The 10 films you need to see at BFI London Film Festival 2025

Every year, the BFI London Film Festival collates the best of the best, but the 2025 edition is particularly mind-boggling. With few notable absentees in its eclectic lineup, the upcoming LFF (which is what every annoying cinephile in your life calls it) will cram around 250 films (42 per cent by female or non-binary directors) into 12 days. That means even if you’re creative with annual leave, faking an illness, and pretending to WFH, it’s still a struggle to catch everything on offer.

On the bigger, red-carpet side, there are Oscar favourites (and some former Oscar favourites that contractually still have to do the festival circuit); elsewhere is the stranger, stronger stuff, much of which will never play a cinema again. The October timing also means that directors and actors will often attend for intros and Q&As. A hot tip: stick around afterwards, and nearly everyone who isn’t Emma Stone-level famous will chat to you about the film.

Tickets are already on sale to members and will be purchasable to the general public on September 16, with additional tickets released on October 2. If you’re unsuccessful ahead of time, never fear: it’s fairly simple to turn up on the day and grab a stand-by ticket (industry people on the guest list and friends of the filmmaker always cancel), or you can watch the previous film and hide in the venue. Maybe change your t-shirt to fool the CCTV.

Here are 10 of our recommendations, including a British BDSM romcom, a Japanese horror videogame adaptation, and a medieval fantasy with Charli xcx. 

PILLION (DIR. HARRY LIGHTON)

Surprisingly adventurous for a British film, Lighton’s debut stars Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling as two gay bikers experimenting with BDSM, both in and out of tight, leather costumes. Described by Sight & Sound as “Richard Curtis but with butt plugs”, the kinky comedy-drama juxtaposes the protagonists’ experiences: one still lives at home with his mother, the other is part of a biker gang. Pleasure if you can get a ticket; pain if you have to wait for a theatrical release.

EXIT 8 (DIR. GENKI KAWAMURA)

Despite being based on a horror video game, Exit 8 is closer to a Samuel Beckett play than Resident Evil. As in the indie walking simulator that was an unexpected hit in 2023, the Japanese movie adaptation follows an unnamed man trapped in a subway; to escape, he must avoid all “anomalies”, or else return to the very beginning. In keeping with the cinema mayhem of Minecraft, audiences of Exit 8 can join in the fun by being unable to leave the cinema when – or if – the end credits unfold.

LEFT-HANDED GIRL (DIR. SHIH-CHING TSOU)

Shot on an iPhone amidst the hubbub of Taipei, Tsou’s solo directorial debut (she co-directed Take Out with Sean Baker) follows three left-handed women of different generations and different struggles. Referred to as “a constellation of absorbing stories” by The Hollywood Reporter at Cannes, the rapid, immersive drama demands to be seen in cinemas – its Netflix release suggests a film festival might be the best time to watch it. If it reminds you of Tangerine or Anora, there’s a reason: it’s co-written, co-produced, and edited by Baker.

THE KIDNAPPING OF ARABELLA (DIR. CAROLINA CAVALLI)

The writer-director of Amanda and co-writer of Fremont, Cavalli is quickly establishing herself as a strange, smart filmmaker whose deadpan humour is funnier than nearly everything else out there. In The Kidnapping of Arabella, Holly (Benedetta Porcaroli from Amanda) is tricked into believing a seven-year-old girl, Arabella, is the younger version of herself; a madcap road trip ensues, with the kid’s father played by an Italian-speaking Chris Pine. Reviews have compared it to Jim Jarmusch, Aki Kaurismäki, and Dino Riso’s Il Sorpasso.

100 NIGHTS OF HERO (DIR. JULIA JACKMAN)

Elegant and playful, Jackman’s adaptation of the graphic novel The One Hundred Nights of Hero has already caught attention for its starry cast: Maika Monroe, Nicholas Galitzine, Emma Corrin, Felicity Jones, Richard E. Grant, and, in her first of seven upcoming films, Charli xcx. In a medieval fantasy world, an arrogant man bets that he can impregnate his wife within 101 days; his attempts are delayed when his target’s secret girlfriend tells tales to distract him. The film is the festival’s closing gala; find the correct spot on a tall building near the red carpet, and you’ll see Charli xcx for free.

THE ICE TOWER (DIR. LUCILE HADŽIHALILOVIĆ)

Hadžihalilović (Evolution, Earwig) is a French auteur incapable of directing a normal movie. Her latest is a coming-of-age fantasy about a fostered child, Jeanne (Clara Pacini), who steals an adult’s ID and breaks into a film studio where they’re shooting her favourite fairytale, The Snow Queen. Once hired as an extra, Jeanne becomes embroiled in the lives of the film’s lead actress, Cristina (Marion Cotillard), and its fiery director, Dino (Gaspar Noé).

FUCKTOYS (DIR. ANNAPURNA SRIRAM)

A raunchy, violent, anti-capitalist comedy that’s been compared to John Waters, Fucktoys promises to be a good time – or at least something that’s fun to say out loud. The knowingly bizarre plot follows a sex worker who has a curse that can only be reversed by sacrificing a baby lamb and coughing up $1,000. Full of sexual hijinks, slapstick humour, and colourful cinematography, the zany actioner takes place in Trashtown, USA. All shot on 16mm, it’s the kind of film you want to see with a drunk, rowdy audience, not at home.

PALESTINE 36 (DIR. ANNEMARIE JACIR)

Set during Britain’s colonial rule of Palestine, Jacir’s historical drama is so timely that its proposed shoot in 2023 on the West Bank was delayed and moved to Jordan due to the ongoing atrocities and genocide in Gaza. Originally titled All Before You, the period-piece depicts the 1936-1939 uprising of Palestinian farmers against their British colonisers. “Everybody talks about 1948 and everything after,” said Jacir in a recent Deadline interview. “But the roots of all this begin so much earlier.” Palestine have submitted it as their entry for the 2026 Oscars.

SIRÂT (DIR. OLIVER LAXE)

Described by many as an arthouse Mad Max: Fury Road, Laxe’s road-trip thriller has received heaps of hype since Cannes and also a warning: try to read nothing beforehand and go in blind. What can be known is that it’s from the Spanish director of Fire Will Come and Variety teases that it “[defies] all known laws of narrative and genre”. The other thing to know is that it’s a film about rave culture, so try to see it big and loud – it’s playing at BFI IMAX.

SILENT FRIEND (DIR. ILDIKÓ ENYEDI)

Starring a tree, Silent Friend is the latest “what kind of film is this?” concoction from the Hungarian genius behind My Twentieth Century and On Body and Soul. To be fair, Enyedi’s decades-spanning drama also boasts human co-stars like Lea Seydoux and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, the latter in his first-ever European film. Set in 1908, 1972, and 2020, the nature-loving story reveals how different people try to communicate with plants. Enyedi has been nominated at the Oscars before. Could the tree get an acting award?

The BFI London Film Festival runs from October 8 to 19 at venues in London and across the UK. Tickets go on sale to the public on 16 September. Extra tickets get released on October 2. BFI members can book tickets now. For more information click here.