Our Most Anticipated Films of London Film Festival 2026
The UK's biggest film festival returns for another year, showcasing the world’s best new films, series and immersive storytelling.
Escape Film Club will be there to cover every second. Our watchlist may be embarrassingly long, but here are some of our most anticipated films the festival has in store this year.
A Long Winter
Andrew Haigh follows up the devastating 'All of Us Strangers' with this chilling drama of a young man addressing his relationship with his father over one long Colorado winter.
A Long Winter has no confirmed UK release date and will be distributed by MUBI.
Artificial
Luca Guadagnino brings Sam Altman's career at OpenAI to the big screen, with Andrew Garfield as the lead. Sure to be one of the most talked-about and worryingly relevant films of the festival.
Artificial has no confirmed UK release date.
Being Heumann
Sian Heder follows up her Best Picture Oscar-winning 'CODA' with the story of disability-rights activist Judy Heumann, played by Ruth Madeley, and her 1977 occupation of a federal building.
Being Heumann arrives on Apple TV on 13th November 2026.
Club Kid
Jordan Firstman's directorial debut stars himself as a NYC club promoter whose chaos gets interrupted by the 10-year-old son he never knew he had.
Club Kid has no confirmed UK release date.
Fjord
This year's Palme d'Or winner stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as a couple who relocate to their home village and collide with a family whose worldview couldn't be more different.
Fjord has no confirmed UK release date.
Godzilla Minus Zero [ゴジラ-0.0]
Takashi Yamazaki's ambicious sequel to the Oscar-winning 'Godzilla Minus One' picks up the Shikishima's story in 1949. A story of such large scale calls for the first Japanese film to be shot for IMAX.
Godzilla Minus Zero arrives in UK cinemas 6th November 2026, distributed by Anime Ltd/TOHO.
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Clio Barnard's Birmingham-set drama follows five childhood friends all approaching 30 as they realise the futures they imagined are quietly slipping away.
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning arrives in UK cinemas 4th December 2026, distributed by Curzon.
Josephine
Beth de Araújo tells the story of an eight-year-old who accidentally witnesses a crime and begins to act out violently to protect herself. This trauma leads to conflicts between her parents, played by Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan they search for justice.
Josephine has no confirmed UK release date.
La Bola Negra
This sprawling queer epic weaves together three generations of gay men in 1932, 1937 and 2017, which earned Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvohem the Best Director prize at Cannes.
La Bola Negra arrives in UK cinemas 6th November 2026, distributed by Altitude Films.
Prima Facie
Susanna White expands on Suzie Miller's celebrated one-woman play into a full courtroom drama, with Cynthia Erivo as a defence barrister who ends up on the other side of the system.
Prima Facie arrives in UK cinemas 13th November 2026, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing UK.
Ray Gunn
Brad Bird's 'Ray Gunn' has been in the works for over three decades. It'll finally see the light of day as an animated noir with Sam Rockwell voicing a private eye pulled into a murder case in a retro-futurist 1939.
Ray Gunn arrives on Netflix on 18th December 2026.
Wild Horse Nine
Martin McDonagh brings his signature dark comedic flair as he sends two CIA agents, played by John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, to Easter Island on the eve of the 1973 Chilean coup to wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies.
Wild Horse Nine arrives in UK cinemas 6th November 2026, distributed by Searchlight Pictures.
Wildwood
At 132 minutes, Wildwood is the longest stop-motion film ever made. Laika use their masterful skills to bring to life the story of a girl who ventures into an enchanted forest to rescue her kidnapped baby brother.
Wildwood arrives in UK cinemas 23rd October 2026, distributed by Black Bear.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
Bassam Tariq's action-thriller is born from the ashes of Marvel's shelved Blade film. Starring Mahershala Ali as a devoutly religious hitman protecting his children after his wife's death.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother has no confirmed UK release date.
Zero Intention of Living Quietly
Edward Lovelace's documentary profile of actor Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis, trace how cinema shaped his life, first as a source of mockery, later as a career.
Zero Intention of Living Quietly has no confirmed UK release date.
Surprise Film
Last year, we sharpened our senses with the energetic 'Tuner'. In previous years, we've gone live from New York with 'Saturday Night', sampled 'The Menu' and followed Adam Sandler getting his hands on 'Uncut Gems'. In what is always a highlight of the festival, who knows what this year has in store?
All will be revealed on Friday 16th October at the Royal Festival Hall.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg. We haven't touched on Richard Linklater's two films at the festival, Guillermo del Toro bringing Frankenstein's monster to life, or the life of Bruce Springsteen. There is so much in store and hidden gems to discover.
The 69th BFI London Film Festival takes place from 7 to 18 October in London and around the UK. You can still buy tickets to films and events at whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff
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