Rankings are stupid: 41 movies at the 2025 BFI London Film Festival

With all the usual caveats that cinematic lists are inherently stupid and that ‘ranking’ art is an incredibly rudimentary way to assess it…

High profile movies that I missed: After The Hunt, Frankenstein, Nouvelle Vague, Anemone, A History of Sound, Rental Family, The Choral, Ballad of a Small Player and others. There are only so many hours in the day and I definitely had fatigue by the end.

So, here we go.

My wife and I before The Kidnapping of Arabella outside the Prince Charles Cinema

41. The Thing with Feathers

I went into Dylan Southern’s The Thing With Feathers with low expectations, hoping to be pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, I found it to be a total chore and exactly what I was expecting — in the worst way.

I haven’t read the book upon which it is based but I knew the basic gist: that it was about a young dad-of-two dealing with the sudden death of his wife. Max Porter’s book, which mixes poetry and prose, was an award-winning best seller, acclaimed for its originality and power, but there’s none of that here.

Not even a fully committed Benedict Cumberbatch can save this adaptation from utter mediocrity.

Why go and see it? So you can remember how good Andrea Arnold’s Bird was.

Running time: 98 minutes. UK release: 21 November.

40. She’s The He

Ack, no, this was a major festival misfire. She’s The He is a high school ‘comedy’ about two teenage boys who both pretend to be trans to stop their classmates thinking they’re gay (the moronic logic of that is never really explored). It was made with a diverse cast and crew who are let down by a sputtering, juvenile script.

Rare moments of tenderness can’t save this — and the less said about the final confrontation the better.

Why go and see it? Productions like this should be supported, even if the final film isn’t up to snuff.

Running time: 84 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

39. Moss & Freud

You could practically smell Kate Moss’s executive producing credit on this film about the supermodel posing for figurative painter Lucian Freud in the early 00s.

Some of the worst dialogue at the festival, it is nonetheless nice to see Derek Jacobi, who is 86, still putting in the work (he plays Freud).

For a film that has great ambitions to be about art, there’s very little actual art on display here and even those supposedly fractious ‘sittings’ at Freud’s London home are breezed over in favour of showing Moss’s partying lifestyle. A missed opportunity.

Why go and see it? Ellie Bamber’s Kate Moss has the mannerisms down pat and she deserves better than this shlock.

Running time: 100 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

38. Short Summer

This should have been a shorter summer. This tale of a childhood summer holiday in the Russian countryside during the Chechen war would have been better as a short or with a little more to cling to, certainly for ordinary punters (I doubt it’ll get a very wide release).

There’s more than a whiff of The Zone of Interest about it, where the real story is in the background and not in the innocent children going about their lives, ignorant as to the bloodshed that stains the land.

All that said, the film does have its cheerleaders.

Why go and see it? Some of the shot compositions are sublime.

Running time: 100 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

37. Têtes brûlées

An interesting enough little tale about a young Muslim girl in Brussels dealing with the sudden death of her elder brother and having to confront grief for the very first time.

There’s a strong sense of community to the film; it’s just a shame that in a few overlong scenes, patience is mistaken for profundity (and probably to flesh out the running time to a respectable feature length).

Why go and see it? The portrait of the Tunisian community in Brussels is nicely drawn and there are some touching moments.

Running time: 86 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

36. The Ice Tower

This was… not for me. Maybe I should have braced myself for a more dream-like movie (the atmosphere it generates is genuinely spooky and eerie) but, as is often the case with my tastes, the lack of plot eventually just made the movie frustrating for me.

Marion Cotillard is perfectly cast as a prima donna actress who takes an impressionable orphan under her wing on the set of a movie, but are there more sinister and supernatural forces at work…?

Why go and see it? If you like movies that are more about the mood and the atmosphere, this is the film for you.

Running time: 118 minutes. UK release: 21 November.

35. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Maybe there’s something poetic in The Boss — the poet for the working class — getting such a workman-like film but I think the movie ultimately lets down Springsteen’s and Nebraska’s genius by turning his story into such a predictable and stale film.

Writer-director Scott Cooper doesn’t have the chops to really dig into Springsteen’s psyche and the literal ‘inspirations’ for Nebraska’s songs are pretty insulting.

Both Jeremys (Allen White and Strong) do good work, I suppose.

Why go and see it? Jeremy Allen White may not look too much like The Boss but his body language, especially when on stage, is perfect.

Running time: 120 minutes. UK release: 24 October.

34. The Kidnapping of Arabella

I had high-ish hopes for this, going in totally blind as to the plot and casting (beyond the fact there was likely to be a kidnapping and that it features Chris Pine’s first Italian-language performance).

There is some stuff to like, mostly the first and last 20 minutes, but the kidnapping itself doesn’t produce enough juice, even for the fairly slight running time. Hard to endorse, which is frustrating.

Why go and see it? Chris Pine acting in Italian for the first time!

Running time: 107 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

33. A Private Life

A frustrating film that wastes a typically assured central performance by Jodie Foster (acting in French for the very first time).

Foster is a psychiatrist whose patient dies suddenly and she gets the blame. But Foster thinks the woman’s husband is suspicious and begins to investigate, while being unable to breach her own doctor-patient confidentiality over what the victim told her.

It presents some interesting ideas around psychoanalysis and hypnotism, combined with a bit of lovely French humour but the movie, unfortunately, ends with a bit of a whimper.

Why go and see it? Jodie Foster rocks it and she’s great at smoking in a very French way.

Running time: 105 minutes. UK release: 6 March 2026.

32. Jay Kelly

George Clooney plays himself! And there are lots of jokes/remarks about how hard it actually is to play yourself! Noah Baumbach’s all-star cast fail to dig into anything profound or interesting, instead delivering a predictable, milquetoast movie about an end-of-career crisis blighting one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 this ain’t.

Why go and see it? Your mum will probably love it and it’s entertaining enough on a very skin-deep level.

Running time: 132 minutes. UK release: 14 November.

31. Two Prosecutors

Maybe the boredom is the point? If The Death Of Stalin was a slapstick farce of Stalinism, then Two Prosecutors is instead a pitch black, austere dark comedy (with only a few, choice laughs).

A naive young prosecutor in rural Russia is alerted to abuses (both legal and physical) at his local prison and decides to alert the relevant Moscow authorities but finds himself frustrated by the system and by individuals.

Why go and see it? If you think UK bureaucracy is torturous…

Running time: 118 minutes. UK release: 6 March 2026.

30. Train Dreams

I didn’t like this as much as others, some of whom have it as their pick of the festival.

I had high expectations after hearing some of the buzz, so maybe it’s okay that I found it a bit disappointing. Joel Edgerton plays logger Robert Grainier, born at the end of the 19th century in rural America, who is trying to carve out a life for himself.

A third-person voice-over by Will Patton guides the audience through Grainier’s tragic but touching story, marrying Felicity Jones and building a log cabin for their family.

The BFI description describes it as “Channelling the poetic sensibility of Terrence Malick” but that’s a lazy reading just because the film has some beautiful cinematography and a voiceover (it actually has more in common with The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford).

Why go and see it? It’s elegiac, mournful mood might just hit you right and Joel Edgerton brings his A-game.

Running time: 102 minutes. UK release: 7 November.

29. Left-Handed Girl

You can sense Sean Baker’s energy at work here (he’s a co-writer and editor).

It’s Taipei and a hard-up mum is running a food stand while also keeping herself afloat and looking after two wildly different daughters. Family secrets and rows soon surface (always at the worst time).

The ending montage left me a bit frustrated as it felt unearned despite the journey and tribulations of the previous 100 minutes.

Why go and see it? The family dynamic is engaging and interesting, and the hustling street vendor/love interest is putting in serious work.

Running time: 109 minutes. UK release: 14 November.

28. Dreams

Alas, Dreams, starring Jessica Chastain and directed by Michel Franco is not nearly as good as Memory, which likewise starred Jessica Chastain and was directed by Michel Franco.

It sets up an interesting, if a bit tired, dynamic where an older, wealthier American woman (Chastain) has to hide her love of a young Mexican dancer who has smuggled himself into the United States — but that third act left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Who go and see it? There’s some interesting elements to it and Jessica Chastain’s wardrobe is perfect.

Running time: 95 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

27. 100 Nights of Hero

I am fairly sure I am not the target market for this fairytale. 100 Nights of Hero, directed by Julia Jackman, is the adaptation of a graphic novel of the same name that was itself inspired by the Middle Eastern folktale One Thousand and One Nights.

Emma Corrin stars as Hero, a maid trying to stop her chaste lady from beginning an affair with a local hunk (Nicholas Galitzine) who has moved into their castle. She has to distract them both for 100 days (hence the title).

I liked the final act but the meat of the movie can be a bit laborious. Check out the amazing score and costume design.

Why go and see it? Charli XCX in her first major acting role!

Running time: 90 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

26. Father Mother Sister Brother

Ah yes, this is classic Jim Jarmusch. A triptych of modern family stories showing how dysfunction is often unspoken and ignored for the Greater Good of keeping up appearances.

Like any anthology movie, it’s always going to have some parts stronger than others and the problem Jarmusch has here is that the first strand is the strongest and most interesting. Tom Waits is having a lot of fun in one of his more restrained roles.

I’m not sure I really get the skateboarding thing, though.

Why go and see it? Maybe you want to feel better about your own family dynamics.

Running time: 110 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

25. Bad Apples

I like the career Saoirse Ronan is making for herself, carving out strong performances in modestly budgeted, interesting indie films.

Bad Apples is about an overworked primary school teacher struggling with one incredibly disruptive pupil who unwittingly takes extreme measures. Director Jonatan Etzler gives the film a lightness that serves in contrast to its dark, if not downright sinister, underbelly. But there’s still plenty of laughs.

Why go and see it? Saoirse Ronan is, predictably, great and there’s a few hearty, dark laughs.

Running time: 96 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

24. Below The Clouds

A documentary about the city of Naples, looking at its history, geography and people, and asks the audience, what is the fabric that makes a city?

Some will find the austere nature of it pretty hard going, and some of the subjects chosen by director Gianfranco Rosi are more interesting than others, but once I got into the rhythm of the movie, I found it to be a very strong work.

Why go and see it? Just for the footage of the grain ships and storage. Rosi does make the audience feel like you’re getting under the skin of the city.

Running time: 115 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

23. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Maybe a bit of a missed opportunity, even though I suspect most people will enjoy this.

The problem writer-director Rian Johnson has is that he perfected the formula in his very first Knives Out endeavour, so every time Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc shows up there’s an effort to make it more intricate or complex — and it ends up being too smart for its own good.

An outrageously stacked cast has a lot of fun (safe in the knowledge that none of them can ham it up as much as Craig’s Foghorn Leghorn-esque detective), but Josh O’Connor is the star of the show.

It does touch on nice ideas of faith and duplicity, however the central mystery is too damn convoluted for my tastes and, with a running time approaching 2.5 hours, some trimming would have been nice.

Why go and see it? Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Daniel Craig and Josh Brolin are all having the time of their lives.

Running time: 140 minutes. UK release: 26 November.

22. Love+War

Lynsey Addario is a brave and inspiring conflict photographer who wrestles with her decision to send herself into warzones while her two boys grow up with their dad in London.

Love+War, from the directors of Free Solo, is an engaging look at the sacrifices made by those who want to bring the reality of war to the masses.

As is often the case, it’s the little details that carry the most charm such as Lynsey’s stop-start homelife and her grumbles about a staged photo-op miles from the Ukraine-Russia frontline.

Why go and see it? Lynsey is a force of nature as a photographer and a person and makes for an engaging subject matter.

Running time: 96 minutes. UK release: 24 October.

21. Roofman

Maybe the purest ‘fun’ movie at the festival? A simple movie where Channing Tatum plays a serial McDonald’s robber who ends up living in a Toys’R’Us and falling for Kirsten Dunst, naturally.

I didn’t know director Derek Cianfrance had this kind of whimsy in him after the one-two punch of Blue Valentine and A Place Beyond the Pines.

Tatum is trying his hardest to play against type as a rather awkward but well-meaning guy who is smart at some stuff but stupid as hell in the game of life — and pays the price for it.

Why go and see it? It ticks a lot of boxes of what you want a cinema trip to be and Kirsten Dunst does not need to be this good.

Running time: 120 minutes. UK release: It’s in cinemas now.

20. Bugonia

Another one I came out of initially pretty disappointed with. However, Bugonia has grown in my mind a bit since seeing it.

The simplest and, therefore, maybe the most accessible Yorgos movie? It’s weird in a very different way to, say, The Favourite.

Emma Stone plays a high-flying CEO who is kidnapped by Jesse Plemons and his simple-minded cousin, who are convinced she is an alien conspiring to reduce the global bee population.

There’s a lot in here to chew on but I hated the final 15 minutes and thought the movie was almost unforgivably mean — as I said, it is a Yorgos movie.

Why go and see it? Emma Stone is having an absolute ball and you’ll either love or hate the finale.

Running time: 120 minutes. UK release: 31 October.

19. Kim Novak’s Vertigo

I won’t hide from it, roughly 40% of Kim Novak’s Vertigo is fairly ordinary documentary stuff, made even more annoying by the editorial decision to shoot it like the lens is smeared with Vaseline.

But… but…! There are segments and sequences that I found really powerful and moving. When Novak inboxes the iconic grey suit from Vertigo, I got tingles — and that’s a rare feeling in a documentary.

Why go see it? Novak’s recall of her early life, such as her mother trying to abort her, is harrowing and it’s amazing to see the screen star she became.

Running time: 76 minutes. UK release: Unknown

18. Saipan

The most infamous bust-up in football history — between Ireland captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy — is given the cinematic treatment and comes out a lot better than it has any right to be.

Éanna Hardwicke plays the obstinate Keane, Steve Coogan the jocular McCarthy as the drama plays out in remote Saipan in the days before the 2002 World Cup.

Fact-checkers, and the men themselves, will probably grumble at some elements but the film does a good job capturing Keane’s simmering rage and resentment — and just how major this story was for the sporting world 23 years ago.

Why go see it? Hardwicke’s performance as Keane perfectly toes the line between imitation and inspiration.

Running time: 90 minutes. UK release: 23 January.

17. Twinless

A sharp black comedy from Dylan O’Brien, who directs and stars in this breath of fresh air that I was lucky to catch in the festival previews.

Twinless is the story of Roman (O’Brien), who loses his twin and then, at a ‘twinless support group’, strikes up a friendship with Dennis (James Sweeney).

But despite the bromance, all is not as it seems in this charming movie that balances its tone well.

Why go see it? It’s funny and dark and includes some interesting The Sims nostalgia for those of the right age.

Running time: 100 minutes. UK release: 6 February.

16. Lurker

A little bit All About Eve, a little bit Baby Reindeer. The perils of modern fandom are laid bare in pretty unflinching detail in Lurker, where one fan is able to get close to an upcoming popstar, to dark and disturbing ends.

As someone who suffers from second-hand embarrassment, I found some scenes excruciating. Not 100% it sticks the landing, which takes this from being a great film to just a very good one.

Why go and see it? Proximity to fame can be toxic and in this parasocial world it is worth investigating.

Running time: 100 minutes. UK release: 12 December.

15. Cover-Up

Seymour Hersh uncovered the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and played a key role in the investigative reporting around the Watergate scandal.

But he erred when he disbelieved that Bashar al-Assad used Sarin gas on his own people and, in the face of widespread disbelief, he stands by his reporting on the Nord Stream sabotage attack.

So is he a crank? And what’s his secret? Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus investigate and are not afraid to rile up Hersh by challenging his journalistic logic.

Why go and see it? Hersh is arguably one of the most important journalists of the second half of the 20th century but now he’s widely thought to be a crank

Running time: 117 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

14. Rose of Nevada

Life on Mars meets The Lighthouse but set in Cornwall? Well, kinda. George McKay and Callum Turner star in Mark Jenkin’s third feature film as two men who, unwittingly, find themselves travelling in time after a mysterious lost fishing ship returns to their local harbour.

Like Jenkin’s previous films (Bait and Enys Men) there’s an atmosphere and mood to Rose of Nevada that is unlike anything else in cinema at the moment, and the sound design is strange and alien and perfect.

Why go and see it? The film explores grief and identity in a way you might not expect

Running time: 114 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

13. No Other Choice

In terms of pure filmmaking panache and style, Park Chan Wook’s latest outing delivers in spades. Unfortunately, I don’t think the script for No Other Choice quite lives up to the rest of the craft on display.

That said, No Other Choice is still a load of fun and a damning indictment of the capitalist system that attaches so much self-worth to your employment.

If Decision To Leave was a masterpiece of inserts and cutaways, No Other Choice excels at dissolves and transitions.

Why go and see it? A fun way to spend nearly two and a half hours getting angry at capitalism.

Running time: 139 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

12. Die My Love

Across a festival that really put women through the ringer (see also: The Chronology of Water and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You) there’s a strong chance Lynne Ramsay’s latest work, which stars Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, is the most uncomfortable.

Expectant mothers be warned, this is a powerful and uncompromising movie about post-partum depression and psychosis.

It’s not entirely without humour but don’t sit down to watch this unless you’re in the right headspace. It might even put you in the wrong one.

Why go and see this? Jennifer Lawrence is back, with probably the performance of her career.

Running time: 118 minutes. UK release: 7 November.

11. The Voice of Hind Rajab

The most effective piece of cinematic propaganda in recent memory.

That is not to disparage it. The politics of this docufiction are obvious to all.

Director Kaouther Ben Hania has recreated the drama around the last phone calls made by five-year-old Hind, who is stranded in a car, surrounded by the corpses of her family and the Israeli army — and desperate for an ambulance to come and rescue her.

Already on wide release in some European countries, it’s taken longer to secure distribution in the UK (it still doesn’t have any in the United States).

Undeniably powerful, will Hind Rajab have the cut through to alert more people to the plight of the Palestinians living in Gaza (and the ridiculous hoops their emergency services must jump through?).

Why go and see it? If this doesn’t light a fire in you over the injustices of the Israeli war on Gaza, nothing will.

Running time: 89 minutes. UK release: 16 January

10. Hamnet

A certified weeper and bound to get a lot of awards attention (Jessie Buckley please come get ur Oscar). One music cue really pissed me off but this is touchingly made, devastatingly moving and a welcome reminder about the power of art.

Adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s critically-acclaimed best-seller about the death of Shakespeare’s son, Chloe Zhao has the backing of Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg (both producers here) when it comes to the awards run so expect this to be in frequent conversations.

It’s very good at what it wants to be but I don’t know that it’s a lot more than that.

Why go and see it? Jessie Buckley. (Paul Mescal as Shakespeare isn’t too bad either).

Running time: 126 minutes. UK release: 9 January

9. La Grazia

A typically melancholic film from the consistent director-actor duo of Paolo Sorrentino and Toni Servillo, the latter of whom plays a fictional President of Italy who is wracked by doubt over three key decisions at the end of his premiership: two sentences he could commute and a bill on legalising euthanasia.

But President Mariano De Santis has other things on his mind, namely the loss of his wife and the identification of the man she may have had an affair with 40 years prior.

Does anyone do Italian loneliness and ennui quite like Sorrentino? He’s on familiar ground here, and it may not quite be as exciting as The Great Beauty, but he’s nonetheless on top form.

(My Italian wife found this even more of a tearjerker than Hamnet)

Why go and see it? It’s complex, sad and well observed in a touching way. Plus, Sorrentino knows how to shoot Rome…

Running time: 131 minutes. UK release: Unknown

8. Pillion

Harry Melling is perfectly cast as Colin; a young, lonely gay man drawn into a BDSM relationship with the sexy, enigmatic biker Ray (Stellan Skarsgard).

A surprisingly romantic look at an oft misunderstood subculture, Pillion features a nice balance of the tender and the funny (world’s first rom-dom-com?).

Why go and see it? This is the movie 50 Shades of Grey should have been and has the first Prince Albert piercing I’ve seen on the cinema screen.

Running time: 106 minutes. UK release: 28 November.

7. Blue Moon

It says it all for poor Lorenz Hart that when I told my dad I was about to watch a movie about Richard Rodgers’ musical associate, he replied, quick as a flash, ‘Oh, Hammerstein!’. Alas, Hart was the original lyrical sidekick.

More of a one-act play than a movie, this chamberpiece by Richard Linklater, starring an almost unrecognisable Ethan Hawke, winds up being pretty devastating as Hart realises, on the opening night of Oklahoma!, the world has passed him by.

Why go and see it? Ethan Hawke kills it but Andrew Scott, as musical theatre legend Richard Rodgers, almost steals the show.

Running time: 100 minutes. UK release: 28 November.

6. The Testament of Ann Lee

An odd duck of a movie — but that is not to say it’s bad. In fact, I like it more every time I think about it and its uncompromising nature.

Mona Fastvold directs a period musical (of sorts) about 18th-century ‘Shaker’ evangelist Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried with a pretty good Mancunian accent) and her efforts to start a religious movement based on strict celibacy.

It may take a short while to really get going but the combination of religion, dancing and music is a heady cinematic potion.

Why go and see it? Don’t expect Hamilton, do expect religious fervour and compelling dance scenes.

Running time: 135 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

5. The Chronology of Water

It’s funny, I seem to be one of the select few at LFF who really dug The Chronology of Water (another movie about a woman going through some serious shit).

Based on the memoir of the same name, and directed by Kristin Stewart, it is definitely NOT for the faint of heart. I found it an incredibly dark and interesting exploration of growing up under the shadow of child abuse. Imogen Poots has never been better and leaves it all out on the screen.

Why go and see it? You can nearly taste this movie it’s so visceral.

Running time: 128 minutes. UK release: Unknown.

4. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

New cinematic birth control just dropped — except that, unlike We Need To Talk About a Kevin — it’s not because the child is an evil serial killer or anything.

Rose Byrne is revelatory as a mother struggling under the weight of it all. A contrived directorial choice in the first third irritated me, but it soon faded from memory as the film refocuses on Byrne’s performance and her struggles to get out of her own way and, more importantly, her stubborn refusal to bend to societal expectations of motherhood.

Why go and see it? ‘That actress from Bridesmaids’ just pulled out an incredible performance that is likely to go largely unnoticed.

Running time: 114 minutes. UK release: 20 February.

3. It Was Just An Accident

Now, this is some simple, effective and compelling filmmaking. The Cannes jury got it right when they gave Jafar Panahi the Palme d'Or for this (somewhat farcical) Iranian revenge drama.

Fresh off his made-in-exile masterpiece No Bears, and still in exile, Panahi investigates how toxic and enticing the lust for revenge can be. It may sag a tiny bit about 2/3s of the way through, but it’s only just over 100 minutes long…!

Why go and see it? A sometimes funny, sometimes terrifying examination of the quest for revenge that never fully goes away.

Running time: 105 minutes. UK release: 5 December.

2. The Secret Agent

There was a point, about 90 minutes into this Brazilian drama, where I realised just how, sort of, insignificant the plot is — and that I didn’t care. It’s about a university researcher (Wagner Moura) who pisses off the wrong person and has to go into hiding in Recife during carnival. That’s pretty much it — but the movie is actually about so much more.

Easily one of the ‘funnest’ movies at LFF and a masterclass in pacing (the 2.5 hours breezes by) and tone (Hairy Leg!). Such a well-cast movie, every character feels real. I even like the framing device.

Why go and see it? It’s funny, it’s engaging, it’s dramatic, it’s what you want the movies to be, baby!

Running time: 160 minutes. UK release: 20 February

1. Sentimental Value

Fuck yeah, Joachim Trier is back and he’s reunited with Renate Reinsve and brought Stellan Skarsgard along for the ride. Not quite as formally daring/adventurous as The Worst Person in the World, Sentimental Value is nonetheless still an ambitious undertaking, examining a fraught father/daughter relationship and the possibility of art healing old wounds.

Elle Fanning hasn’t been getting the props she deserves for her work here.

Why go and see it? You’ll be fortunate to see a better movie this Christmas, or even this year—a tour de force.

Running time: 135 minutes. UK release: 26 December.