Calling all UK-based cinephiles: the line-up for the BFI London Film Festival 2026 is officially out! And it is, of course, stacked with hugely exciting titles which will be getting early screenings not just in the capital, but across the UK too in various partner venues. This year’s festival takes place between 7-18 October, and the line-up contains world premieres, various galas, and more. It is a gigantic roster, so head here to check the complete programme – but here are a few highlights.
The festival will open, as previously announced, with the Andrew Scott-starring Elsinore, and close with the UK premiere of Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain follow-up The Debut. And in the meantime, there will be screenings of Danny Boyle’s newspaper drama Ink, Spanish early Oscar favourite La Bola Negra, Taika Waititi’s Klara And The Sun, Boots Riley’s much-anticipated I Love Boosters, this year’s Palme d’Or-winner Fjord, James Gray’s mob thriller Paper Tiger, Martin McDonagh’s return with Wild Horse Nine, and the film adaptation of acclaimed play Prima Facie starring Cynthia Erivo.
There are plenty of films for genre fans to look forward to. Notably, Empire’s own presentation: the first two episodes of VisionQuest, Marvel’s mega-trippy follow-up to WandaVision and Agatha All Along. Plus, hugely-anticipated kaiju sequel Godzilla Minus Zero will be at the festival (on the BFI IMAX screen, no less), as will the world premieres of Travis Knight’s epic stop-motion fantasy Wildwood, and Brad Bird’s passion project Ray Gunn.
Also screening at the festival will be Bassam Tariq’s hitman thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, the return of cult Brit comedy favourite The Trip with Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan in The Trip To The Northern Lights, and Ava DuVernay’s new documentary 14th.
There is tons to look over – and while this is the BFI London Film Festival, there are partner venues across Nottingham, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Sheffield, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff and Glasgow. Take a look at the full line-up here, and be sure to join the ticket scrum on Thursday September 17.
