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Ok #filmsky. Another year, another banging #LFF line-up to cover! Over the next few weeks, I’ll be dropping reactions & reviews for everything weird & wonderful #LondonFilmFestival has to offer. There’ll be coverage on insertmontage.com & bite sized thoughts in the thread below 👇 #LFF2026 🎞️🎬📽️

1. PETROLHEADS (dir. Emil Langballe) A charming little story of friendship, acceptance, dreams, identity & one man’s undying love for the Honda Civic. It’s a simple but effective doc that approaches disability & neurodiversity from a unique & refreshingly honest way & the result is quietly moving

2. HOT WATER (dir. Ramzi Bashour) I’m a sucker for a good road trip movie & this is an ok road trip movie. Ticks all the genre boxes but never develops them. The mother-son dynamic is sweet but for a trip that takes in so many miles geographically, it doesn’t go anywhere. Dale Dickey steals the show

3. FLIES (dir. Fernando Eimbcke) Such a lovely little film. A low-key black & white delight about the unlikely bond between an isolated woman & the 9-year-old son of a man she begrudgingly rents a room out to. Beautifully shot with a playful spirit & tonnes of heart despite its downplayed emotions

4. DAO (dir. Alain Gomis) Took minute to dial in on but once locked in I loved it. Dao is a 3-hour epic that cleverly plays with form & time as it bounces back & forth between France, Africa & the film’s rehearsals to bring us a soulful, thematically rich look at culture, identity, family & ancestry

5. CONGO BOY (dir. Rafiki Fariala) Culturally specific but thematically universal. A hard hitting but ultimately uplifting against-all-odds coming-of-age tale that does what it says on the tin but does it well, powered along but a fantastic lead performance by newcomer Bradley Fiomana Dembeasset

6. MOONGLOW (dir. Isabel Sandoval) A stylish, beautifully put together noirish Manila thriller written, directed, produced, edited & starring Isabel Sandoval. The sultry, vibey style is captivating & infinitely watchable however its slow-burn & low-key plot means it rarely gets out of second gear

7. ISABEL (dir. Gabe Klinger) What a lovely little film. Never overstretches itself in its honest, low-key tale of wine, dreams & the quiet celebration of life’s imperfections. I can’t say I’ve ever tried a natural Brazilian wine before but I am now obsessed

8. ELSINORE (dir. Simon Stone) Big emotions & even bigger acting, #Elsinore hits hard with Ian Charleson’s story yet there’s a lightness & a welcome dose of humour to it that balance things out. This is the Andrew Scott show though. It’s a huge performance & I can image awards buzz is incoming

9. ALL OF A SUDDEN (dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi) Despite the sprawling runtime and the unbearably dense emotional weight it carries, Hamaguchi’s latest slow burn wonder is a beautifully and sensitively constructed story of life, death, the people we are, and those we connect with along the way

10. ROGUE TROOPER (dir. Duncan Jones) While the weird uncanny valley mo-cap mostly looks like a video game cut scene & the plot feels like a rehash, with an impressive voice cast & a chaotic, oddball sense of humour, there’s definitely something to appreciate at the heart of this 2000 AD adaptation

11. GODZILLA MINUS ZERO (dir. Takashi Yamazaki) Good god(zilla)! #GodzillaMinusZero is terrifying, thrilling & silly in the ways it needs to be. As with its predecessor #MinusZero is a triumphant blend of character, real world horror & badass kaiju action that nails both its humans & monster carnage

12. WILD HORSE NINE (dir. Martin McDonagh) Crackling with his trademark dialogue & centring on a pair of sad, morally stunted men, #WildHorseNine plays like a McDonagh megamix. But while the it feels familiar, the director shows growth by offering his most potent & thoughtful effort to date

13. PAPER TIGER (dir. James Gray) A solidly put together crime drama that I wanted to love, and liked a lot, but never felt like it clicked into gear. Offers a gripping setup and a thrilling first act but doesn’t feel like it knows what to do with it all from there as it gradually runs out of steam

14. JULIÁN (dir. Louise Bagnall) What a wonderful little film. Cartoon Saloon have pulled another gem out of the bag with a vibrant, culture-soaked queer-coded tale of identity & self discovery. Tinged with fantasy but rooted in a very real, overtly black Latino New York, Julián radiates with warmth

15. RAY GUNN (dir. Brad Bird) With a dose of Tomorrowland & Incredibles, Brad Bird raids his filmography with enjoyable results. Full of retro-futuristic fun, a witty script & a twisty noir plot, #RayGunn doesn’t win any prizes for originality but it does what it does with energy & charm to spare

16. THE BLOOD COUNTESS (dir. Ulrike Ottinger) The highest of high camp & relentlessly bonkers, you can’t help but admire its swing but it all eventually wears thin. The sets, costumes & Isabelle Huppert are magnificent but I honestly had no idea what was going & I’m not sure the film did either

17. ANIMOL (dir. Ashley Walters) Gritty & harsh but with enough heart & hope to alleviate the bleakness, #Animol is a solid prison drama & a promising directing debut from Walters. It’s hard to avoid comparisons with Wasteman & while Animol lacks that film’s punch, satisfies on a more soulful level

19. PRIMETIME (dir. Lance Oppenheim) Driven by a monster performance from Pattinson, #Primetime is a grimy, grainy descent into tv’s dark heart, society’s murky soul & one man’s spiralling madness. Gonzo visuals, paranoia & unsettling levity combine for a thoroughly uncomfortable viewing experience

20. ROSE (dir. Markus Schleinzer) Sandra Hüller once again proving just how far ahead of the game she is with yet another masterclass performance in this quietly haunting b&w slow-burn beauty that immerses you in its restrained but deeply poignant tale of gender and identity in 17th century Germany

21. BEING HEUMANN (dir. Sian Hedder) Big, broad & bristling with righteous anger, Hedder’s retelling of Judy Heumann’s fight for disability rights is a stirring crowdpleaser that goes for the feels & gets them. Like CODA it keeps its message simple but does so with tonnes of heart & spikey rebellion