Rankings are stupid: 41 movies at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival
Any effort to rank artistic success on a sliding scale is doomed to fail and this list is no different.
Some movies will have suffered from my decision to go full binge for 12 days (41 movies in 12 days is patently the act of a crazy person), some demand revisiting and they are bound to rise and fall in my mind and memory as the months and years go on.
Do not treat this as anything other than an excuse for me to write a little bit about each film I enjoyed at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival (next year I might abandon all pretense and just do it chronologically).
41. 2073 — Asif Kapadia
An incredibly vacuous and basic movie masquerading as profound. A mute Samantha Morton mopes around a post-apocalyptic ‘New San Fransisco’ in the year 2073 while documentary footage warns climate change; bad, social media; bad, billionaires; bad. Once I realised what this was, I decided to enjoy a bit of a nap. People who praise this should be avoided at dinner parties.
40. Weightless — Sara Fgaier
I found this absolutely tedious. An inscrutable arthouse borefest of a movie. Shot like an over-produced perfume advert, languid and insipid. Lots of movies try to tackle amnesia and this is the first I forgot as soon as the credits rolled. (Sorry, sorry, sorry).
39. Rising up at Night — Nelson Makengo
I was bored. A repetitive and, at feature length, overlong documentary on power cuts and flooding in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC. There’s some pretty camerawork here and some interesting patches but I was looking at my watch throughout really.
38. Audrey — Natalie Bailey
This just did not work for me. A ‘dark’ Aussie comedy about a helicopter mother pretending to be her daughter after the stressed-out teenager falls from a roof and into a coma. Not actually that dark or that funny and the main character is just plain unlikable.
37. Stranger Eyes — Yeo Siew Hua
An intriguing premise about voyeurism and stalking in modern Singapore, hooked on the abduction of a baby, is wasted by a confusing narrative and a subsequent lack of momentum. Just made me want to watch The Conversation or The Lives of Others.
36. Endurance — Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Natalie Hewit
It takes some chutzpah to draw comparisons between Ernest Shackleton’s miraculous rescue effort for the crew of the Endurance and finding the vessel itself but boy howdy this documentary tries anyway. Some of the reconstructed footage is bad and the decision to AI the voices of the crew is even worse. If Shackleton’s own story wasn’t so fascinating this would be a stinker.
35. Joy — Ben Taylor
This Netflix movie about the first ever ‘Test Tube Baby’ and the birth of IVF is exactly what you would expect. It’s fine with some moments of charm. Read my full review here.
34. Nightbitch — Marielle Heller
Surprisingly toothless for a movie about a toddler’s mother turning into a dog. Paints with the very broadest of brushes but Amy Adams gives it her absolute all and includes one killer quip about motherhood. Easy to tell why the novel was a book club favourite. Your mum will probably love it.
33. Emilia Perez — Jacques Audiard
Who could have guessed the Spanish-language musical about a transexual drug cartel boss directed by a Frenchman would be such a mixed bag? Not I! I can see why it’s got lots of buzz and it is brilliant to see Zoe Saldana outside of Avatar or Marvel but some of the songs are so bad I thought it was on purpose and the politics of the movie are iffy at best.
32. Blitz — Steve McQueen
The festival got off to a lacklustre beginning with Steve McQueen’s latest film. A noble endeavour (showing WW2-era London as the cosmopolitan city that it was) but the plot is an episodic, family-friendly plod. Almost feels like McQueen has dumbed himself down for the masses. Disappointing. Read my review here.
31. Thank You For Banking With Us — Laila Abbas
This is a pleasant Palestinian comedy about bickering sisters standing up to the patriarchy (via… errr… fraud) after their father dies with the majority of his inheritance at risk of going to a distant son. Weird to have the spectre of Israel looming over such a slight film but because it’s authentic it really works. Killer line: “I should wait until Palestine is free before I divorce my husband?”
30. The Invasion- Sergei Loznitsa
A demanding but necessary historical document about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Almost pure documentary in terms of form (30 short films), a sobering reminder of the chaos and mundanity of war. Some of the short films are inevitably much stronger than others.
29. Piece by Piece – Morgan Neville
As good as a hagiography of Pharrell Williams’ life made out of LEGO is ever going to be. The LEGO gimmick largely works and gets some laughs. If it wasn’t for that this would be incredibly ordinary. The man has made some boppers though.
28. Four Mothers — Darren Thornton
A charming little Irish comedy about a gay author juggling a burgeoning career, and the prospect of a US book tour, and four elderly Irish women, one of whom is his mute mother. Doesn’t try to do too much or say too much but has some well balanced moments of brevity and seriousness.
27. Sebastian — Mikko Mäkelä
A frustrating movie that tries so hard to eschew the normal cliches of sex work but ultimately ends up falling for them anyway. I was rooting for it as the debate it wants to have is interesting but I came away thinking that Sebastian is trying to be a bit too clever for its own good. Still some stuff to enjoy.
26. Bring Them Down — Christopher Andrews
Ooft, now this IS serious. A bleak look at bitter, lonely farmers in the rural Irish countryside. Structural decisions fail to give the film any added depth (essentially the whole plot is hooked on a misunderstanding) but it’s hard to take your eyes from the performances of Barry Keoghan and Christopher Abbott, the latter who learned Gaelic for the role. Not for the faint of heart.
25. Elton John: Never Too Late — David Furnish, RJ Cutler
Exactly what you’d expect a documentary about Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour to be but gamely helped by Sir Elton’s own extraordinary candour about his life, career and drug battles. Full review here.
24. My Everything — Anne-Sophie Bailly
Ohhhh I enjoyed this BUT it did frustrate me. A single mother wants to give her son, who has learning difficulties, as much independence as she can but must reckon with that when his girlfriend falls pregnant. Perfectly judged in terms of high emotion but avoiding any whiff of melodrama. I almost wish it dug a bit deeper.
23. Viet and Nam by Trương Minh Quý
The Apichatpong influence is strong with this one and, if I’m honest, I think it suffered from my festival fatigue. A gorgeous, solemn movie that does demand a lot of the audience but is incredibly powerful for it. A very rudimentary explanation of the plot would be: Two gay coal miners dream of a better life but really this is about Vietnam’s shocking 20th century history. One to revisit.
22. Maria — Pablo Larrain
This is one film I expect might ‘rise’ significantly over time or if I watch it again. Angelina Jolie is mesmeric as the legendary opera singer Maria Callas but this opulent film about Callas’s last days in Paris before her death comes dangerously close to ‘stuffy’. The costume and production design are both sublime.
21. The Surfer — Lorcan Finnegan
Doesn’t actually include much surfing! Nicolas Cage is a treasure and deserves renewed chutzpah for taking on such a humiliating role in a crazy movie. I loved the saturation and didn’t even mind that the plot, such as it is, doesn’t really go anywhere. Nice and stylish.
20. On Falling — Laura Carreira
An incredibly strong debut from Laura Carreira. The dehumanisation of modern warehouse work is laid bare thanks to some powerful shot composition and a brilliant central turn by Joana Santos who is a woman who may have forgotten how to live. Unremittingly bleak, I found parts of this harder to watch than The Substance.
19. The Piano Lesson — Malcolm Washington
I finally get the John David Washington hype (maybe it helps that this was directed by his brother?). Helped by some strong performances across the board, this exorcism of family trauma works as a drama and a horror (for me at least). Could have shaved 10 minutes off the run time.
18. Under the Volcano — Damian Kocur
A Ukrainian family find themselves falling apart after being stranded in Tenerife by the Russian invasion of their homeland while they’re on holiday. A pot-boiler of a movie about fractious family life the ending might just do for fireworks what Aftersun did for Under Pressure (change it forever in your mind).
17. Black Box Diaries — Shiori Ito
Maybe a bit clumsy in its form and composition but it’s hard to not be awed by Shiori Ito’s quest for justice after she alleged a senior political journalist in Japan raped her. A documentary about justice, processing trauma and standing up to the patriarchy/established norms of society. All the more moving for Ito herself taking a standing ovation after the screening at the ICA.
16. We Live in Time — John Crowley
An old-fashioned tearjerker. Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield are both grossly overqualified for this saccharine story of tragedy, I can’t help but admit it broke my heart a little bit. Maybe I’m just a sucker for seeing some of south-east London on the big screen. Read my full review here.
15. Patrice: The Movie — Ted Passon
I challenge anyone, ANYONE, not to be moved by Patrice: The Movie, a crowd-pleasing gem of a documentary about disability marriage inequality in the USA. Patrice Jetter is the star of the movie, a charismatic woman fighting for dignity in her life and to marry the man she loves (and for a new van). Between this and We Live in Time, a big year for emotional ice skating.
14. When The Light Breaks — Rúnar Rúnarsson
A simple story told impeccably well with a final shot that rivals Past Lives in terms of heartbreak. A young woman must navigate the grief of losing her boyfriend… in front of his girlfriend who he had planned to break up with.
13. The Assessment — Fleur Fortuné
It is now a lazy critique to say ‘this movie could have been a Black Mirror episode’. I should know because I used that phrase last year to describe the disappointing Fingernails. The Assessment could have been a Black Mirror episode sure, but then it wouldn’t have been as good. Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel live in the near future and must undergo a week-long visit from an ‘assessor’ (Alicia Vikander) to see if they’re suitable to become parents. Olsen does some of her best-ever work and Minnie Driver steals every frame she’s in.
12. Familiar Touch — Sarah Friedland
Understated but deliberate look at dementia and centred on an outstanding performance by Kathleen Chalfant. Similar, in some respects, to The Father but this demands a lot more of an audience’s intuition. You can read a thousand things in Chalfant’s aged face but director Sarah Friedland has the courage to never tell us.
11. Sex — Dag Johan Haugerud
There can be real cinematic craft in people talking (see also: Hard Truths). Sex isn’t as raunchy as the title would have you believe. Some might even call it staid, with lots of earnest conversations about, you guessed it, sex and monogamy and love. The film is actually a bit funnier than you might expect, thanks to some stereotypical Nordic plain-speaking.
10. Conclave — Edward Berger
I’ve wrestled with Conclave a bit. The ending of the film has had me wondering: Is it a five-star satire of the Catholic Church or a four-star political/religious thriller? Maybe it’s both. Ralph Fiennes steals the show as the Dean of the College of Cardinals during a papal enclave that has more akin to a nest of vipers than a vote to deign God’s will. Isabella Rossellini would be wasted if not for one killer line delivery.
9. Hard Truths — Mike Leigh
In the grand scheme of things this a minor work in the oeuvre of legendary director Mike Leigh but that doesn’t mean you should dismiss it. A towering central performance from Marianne Jean-Baptiste centres a simply-constructed film about loneliness, depression and anger.
8. Last Swim — Sasha Nathwani
It’s a sign of real craft to take story elements done to death (teenagers on their last day of school/exam results day) enjoying one last glimpse of youth etc and do something that feels incredibly fresh, relevant and strong. Sasha Nathwani has done that with Last Swim.
7. Good One — India Donaldson
This is NOT a coming-of-age film. This is a film about realising how flawed and fallible parents are. A simple but devastating tale of a teenage girl on a hiking trip with her dad and uncle takes a severe turn for the final 20 minutes that almost had me breathless. Masterfully paced and judged, India Donaldson is a filmmaker to watch.
6. Queer – Luca Guadagnino
A soused-up Daniel Craig stumbles around Mexico looking for hookups until he becomes obsessed with a young Drew Starkey and then goes on a South American odyssey with him. That’s the plot of Queer, based on a novella by William S Burroughs. As to what it’s actually about or what it’s trying to say? I have no idea. But I really liked it nonetheless. Do not go in expecting a reverse Call Me By Your Name.
5. All We Imagine as Light — Payal Kapadia
One of the few films I saw at the festival that I immediately wanted to watch again afterward. Three nurses in Mumbai go on a physical and emotional journey grappling with the stresses and pressures on their lives. If I make it sound slight, it’s not. The ending shot is sublime.
4. Bird — Andre Arnold
Barry Keoghan continues his streak of playing absolute scrotes but Franz Rogowski steals the show as the mysterious ‘Bird’ in Andrea Arnold’s sixth feature that sees the British director dabble in some magical social realism. At a certain point you will either go with the film or not, I did and I think Bird is one of Arnold’s strongest films yet. Nykiya Adams as the older-than-her-years Bailey is fantastic.
3. The Seed of the Sacred Fig — Mohammad Rasoulof
Even if you divorce this film from the story of its incredible creation, it remains a startling, terrifying achievement. A father in Iran finds himself torn between his family and the regime he serves as widespread protests break out. A solemn reminder of the ugliness of a fanatical religious doctrine and the paranoia and fear that that imbibes. The last 90 minutes is breathless filmmaking.
2. Anora — Sean Baker
Sean Baker has cracked it. The Florida Project, Tangerine and Red Rocket are all, in their own way, strong works of cinema but with Anora the director has ascended into the big leagues. A hilarious, tragic, heartbreaking Pretty Woman for the 2024 generation. Go see it. I’ll never hear Greatest Day by Coldplay the same way again.
1. I’m Still Here — Walter Salles
Hoo boy, this absolutely shook me. Walter Salles’ first Brazillian film for 16 years is a study of a family rocked by the military dictatorship abducting the family patriarch. I got strong Alfonso Cuaron Roma vibes (along with Costa-Gavras’ Missing) but I’m Still Here might just be even better, a bit less showy in camerawork but a devastating look at family trauma and history. Don’t watch the trailer as it spoils one of the most devastating shots of the movie. Score by Warren Ellis.
