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London Film Festival · 2016

London Film Festival 2016

Headline Galas

Programme

12 films · 11 reviews

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Arrival

Review preview for Arrival

Denis Villeneuve's latest film may be about aliens visiting Earth but it's the people who hold his interest.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A linguist is given the task of helping to communicate with extra-terrestrial beings when they touch down around the globe.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Denis Villeneuve; Writer: Eric Heisserer, based on the short story by Ted Chiang; Stars: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Nathaly Thibault, Mark O'Brien, Tzi Ma, Leisa Reid, Abigail Pniowsky, Julia Scarlett Dan, Ruth Chiang, Frank Fiola, Julian Casey, Russell Yuen, Max Walker)

Full review

The Birth Of A Nation

Review preview for The Birth Of A Nation

Parker's reductive approach, more concerned with creating a hero than depicting a man, means it never achieves the impact that it ought to.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
The story of Nat Turner's slave uprising.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Nate Parker; Writer: Jean McGianni Celestin, Nate Parker; Stars: Armie Hammer, Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union, Aja Naomi King, Penelope Ann Miller, Aunjanue Ellis, Mark Boone Junior, Nate Parker, Colman Domingo, Roger Guenveur Smith, Griffin Freeman, Jeryl Prescott, Steve Coulter, Katie Garfield, Cullen Moss)

Full review

Free Fire

Review preview for Free Fire

The director resembles a sniper who remains unseen, but whose presence can nonetheless be felt.

Paul Risker · 3.5 out of 5
A meeting between two gangs in a deserted warehouse turns into a shootout.

(Country: France, UK; Year: 2016; Director: Ben Wheatley; Writer: Amy Jump, Ben Wheatley; Stars: Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley, Michael Smiley, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Babou Ceesay, Noah Taylor, Jack Reynor, Mark Monero, Patrick Bergin, Sara Dee, Tom Davis)

Full review

Closing gala

Lion (A Long Way Home, A Longa Viagem Para Casa)

Review preview for Lion

To its great merit, the film does not go for romanticizing or exploiting this child's life-threatening dilemma and the impossibly difficult decision-making process can be felt throughout.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
An Indian man who was adopted by an Australian couple as a boy heads off to find his real family.

(Country: UK, Australia, US; Year: 2016; Director: Garth Davis; Writer: Luke Davies, based on the book by Saroo Brierley; Stars: Dev Patel, Sunny Pawar, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara, David Wenham, Abhishek Bharate, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Priyanka Bose, Deepti Naval, Divian Ladwa, Sachin Joab)

Full review See: Screenwriter Luke Davies in conversation on Lion, part two , Screenwriter Luke Davies in conversation on Lion

La La Land

Review preview for La La Land

This film might wear its heart on its sleeve, but it is technically slick, well-acted, and laced with ear-friendly tunes. It is, in short, a proper musical.

Owen Van Spall · 5 out of 5
A jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Damien Chazelle; Writer: Damien Chazelle; Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Amiée Conn, Terry Walters, Thom Shelton, Cinda Adams, Callie Hernandez, Jessica Rothe, Sonoya Mizuno, Rosemarie DeWitt, J.K. Simmons, Claudine Claudio, Jason Fuchs, D.A. Wallach, Trevor Lissauer)

Full review

Manchester By The Sea

Review preview for Manchester By The Sea

Manchester By The Sea is a masterful study of clumsiness.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
A man returns to his hometown following the death of his brother.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Kenneth Lonergan; Writer: Kenneth Lonergan; Stars: Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Casey Affleck, Gretchen Mol, Kara Hayward, Tate Donovan, Heather Burns, Erica McDermott, Lucas Hedges, Susan Pourfar, Chaunty Spillane, Stephanie Ann Saunders, Missy Yager, Ruibo Qian, Danae Nason)

Full review See: Interview with Casey Affleck about A Ghost Story , Interview with Kenneth Lonergan on Manchester By The Sea

A Monster Calls

Review preview for A Monster Calls

Bayona knows how to turn the screw of sentiment, not so much jerking tears as gradually filling a well of sadness until it can't help but spill out.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A boy seeks the help of a tree monster to cope with his single mum's terminal illness.

(Country: US, Spain; Year: 2016; Director: Juan Antonio Bayona; Writer: Patrick Ness; Stars: Felicity Jones, Liam Neeson, Toby Kebbell, Sigourney Weaver, Geraldine Chaplin, Lewis MacDougall, Jennifer Lim, Frida Palsson, Lily-Rose Aslandogdu, James Melville, Ben Moor, Lee Bolton, Joe Curtis, Garry Marriott, Max Gabbay)

Full review See: Sigourney Weaver on A Monster Calls, Alien sequel, US election and women in film

Nocturnal Animals

Review preview for Nocturnal Animals

This is a study of bitter, sorry people hurting each other using ancient memories, propelled like bullets via the power of fiction.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
A woman is haunted by her ex-husband's novel, which she interprets as a veiled threat.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Tom Ford; Writer: Tom Ford, based nn the novel by Austin Wright; Stars: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Ellie Bamber, Armie Hammer, Karl Glusman, Robert Aramayo, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Sheen, India Menuez, Imogen Waterhouse, Franco Vega)

Full review

Queen Of Katwe

True story of a Ugandan girl who became a chess champ.

(Country: US, South Africa; Year: 2016; Director: Mira Nair; Writer: William Wheeler, Tim Crothers; Stars: Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, Martin Kabanza, Taryn Kyaze, Ivan Jacobo, Nicolas Levesque, Ronald Ssemaganda, Ethan Nazario Lubega, Nikita Waligwa, Edgar Kanyike, Esther Tebandeke, Hope Katende, Philip Luswata, Peter Odeke)

Snowden

Review preview for Snowden

Oliver Stone takes the story and gives it slick mainstream polish, bringing the issue home in a way that is understandable and urgent, even if his hero ends up seeming almost too good to be true.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Biopic of the whistleblower.

(Country: US, Germany, France; Year: 2016; Director: Oliver Stone; Writer: Kieran Fitzgerald, Oliver Stone; Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Rhys Ifans, Zachary Quinto, Nicolas Cage, Timothy Olyphant, Logan Marshall-Green, Joely Richardson, Keith Stanfield, Melissa Leo, Ben Schnetzer, Tom Wilkinson, Parker Sawyers, Christy Meyer)

Full review See: Oliver Stone, Shailene Woodley and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in conversation about Snowden

Their Finest

Review preview for Their Finest

A charming and entertaining take on the film within the film scenario, with solid performances from all of its cast.

Evelin Toth · 3 out of 5
A British film crew in the Second World War makes a propaganda film.

(Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Lone Scherfig; Writer: Gaby Chiappe, based on the novel by Lissa Evans; Stars: Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy, Jack Huston, Paul Ritter, Rachael Stirling, Richard E Grant, Henry Goodman, Jake Lacy, Jeremy Irons, Eddie Marsan, Helen McCrory, Hubert Burton, Claudia Jessie, Stephanie Hyam)

Full review

A United Kingdom

Review preview for A United Kingdom

The tensions are taut and the feelings genuine

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
Enduring love story of Seretse Khama, King of Bechuanaland (modern Botswana) and Ruth Williams, the London office worker he married in 1948.

(Country: US, UK, Czech Republic; Year: 2016; Director: Amma Asante; Writer: Guy Hibbert; Stars: David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Jack Davenport, Tom Felton, Laura Carmichael, Charlotte Hope, Jack Lowden, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Jessica Oyelowo, Arnold Oceng, Anastasia Hille, Merveille Lukeba, James Northcote, Solomon Taiwo Justified, Atul Sharma)

Full review See: Amma Asante in conversation on A United Kingdom , Rosamund Pike in conversation on A United Kingdom

Opening gala