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We watched 50 movies at this year's London Film Festival – and here are the five best
It was another terrific edition of the festival, featuring a brilliantly eclectic line-up of films.
Photo: Chris Harris
- Chezelle Bingham
- , Katelyn Mensah
- , Lewis Knight
- , Max Copeman
- , Patrick Cremona
Published: Thursday, 22 October 2026 at 7:00 am
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Another edition of this year's London Film Festival wrapped up last Sunday (18 October), with more than 250 movies having played across the action-packed programme in the capital over the previous 11 days.
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From Gala screenings at the Royal Festival Hall – including the latest works from directors such as Martin McDonagh and Danny Boyle – to UK premieres of acclaimed international films and exciting works from emerging filmmakers, it was another veritable feast for cinephiles to enjoy.
Several of us at Radio Times were lucky enough to attend the festival – watching movies at both press screenings at the Picturehouse Central and public showings at cinemas across the city – and between us, we managed to tick off a total of 50 features from the programme.
By way of a round up, five of our writers have chosen our favourites films from the line-up. Below, you can find our write-ups outlining why those movies stood apart from the rest of the pack.
From a three-hour epic helmed by an acclaimed Japanese filmmaker, to the final film of a British legend and a somewhat bizarre French thriller, it's a suitably eclectic mix of films.
Read on to find out our highlights!
All of a Sudden
Virginie Efira as Marie-Lou and Tao Okamoto as Mari in All of a Sudden. Festival de Cannes
In such a bleak cinematic climate, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s beautifully tender, acutely compassionate drama All of a Sudden completely engrossed me at this year’s festival, so there’s no wonder I made sure to carve out the time to watch all 197 minutes of it twice at LFF – on my first and final days.
Loosely based on the non-fiction book You and I – The Illness Suddenly Get Worse by Makiko Miyano and Maho Isono, All of a Sudden stars Virginie Efira as Marie-Lou Fontaine, the director of a nursing home in the suburbs of Paris. Marie-Lou wants to introduce a new, humanity-first way of care to the residents known as Humanitude – though is met with some resistance from her team.
When a surprise encounter with a young man, Tomoki (Kodai Kurosaki), brings Marie-Lou together with terminally ill theatre director Mari, their lives are soon transformed.
Of course, it’s the relationship between Marie-Lou and Mari that forms the beating heart of this film. There’s no question that the film is a story of love (it was even included by LFF as part of their Love strand this year), but it’s a rarity to see love of Marie-Lou and Mari’s kind translated so powerfully to the big screen. Mari and Marie-Lou’s “scene by the Seine,” to quote Efira herself, is a staggering, sophisticated exploration of connection between two women portrayed in a completely unsexualised and profoundly realistic manner.
There are plenty of pitfalls in which All of a Sudden could have fallen. Length aside, a story concerning such a subtle topic, including multiple philosophical discussions on the state of capitalism, could have so easily become overly dense and preachy. Yet Hamaguchi presents his finespun arguments with such remarkable earnestness. It’s an incredible risk on his part – but it pays off in abundance.
The cast are just as revelatory as the film itself. Efira is All of a Sudden’s greatest asset – immaculately cast as the selfless, beautifully weary Marie-Lou. Meanwhile, Tao Okamoto’s brings an exceptional delicacy to a character who could be months, weeks or even days away from losing her life. At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the pair were jointly awarded the award for best actress – which is a testament to their performances, and will hopefully translate to at least a few nods at next year’s Oscars.
But it would be reductive to get engrossed in an awards debate – for there is perhaps no award that could encompass the true warmth that All of a Sudden propounds. Leaving the LFF audience with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces at the same time, All of a Sudden is an ode to optimism.
With such an epic runtime and a story that is a significantly more subtle than many other films you might find on a list of this kind, All of a Sudden won’t satisfy everyone’s tastes, especially in a world where the only three-hour films most of society can bare are high-octane, action fare – not to mention the looks I got when I proclaimed that I wanted to sit through a three-hour film once, let alone any more than that. (Still, I’ll be the first in line to watch it again when it hits UK cinemas).
But really, such considerations feel beside the point. Above all else, All of a Sudden is the kind of film that makes you want to be a better person. And really, you can’t ask for much more than that. – Chezelle Bingham
All of a Sudden is currently slated to be released in UK cinemas on Friday 5 February 2027.
The Unknown
Léa Seydoux in The Unknown. Cannes Film Festival
It’s a point often raised that some films benefit enormously from repeat viewings; I can now say from experience that The Unknown is unquestionably one of those films.
I originally watched this beguilingly odd French body swap thriller in a somewhat sleep-deprived state at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and though I instantly knew it was an impressive and fascinating picture, its slow pace coupled with my own fatigue meant I wasn’t able to appreciate it to the fullest extent.
When I saw it was part of the LFF line-up – where it was selected as part of the Cult strand – I instantly knew I’d have to check it out again, which proved a very wise decision. In fact, the second viewing was so rewarding that I ended up seeing it again the following evening, and it now comfortably ranks among my favourite films of recent years.
Directed by Arthur Harari – best known as a co-writer of the Oscar-nominated 2023 film Anatomy of a Fall – and loosely inspired by a graphic novel he co-wrote with his brother Lucas, it initially centres on a somewhat reclusive Parisian photographer named David Zimmerman (Niels Schneider).
We meet David as he reluctantly attends an elaborate costume party, and it is at this party that something decidedly odd happens which sets the events of the film in motion. A woman (Léa Seydoux) – whom he recognises from some of his own photographs – catches his eye and immediately leads him to a basement to have sex. Only, when David awakens he finds that his consciousness has inexplicably been transferred to the woman’s body, causing him some understandable distress.
As he sets about finding who this woman is and what has happened to his own body, the film finds room for all sorts of existentialist musing and psychological questions about the nature of identity, with a slow-building plot that is in no hurry to provide neat answers to its many mysteries.
Harari skilfully conjures up a hypnotically nightmarish atmosphere through the use of some delightfully unorthodox directorial choices – aided by a sparse but oft-repeated musical theme by Andrea Poggio – while also including a number of hugely memorable and arresting images.
Meanwhile, the central performances from Seydoux and Schneider are especially worthy of praise. The two actors excel not only at playing characters trapped in bodies that are alien to them, but also at communicating complex emotions and concerns through relatively little dialogue.
It’s fair to say that The Unknown won’t be for everybody; some viewers will no doubt be left frustrated by the slow pace and the fact that concrete answers are kept elusive right to the final frames. But it’s the type of film where the questions it poses and atmosphere it evokes are far more important that any clear cut, neatly packaged answer, and its mesmeric mood lingers long after the credits roll.
The film doesn’t yet have a UK release date, but here’s hoping it will arrive at some point early in 2027. I’m already looking forward to viewing number 4. – Patrick Cremona
The Unknown does not yet have a confirmed UK release date.
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Anthony Boyle as Patrick, Joe Cole as Rian, Daryl McCormack as Conor, Jay Lycurgo as Oli and Lola Petticrew as Shiv in I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning. Photo: Chris Harris
It can be quite a rarity for the credits of a film to roll and a rapturous applause, along with sniffles and tears from the audience, instantly makes you feel that cinema has never been better. But that’s exactly how I felt after watching I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning at LFF.
Out of the 20 films I saw at the festival this year, Clio Barnard’s drama was the one that stayed with me long after I left the comfort of the Picturehouse Central Cinema.
Adapted by Enda Walsh from Keiran Goddard’s novel of the same name, the film follows five childhood friends from Birmingham as they navigate fractured relationships and the harsh realities of adulthood. With a superb ensemble cast consisting of Anthony Boyle, Joe Cole, Jay Lycurgo, Daryl McCormack and Lola Petticrew, tbe film is an extraordinary portrait of friendship and modern working-class Britain.
Barnard throws us straight into the lives of these friends as we are quickly immersed into Oli’s 30th birthday, before we see an individual snapshot of the lives of the others – one is expecting a baby, and another lives in London, while the other is raising two children and making ends meet.
But we aren’t simply meeting individuals, we are witnessing a shared history, with all the affection and unspoken understanding that comes with it. At pivotal moments, characters break the fourth wall, looking directly at the audience, as Barnard ensures that we are not simply observing their lives, and instead are being asked to understand them.
At LFF, the early morning press screenings often mean being introduced to an entirely new world before 9am, and I found myself connecting emotionally with these unfamiliar characters in an instant.
What moved me most was how much I came to care about this friendship group and what would happen to them. Conor’s story, in particular, played so well by Daryl McCormack, is heartbreaking. Without spoiling the details, watching someone try so hard, make a wrong turn and eventually reach a point where they feel they can no longer see a way out, felt devastatingly unfair. It left me thinking about how easily things can unravel and hoping that, despite a fracture in their friendship group, they’d all be able to find their way back to each other.
The film served as a reminder of how fragile friendships can be and how the people we choose as family are worth holding onto that extra bit tighter. – Katelyn Mensah
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 4 December 2026.
Tender Loving Care
Marion Bailey, Kate O'Flynn and Alice Bailey Johnson in Tender Loving Care. Studio Canal
A new film from Mike Leigh is always an event, no matter how often the British master has been a fixture on the London Film Festival programme during his 55-year career. His latest, though, arrived with an unusual amount of talk surrounding it.
Prior to the festival, the 83-year-old had been quoted as saying that his new film would most likely be his last due to a medical condition affecting his mobility. An outpouring of adulation and fanfare followed, but Leigh remained characteristically pragmatic about the situation, saying: “It’s not a poetic or artistic affectation of some kind or a sense of doom and gloom; it’s just a fact.”
Whatever happens — regardless of whether this typically grounded and emotionally intelligent drama is to be his swan song or not — Tender Loving Care is among Leigh’s very best works. Made on a modest budget, it revolves around a small group of four people. Rosie (Alice Bailey Johnson) is a single social worker with an admirably sunny outlook on life despite difficulties with clients and men she dates.
As the film begins, she is joined in her flat by Amy (Kate O’Flynn), her best friend and fellow social worker who is moving in after breaking up with her long-term partner. Together they drink wine and live like any close pals would, including visiting Amy’s ageing parents, played by Marion Bailey and Paul Jesson. As this is a Mike Leigh film, this involves distinctly quotidian things like cups of tea and the kind of conversations any of us would have with an elderly family member, only with an undeniably melancholic current running through every moment.
At heart, this is a film about the joys of sharing life with family and friends, but also the brutality of the passage of time. The four main players are rounded individuals, and Leigh’s world is thoroughly believable, full of wisdom and short on cynicism.
For decades, much has been made of the film-maker’s unique approach: after casting for a new film, he takes a vague idea into rehearsals where a script takes shape from improvisation and collaborative conversations with actors to build their characters. In a post-screening Q&A at this year’s festival, Leigh spoke of how this makes funding tricky because producers hesitate when he shares so few specifics (his exact words were that he tells them “f**k all”).
The result here is another work of unusual texture about life in Britain, but Leigh’s famed process has also perhaps masked his chops behind the camera. Tender Loving Care shows the legendary figure in total command of his craft, with each movement of the camera and visual composition as precise and considered as ever. Two dialogue-free final shots will knock the wind right out of you.
Fresh off her Emmy-winning performance in Widow’s Bay, Kate O’Flynn will likely get top billing and is sensational in building a character we all recognise. Outwardly cheery but clearly sad-eyed, her Amy will remind audiences of some of Leigh’s other finest leads, most of all Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky or Lesley Manville in Another Year.
In the end, though, it is more of an ensemble piece and yet another masterclass from Leigh in conveying something extraordinary from very ordinary lives. – Max Copeman
Tender Loving Care will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 12 February 2027.
Club Kid
Jordan Firstman in Club Kid. Adam Newport-Berra
Early starts at film festivals can be a killer, and it’s little surprise that sometimes the reaction to a film can be subdued.
However, the crowd-pleasing, witty, and utterly charming Club Kid from Jordan Firstman proved an audible and visible hit with a cinema-going audience of film fanatics – a feat made all the more difficult considering it was one of the last films to be screened at the festival.
The film, which follows a club event promoter and party animal named Peter, starts off very much in the vein of Firstman’s social media image and other comedy roles, with the character engaging in a light-hearted and hedonistic lifestyle.
However, a time jump from 2016 to the modern day sees this firmly brought crashing down to earth when Peter discovers that he has a biological son named Arlo (Reggie Absolom) – a shock to him, considering he is gay and had no recollection of having sex with the British woman who would become Arlo’s mother.
What follows is both a hilarious and highly touching relationship between Peter and Arlo as they each grapple with living with each other and Peter adjusting his previously chaotic lifestyle to a more responsible one of parenthood.
Reggie Absolom himself is also a real find, perfectly complementing Firstman’s Peter as the wise, talented Arlo who carries melancholy and a great sense of comedic timing – as well as expert music taste.
Speaking of which, the soundtrack itself is a heady mixture of epic club beats and wistful tracks from the likes of Rihanna, Cocteau Twins and Kelela, with The White Lotus legend Cristobal Tapia de Veer delivering a similarly diverse offering with the score.
There are still hijinks, party music, and eccentric supporting characters galore, but at its root we see Peter expand his heart and his emotional weight, with Firstman increasingly displaying pathos and spirit as the character.
In the room, the effect on the audience was clear to see – never through the festival had I seen such a frequency of belly laughs, smiles, and quiet chatter as critics soaked in what had already been a Cannes Film Festival darling.
The film builds to a crowd-pleasing but still realistic and emotional conclusion, and I do not doubt that the word of mouth on this cool, touching and non-judgmental film will make it a surefire indie hit.
Club Kid feels not just like an announcement of Jordan Firstman as a filmmaker to watch but also a guaranteed fun time at the cinema. See it with as large a crowd as possible and prepare to laugh, cry, and want to add a few tunes to your music playlists. – Lewis Knight
Club Kid will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 8 January 2027.
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Authors
Chezelle BinghamSub-Editor
Chezelle Bingham is a Sub-Editor for Radio Times. She previously worked on Disney magazines as a Writer, for 6 pre-school and primary titles. Alongside her prior work in writing, she possesses a BA in English Literature and Language.
Katelyn MensahSenior Entertainment Writer
Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
Lewis KnightNews and Trends Editor
Lewis is the news and trends editor at Radio Times and leads our approach to news, reactive content, and serving audience demands and interests. An obsessive fan of television and film, Lewis is a Nicole Kidman fanatic with a side of passion for science-fiction, art-house cinema and the latest HBO drama. Lewis has a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Film Studies. After working in advertising, Lewis worked at The Mirror for three years in community management and SEO, showbiz, film and television reporting.
Max CopemanApp Editor
Max Copeman is App Editor, meaning he looks after all the curation and production of our mobile recommendations and watchlist platform. He has been with us since 2021 and is usually found nattering about films or football.
Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
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