BFI London Film Festival 2026 begins: These are the movies you need to watch

The 70th edition of the BFI London Film Festival gets under way today - and there’s plenty for movie lovers to get excited about.

From Amy Adams to Pedro Pascal, legendary directors to newcomers on the scene, fan favourites to foreign masterpieces, the upcoming festival promises to be one of the best.

Over 12 days from Wednesday, October 7 to Sunday, October 18, London’s iconic cinemas, including BFI’s own Southbank cinema, will host an array of films from around the world.

The Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest multi-arts centre

PA Archive

Here are the films The Standard is most excited about, and why you should be too.

Elsinore

Starring: Andrew Scott, Olivia Colman, Billie Piper, Sadie Soverall, Johnny Flynn, Luke Thompson, Monica Dolan and Joe Locke

Elsinore follows the story of actor Ian Charleson, who took on the role of Hamlet at the National Theatre in the final few months of his life while terminally ill from Aids.

As he transforms into one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters for the performance of a lifetimes, the bard’s own meditations on mortality and grief begin to mirror his own life.

Andrew Scott stars in Elsinore

Anthony Dickenson

Why we’re excited

This film, which kicks off the festival, has already received acclaim following debut screenings at various autumn festivals. Many have already deemed Scott to be in contention for the Best Actor awards at the Academy Awards, in a performance hailed by critics as "astonishing" and “for the ages".

Behemoth!

Starring: Pedro Pascal, Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, Alexa Swinton, Kaya Ralls, Erik Griffin, Jobeth Williams, Margarita Levieva, with Hank Azaria and Will Arnett.

Pedro Pascal stars as Alex Serian, a gifted child prodigy turned classical musician who, following a bad relationship, flees from Chicago, the city he has called home for 20 years.

Back in his native LA, he begins recording film scores and dealing with the family business, embarking on a music-powered journey that will “change him forever”.

Pascal’s character embarks on a musical journey that will ‘change him forever’

Searchlight Pictures

Pedro Pascal stars as Alex Serian, a gifted child prodigy turned classical musician

Searchlight Pictures

Why we’re excited

Behemoth! marks Tony Gilroy’s first film in 14 years, arriving four years after his major commercial and critical success with the Disney+ series Andor. The director is best known for his work on the Jason Bourne series.

Ink

Starring: Jack O'Connell, Guy Pearce and Claire Foy

In 1969, Rupert Murdoch, played by Guy Pearce, acquired The Sun, hiring gifted editor Larry Lamb to change the paper’s fortunes. Their ensuing Fleet Street partnership went on to change both British journalism and society forever.

Jack O'Connell stars in Ink

Studio Canal/Netflix

Why we’re excited

Danny Boyle’s movie is based on a 2017 West End play that racked up four Olivier Award nominations in 2018, whilst its Broadway adaptation in 2019 won two Tony Awards.

La Bola Negra

Starring: Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos González, Milo Quifes, Penélope Cruz, Lola Dueñas and Glenn Close.

The Spanish-language film explores LGBT heritage across three interconnected stories of three men in 1932, 1937, and 2017. It is inspired by and pays tribute to murdered Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca.

Why we’re excited

The film, directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known together as Los Javis, took Cannes by storm in May, receiving a 20-minute ovation before winning Best Director for Calvo and Ambrossi.

A bidding war for the US rights broke out over the film, which was ultimately won by Netflix in a deal worth around $4–5million.

The Spanish-language film explores LGBT heritage across three interconnected stories of three men

Netflix

Bunker

Starring: Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Stephen Graham, Paul Dano, Patrick Schwarzenegger

A celebrated architect, played by Barden, is offered the chance to secretly design a survival bunker for a billionaire who is convinced that the end of the world is coming. As he gets lured in by the controversial project, his wife, played by Cruz, begins to question their 17-year-long relationship.

Penélope Cruz leads a star-studded cast in Bunker

Pathé Mediawan

Why we’re excited

The film is written specifically for real-life couple Cruz and Bardem, as well as being directed by Florian Zeller, a French filmmaker who won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Father in 2021.

Club Kid

Starring: Jordan Firstman, Cara Delevingne, Diego Calva and Travis Jackson

The comedy-drama film, written, directed, and starring Jordan Firstman, follows a washed-up New York party promoter who sees his hectic lifestyle brought to a standstill when he discovers he has a 10-year-old son he knew nothing about.

Why we’re excited

During its world premiere at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, it received a seven-minute standing ovation.

A heated bidding war promptly followed, which was ultimately won by A24 for $17million.

Being Heumann

Starring: Ruth Madeley, Mark Ruffalo, Dylan O'Brien, Madeline Delp, and Rob Delaney

The historical drama centres on Judy Heumann, known as the “Mother of the Disability Rights Movement”.

Being Heumann follows the inspiring story of Judy Heumann

AppleTV

It explores her historic 28-day occupation of San Francisco's Federal Building in 1977, as she united protesters in a fight for accessibility laws and equal rights.

Why we’re excited

Oscar-winning filmmaker Siân Heder (CODA) is at the helm, with its depiction of different types of disabliities being praised as “stirring stuff”.

Fjord

Starring: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, and Lisa Loven Kongsli

Fjord stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve

Le Pacte

A Norwegian woman, played by Reinsve, relocates with her Conservative Christian husband, played by Stan, and their five children to a close-knit remote coastal town. Their world is soon turned upside down when suspicions around their children’s wellbeing place the rigid parents under intense scrutiny.

Why we’re excited

The film premiered in the main competition of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival in May, where it received a 12-minute standing ovation and won the Palme d'Or, François Chalais Prize, FIPRESCI Prize, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, and Prix de la Citoyenneté.

Klara and The Sun

Starring: Jenna Ortega, Amy Adams, Mia Tharia, Natasha Lyonne and Steve Buscemi

Taika Waititi’s dystopian science fiction film sees Ortega play Klara, a solar powered Artifical Friend (AF) who is chosen by sickly child Josie to be her companion, bringing light to Josie and her family’s complicated world.

Sony Pictures

Why we’re excited

The film is an adaptation of the best-selling 2021 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, acclaimed British-Japanese author whose novel Never Let Me Go was adapted into a 2010 film starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightly.

Ortega also said that she was drawn to the role of ever-optimistic Klara “who’s very different from the characters that I’ve been playing recently,” she told Empire, expressing her desire not to be type cast.

Paper Tiger

Adam Driver and Miles Teller star as two businessmen brothers

Neon

Starring: Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Miles Teller

Set in 1980s New York, two brothers who pursue a lucrative business opportunity end up finding themselves caught up in a scheme that involves the Russian Mafia. The promise of easy money soon turns into real danger, testing their bond as siblings as their family is pushed to the edge.

Why we’re excited

The film had its world premiere in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on May 16, where it received a 10-minute standing ovation.

I Love Boosters

Starring: Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Robin Thede, Poppy Liu, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle and Demi Moore

The absurdist crime comedy follows a crew of professional shoplifters - known as “Boosters” - who target high-end designer (Moore) by stealing her clothes and reselling them at a lower price.

The absurdist crime comedy follows a crew of professional shoplifters

LFF

The film quickly spirals from a simple heist movie into wild sci-fi territory as it delivers a powerful social commentary.

Why we’re excited

An all-star cast tells this anti-capitalist story which has been dubbed a “maximalist delight” and praised for its wacky humour with Monty Python undertones.

A Long Winter

Starring: Fred Hechinger, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Caitríona Balfe, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai and Kit Connor

Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Fred Hechinger, Andrew Haigh and Dennis Lim speak onstage at the A Long Winter Q&A

Getty

Set in a remote mountain farm during a harsh winter, a young man searches for his mother after she walks out into a blizzard following a family argument that stemmed from her alcoholism.

Why we’re excited

From Andrew Haigh, the acclaimed director of All of Us Strangers, the movie set in remote Colorado has been praised as a “fascinating, affecting and enigmatic” look into male loneliness.