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The Best and Worst Films of the 2026 London Film Festival
Film Festival Feature by Callum Ewing and James Learoyd
Best Film
I felt fortunate to see so many good and excellent films at LFF 2026, making it difficult to choose a favourite. My pick, however, was the 2nd film I watched: Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine.
McDonagh is one of my favourite writer-directors for his sharp comic dialogue and ability to reveal his characters’ vulnerability. Here, Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich play CIA agents transferred to Easter Island against the backdrop of the 1973 Chilean coup.
The film features McDonagh’s trademark quotable one-liners and carefully crafted comic payoffs, but a deep melancholy underpins the humour as the characters reflect on their pasts and contemplate death. Malkovich is particularly impressive, delivering a performance that surely deserves a Best Actor nomination. His often subtle acting provides an emotional anchor amid the film’s pace and chaos, balancing effortless comic delivery with vulnerability.
Filmed on Easter Island, it is also one of McDonagh’s most beautifully shot works. Despite a few minor flaws, I highly recommend seeing it when it opens in cinemas on 6th November.
Honourable mentions go to Godzilla Minus Zero, Artificial and Primetime.
All of a Sudden is James’ pick for best film at LFF. The latest from Japanese auteur Ryusuke Hamaguchi is one of the most moving cinema experiences you’ll have all year. Tragic and life-affirming in equal measure, the piece’s unique outlook on relationships and modern society is one to examine and treasure.
It places, at its centre, two characters whose philosophies are certainly different, and yet whose values and loves are perfectly aligned.
Clocking in at over three hours, you would suspect this a slow or challenging watch. Far from it: it’s a perfectly paced, elegantly structured work from Hamaguchi – and for my money, his best film to date. You can read my review on the website to know more about what I loved about the movie! Other honourable mentions for best film should go to The Devils, Paper Tiger and The History of Concrete.
Most Disappointing
Fortunately, I saw no bad films at LFF, but Danny Boyle’s Ink was my most disappointing. Although I thoroughly enjoyed it, I would not rank it among his best: some unusual creative choices undermine the film. It follows the creation of The Sun newspaper, with Boyle’s characteristic kinetic direction and fast-paced editing.
Jack O’Connell is brilliant as its new editor, Larry Lamb, as is Guy Pearce as Rupert Murdoch. However, the film struggles to slow down and explore the story’s moral questions, particularly The Sun’s damaging impact on journalism and society. Its use of generative AI is also distractingly poor and entirely unnecessary.
For James’ worst or most disappointing of the London Film Festival, my comments are of a more general nature. There’s no one film to pinpoint as being disastrously bad – and I’d like to think that some of this is due to my choice in viewing (prioritising directors I care about, or small, independent movies whose descriptions pique my interest).
I’ll mention that Artificial and I Love Boosters are the two most popular films that, whilst I enjoyed them for the most part, fail in certain areas for me; two examples of well-crafted movies with intelligent ideas that leave something to be desired in terms of overall structure or precision of tone.
There were one or two low-budget, independent works that I saw, films that were far worse than the two I’ve mentioned – yet there’s little-to-no point in negatively highlighting things more modest in scale. And either way, I’ve found something to admire in everything I’ve seen at this year’s festival, without exception.
Most Overlooked
James Gray’s Paper Tiger is a fantastic film that deserves more attention. Featuring strong performances from Miles Teller, Scarlett Johansson, and especially Adam Driver, it follows a suburban middle-class family whose involvement with the Russian mafia spirals out of control. Driver plays Gary, an ex-cop and brother to Teller’s character, while Johansson plays Teller’s wife.
Driver is magnetic, balancing strength with vulnerability, and Teller delivers one of the most mature performances I have seen from him. Beautifully shot, the film’s textured grain, costumes, and production design vividly evoke its 1980s setting.
Action is sparse, but its two action scenes are magnificently filmed. Weaknesses in the script and Johansson’s character keep it from being one of my favourites of the year, but it deserves more appreciation when it opens in February.
An honourable mention goes to Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth!, which might divide audiences when it comes out in December. For me, I admired and liked it but did not love it.
James’ pick for most overlooked film is a draw between Iron Boy and Mouse. My morning screening of Iron Boy felt quite transformative and was, to my shock and delight, the film with the most enthusiastic applause I heard all festival.
Part of the reason, I’m sure, was because nobody knew anything about this movie going into it, and yet were blessed with a stunning, carefully crafted work of art. This French animation is a true gem and not one to miss.
Mouse – recommended to me by Isabel Moir who also conducted the in-person Q&A at the screening I attended – tells a deeply tragic coming-of-age story, anchored by some achingly vulnerable performances from Sophie Okonedo and Katherine Mallen Kupferer. Both are the exact kinds of films you yearn to discover when heading to a festival. Films that are personal and hand-crafted. Both brought me to tears multiple times.
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