Programming guide: London Film Festival 2026 Highlights

Programmer Rosie Beattie (Keystone Cinema Company/Queer Cinema Sundays) shares her highlights to London Film Festival 2026.

Every year LFF gives programmers and audiences a chance to preview some of the most anticipated films and potential awards contenders of the Autumn and Winter slate. Even better, the LFF touring programme makes it possible for those outside of London to watch a selection of the programme in ten partner venues across the UK. In Scotland, both GFT and Filmhouse were host to this year’s incredibly strong line-up of titles ranging from the Cannes Palme d’Or winner Fjord to the last documentary from the late Eleanor Coppola Making Marie Antoinette which goes behind the scenes of Sofia Coppola’s iconic sophomore film.

Here are my top picks from the LFF touring programme.

Wild Horse Nine

Release Date: 4^th November | Distributor: Searchlight

Anyone who is already a fan of Martin McDonagh’s filmography (In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Banshees of Inisherin) will find much delight in his new feature which stars John Malkovich as Chris, a jaded CIA agent and his partner Lee, played by Sam Rockwell who travel to Easter Island not long before the Chilean military coup of 1973. Like In Bruges and Inisherin, McDonough offers a surprisingly tender exploration of male friendship, sifting some deeply melancholic moments in with his signature humour and chaos. While Malkovich’s central performance is rightfully stirring up Oscar buzz, the film is also scattered with memorable supporting roles from Parker Posey, Steve Buscemi, and Tom Waits.

La Bola Negra

Release Date: 6^th November | Distributor: Altitude

One to watch on the big-screen, La Bola Negra is a cross-generational epic which threads three interwoven queer stories at different points in time. In 2017, historian Alberto receives word that his estranged grandfather has died and he travels to Cantabria to join the missing pieces. In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, a young trumpeter named Sebastian is forced to join the Nationalist forces to survive where he is given the duty of guarding a wounded Republican prisoner named Rafael and the two men form dangerous feelings for one another. In 1932, a young wealthy man named Carlos is denied membership to an elite social club because of rumours about his homosexuality.

Bold and complex, La Bola Negra is a beautiful meditation on those whose history has been denied and erased. Fans of the work of Pedro Almodovar and last year’s Brazilian period drama The Secret Agent will appreciate this epic piece of filmmaking.

The Debut

Release Date: 15^th Janurary | Distributor: Lionsgate

In Jessie Eisenberg’s third feature as a director, Julianne Moore stars as Mona, a suburban housewife who is tired of being ignored by her snooty friends and spoiled family and decides to audition for the local community theatre production of a musical called Nosy Neighbours. Eventually getting the part after the local diva (played by Berdanette Peters) walks out of the role, Mona struggles to find her feet under the notoriously tough director Jerry (Paul Giamatti). But once Jerry manages to unlock Mona’s inner-actor, an obsessive monster is born as Mona dives deeper into discovering her on-stage role and herself. The film is delightfully charming and brimming with excellent visual and slapstick humour.

Elsinore

Release Date: 29^th January | Distributor: StudioCanal

Andrew Scott stuns in this moving true story about Scottish actor Ian Charleson who, best known for Chariots of Fire, takes on the ultimate role by playing Hamlet at the National Theatre, while battling the late stages of AIDS. Against advice from his tight-lipped doctor (Olivia Coleman), Ian is determined to not just push through his remaining days but scale heights and deliver a glorious performance in one of the Bard’s most demanding roles.

The film is spiritually in conversation with this year’s audience favourite and Oscar-winning Hamnet. Despite its emotional toll, the film manages to maintain a charming humour and warmth helped by a wonderful supporting cast including Billie Piper, Juliet Stevenson and Peter Mullan.

Club Kid

Release date: 9^th January | Distributor: A24

My personal favourite from the programme was the directorial debut of Jordan Firstman (Rotting in the Sun, I Love L.A) who also wrote and stars in the film. Firstman plays Peter, a gay party-promoter who cycles through long nights of clubbing, drugs and hook-ups. When Peter learns one day that a brief encounter a decade earlier has resulted in a biological son whose mother has died, he must navigate the whiplash of the two worlds of clubbing and parenthood being at complete odds with each other. The film is both hilarious and moving with a touching performance by the young actor Reggie Absolom who plays Peter’s son, Arlo, and a pitch-perfect comic performance by newcomer Eldar Isgandarov as Peter’s aspiring philosopher flatmate (who delivers an equally hilarious performance in The Debut). One of the best New York films I’ve seen in recent years, Club Kid is sure to be a buzzy title for younger audiences.