By Anna Mayers

The line up for the 2026 London Film Festival has been announced! With so many films to think about, never mind try and see them all, I’ve written down all the ones I’d like to watch during the festival if I can. If not, as soon as I can on the big screen.

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Making Marie Antoinette

Information from the Festival: Drawn from over 80 hours of footage, Coppola’s insightful eye is complimented by her production diaries (voiced by Diane Lane) which form the narrative spine of this profound exploration of creativity, the unique pressures placed on female artists and maternal love. The beauty of her words gives pause, not only to the ambitious artistry onscreen, but the historical character at the centre of this fiction.

Why I’m Excited: I was lucky enough to get the Sophia Coppola Archive book for Christmas when it was released, and I feel so privileged to look through the glorious displays of images, texts and props. So, to be treated to a full behind the scenes view of the making of Marie Antoinette is the sweetest cherry on top of the tastiest cake.

Wicker

Information from the Festival: Fisherwoman is unmarried, allegedly smelly, constantly teased by her small-minded neighbours and desperate to keep to herself. But when she decides to see what life would be like with a very particular kind of mail-order husband, what arrives (a statuesque Alexander Skarsgård) soon sparks jealousy and creates chaos. Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson’s wonderfully eccentric fable is, at its core, a gentle love story.

Why I’m Excited: If you’ve not seen the memes of this film online, you’re missing out! This fun, sexy adventure screams out at me every time I think about it, I’m so ready to see the full story. Until then, ‘Wood’ by Taylor Swift is on repeat.

Hot Spot

Information from the Festival: Djonny, a vibrantly dressed private eye, is called to solve a mysterious murder case, only to discover a rebel group capable of undermining the digital overlord led by Rana, who may or may not be a cyber witch. Agnieszka Smoczyńska creates a hypnotic, dystopian world that lures you in with its breathtaking aesthetics and hallucinatory images.

Why I’m Excited: I love diving into new sci-fi worlds, taking a break from our modern tech filled lives and seeing how others are doing it in parallel or far off universes. The trailer advertises it as an electric, noisy, visual treat. I need to see it on the big screen!

Behemoth!

Information from the Festival: Cello prodigy Alex has spent his adult life changing orchestra chairs and lovers’ beds at regular intervals. On the run from his latest fling, he retreats to LA as a session player and into the suspended reality of a film score studio. Gilroy’s inventive script is rich in narrative textures, shape-shifting across time to explore the mysteries and complexities of the human heart. He’s ably supported by Pascal and a superb cast that includes Olivia Wilde and Will Arnett.

Why I’m Excited: The cast alone makes this a standout, and you just know the soundtrack will be phenomenal. I love when films allow us to step into the magical and mayhem of musician’s worlds, and I can’t wait for this to do the same.

Wildwood

Information from the Festival: When her baby brother is kidnapped by a large flock of crows, Prue hotfoots it to a local forest where a wondrous world of mystery and peril awaits. This breathtaking, hugely ambitious new film from LAIKA Studios (Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings) is a masterpiece of stop-motion storytelling on an epic scale and quite unlike anything previously seen.

Why I’m Excited: I am in awe of stop motion animation projects. The craft and precision behind every shot blows my mind and leaves me incredibly inspired. I have loved the previous worlds that Laika Studios have built for us, and I cannot wait to see their next.

The Idiot(s)

Information from the Festival: Anna Dostoevsky loves her husband Fyodor. Fyodor loves his wife, but he also loves gambling and booze. Living in self-imposed exile in Germany, Fyodor’s biggest obstacle to creative progress is himself. Anna tries desperately to rid him of his procrastination so he can deliver a new novel and they can avoid destitution. Sending up the myth of the male genius, The Idiot(s) is also a beautiful love story about the writer and the wife that saved him.

Why I’m Excited: If you’re a long-time reader/listener of Close-Up Culture, you’ll know what Johnny Flynn means to us. Enough said.

7 Miles Out

Information from the Festival: Ann struggles to come to terms with her beloved father’s suicide and finds escapism in the emerging new-wave punk movement. Featuring a soundtrack that perfectly encapsulates the era, this intimate portrait also serves as an ode to friendship, youth and the discovery of one’s creativity, as Ann grapples with grief and healing while edging towards adulthood.

Why I’m Excited: Carol Morley is my favourite director, and so I read her book 7 Miles Out a few years ago. I was so excited when I heard that it was going to be turned into a film, looking at a time in all our lives when we want to challenge society and grow into adults.

There are too many films to mention! What are you looking forward to seeing, either at the festival or when it’s been released?