If the level of quality I've just experienced at the 68th London Film Festival is anything to go by, cinephiles are about to be treated to a slew of must-watch movies.
While doing my best to keep up with all the latest streaming news, I've just spent the past two weeks (Oct. 9-20) doing my best to attend as many showings and premieres of new and upcoming movies in the U.K. capital as I could.
Even though I couldn't catch everything I wanted — I had to do some work at some point — I tried to dip into a variety of genres and styles, ranging from serious, heartfelt romance to downright silliness (looking at you, "Rumours"). Below, you can find three flicks that you absolutely cannot skip (in my opinion), plus a full list of everything I managed to see.
'A Real Pain'
Jesse Eisenberg's "A Real Pain" was one of the biggest surprises of the entire festival. It's a comedy-drama that stars writer-director Eisenberg and "Succession" favorite Kieran Culkin as a pair of Jewish cousins — David and Benji Kaplan, respectively — who embark on a trip to Poland, where they've decided to take part in a group heritage tour, in honor of their late grandmother.
It might not sound like a recipe for laughs, but "A Real Pain" is a genuinely hilarious ride, a delightful mixture of sweet, brotherly moments and plenty of disarming laugh-out-loud dialogue. I'm expecting "A Real Pain" to land some real awards attention, especially for Culkin's powerhouse performance.
"A Real Pain" is getting a limited theatrical release on November 1
'Nickel Boys'
RaMell Ross' "Nickel Boys" is a remarkable, harrowing piece of filmmaking. Based on Colson Whitehead's 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Nickel Boys, the movie throws us back in time to Jim Crow-era Florida and recounts the experience of two Black boys, Elwood (Ethan Heisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), at an abusive, racist reform school called the Nickel Academy.
It's particularly immersive thanks to being shot in from the characters' point of view, a decision that invites us into the conversation, quite literally, and makes all the emotions you'll feel throughout that much more overwhelming. Coupled with some marvelous performances and an interesting, collage-like incorporation of archival footage and classic cinema clips, "Nickel Boys" is an exercise in empathy, and a stirring, profound one at that.
"Nickel Boys" hits theaters in December
'We Live in Time'
"We Live in Time" is utterly enchanting. John Crowley's tender romantic drama confidently sketches the highs (and devastating lows) of a relationship between a talented chef, Almut (Florence Pugh), and cereal company rep, Tobias (Andrew Garfield).
It's a melodramatic, tender look at the experience of being in love, and the full range of emotions that feeling love can cause. It thrives chiefly because its two leads share such brilliant on-screen chemistry. I think romance fans will struggle not to be wrapped up in their story. If you're prone to crying at movies ... bring the tissues.
I'd wager some viewers might be turned off by the way it bounces back and forth in time, telling their tale out of order, but in my eyes, seeing this story play out is worth powering through any issues with the structure.
"We Live in Time" is in theaters now
Everything I watched at London Film Festival
Look, I get it, 9 movies within a couple of weeks might not sound like that much, but LFF 2024 happened to play out across a couple of weeks that included plenty of things, including the second Prime Day 2024 sales period.
Nevertheless, I did my best to see what I could, and I've listed everything I've seen that was part of the program below (a full list is available on the BFI website). And just to be clear, this list is in alphabetical order only; I'd recommend pretty much everything I saw, but if I did, this article would be way too long.
- "A Real Pain"
- "Joy"
- "Nickel Boys"
- "Nightbitch"
- "Rumours"
- "The Apprentice"
- "The Room Next Door"
- "The Wild Robot"
- "We Live in Time"
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