anderson
A rockstar is born in Cameron Winter in the wake of a hugely successful Geese boom. And what better way to capture the 24-year-old musician’s talents than with One Battle After Another’s Paul Thomas Anderson documenting the moment? Immortalised in 16mm and 35mm film, last December’s sold-out solo show at the legendary New York venue spotlights a stripped-back piano recital for the ages. Recorded alongside fellow filmmaker Benny Safdie, who was spotted by fans operating a camera on the night, it’s a warm-hued, multi-perspective celebration of live performance, fit for every fan and then some. Featuring a majority setlist of Heavy Metal album tracks re-envisioned for the historic stage, along with the unreleased “It All Fell In The River”, “Emperor XIII In Shades”, and “If You Turn Back Now”, Winter closes with his 2024 double singles “Take It With You” and “Vines”. MUBI has acquired the streaming rights to the film, with a due date of 2027. Is the wait unbearable? Fear not, as the audio from Cameron’s concert drops this Friday; his first live album.
The Debut, by Jesse Eisenberg
Bringing the curtain down on LFF 2026, Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut Closing Night Gala is a raucous love letter to community theatre. A premise completely different to that of A Real Pain, an Eisenberg special should still guarantee giggles, not least a stirring of emotions. Already lauded for her luminous lead performance, Juliane Moore could very well be filling in Jessie Buckley’s Best Actress boots as an overlooked housewife who, on a whim, auditions for a local production of an original musical. Her husband barely notices she’s there, but landing the lead part, her concerns shift elsewhere when she’s pushed to extreme lengths by her director Jerry; in the role is The Holdovers’ Paul Giamatti as the “biggest name in New Jersey community theatre.” A chemistry so explosive it appears, as an expletive-laden rant prompted mid-screening cheers and ovations at both Telluride and TIFF. A dramedy all about how it’s never too late to find our true selves, it’s a fitting final bow to a festival that champions the communal power of the arts.
BFI London Film Festival returns 7 to 18 October
Words – Douglas Jardim
