I have just completed nine days at the BFI London Film Festival, during which I saw 24 films, a total of 2,743 minutes. As usual, the general standard of the films was very high, although there were a handful that disappointed, and some that didn’t make the grade on any level. I will post my full reviews when the films get their UK releases, however here is a whistlestop tour of what you should be looking out for and what you should perhaps avoid:

For me there were three standout films, which will no doubt earn 5* ratings when I post my full reviews:

• Wild Horse Nine, by Martin McDonagh. Another take on male friendships, with strong echoes of his own In Bruges, two CIA agents visit Easter Island. John Malkovich is terrific!
• Elsinore, by Simon Stone. The true story of Scottish actor Ian Charleson who took over the role of Hamlet at the National Theatre from Daniel Day Lewis after his meltdown. Charleson prepared for this, the most arduous of stage roles, whist seriously ill with AIDS, from which he died only weeks later. Andrew Scott is terrific!
• 7 Miles Out, by Carol Morley. An adaption of her own semi-autobiographical novel, the film follows Anne through her formative years as she comes to terms with her father’s tragic death and seeks solace in the Manchester music scene of the ‘70s and ’80s. Wonderful Soundtrack.

The four next best films, all very well worth a cinema visit, were:

• Ink – Danny Boyle’s film version of James Graham’s stage play about Rupert Murdoch, Larry Lambe and the rise of the Sun newspaper;
• Prima Facie – Suzy Miller’s adaptation of her own stage play, directed by Susanna White, about how the justice system deals, or fails to deal, with sexual assault cases;
• Fatherland – Paweł Pawlikowski’s film about Nobel Literature Laureate Thomas Mann’s trip to Frankfurt in 1949, accompanied by his daughter Erika, to receive the Goethe Prize. The film draws heavily on Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, both structurally and thematically;
• Fjord – Cristian Mungiu’s exploration into the somewhat heavy-handed Child Protection system in Norway, told through a family of Christian immigrants who hold different moral values from those enshrined within the law.

The following four films, also worthy of a trip out, were:

• Paper Tiger – James Gray’s classically structured thriller, focusing on familial duties in 1980s working-class New York, combined with links to the Russian underworld;
• Bunker – Florian Zeller’s first film not based on one of his own stage plays. Cracking central performances from Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, but maybe I liked this more because of my theatre background, so it will be interesting to see what cinephiles make of it;
• Gentle Monster – Marie Kreutzer’s investigation into the effect of paedophilia on a youngish family. Great performance by Lea Seydoux as the wife trying to make sense of what happened and why;
• La Dérive – A 1964 French New Wave film by Paula Delsol which somehow fell through the cracks, almost ignored in France following an unnecessary 18 rating by the censor, then never even receiving a UK release until now. The story of Jacquie, a precocious and promiscuous 20-year-old finding her way in the world.

The next four, all very good films, but possibly worth waiting for Netflix:

• The Beloved – Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s film starring a terrifying Javier Bardem as a film director making a film with his estranged daughter in a leading role;
• Fruit Gathering – A bit of a long-shot this one, Burmese director Aung Phyoe’s first film, dealing with a young girl coming to terms with her sexuality;
• It Will Happen Tonight – Nanni Moretti’s comedy drama (or maybe romcom) Nanni Moretti based on the short story collection Hungry Heart by Israeli writer Eshkol Nevo, featuring an excellent soundtrack including a visit to a Springsteen concert;
• The Debut – A musical comedy written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, starring Julianne Moore as a downtrodden New Jersey housewife who takes to the stage for a community theatre production of a fictional musical, to be directed by an enigmatic Paul Giamatti.

The next four will end up with 3* ratings, at best:

• A Man of His Time – Emmanuelle Marre’s 158-minute film about a Vichy collaborator, a specialist in administration. A bit pedestrian at times;
• Rose – Markus Schleinze’s film starring Sandra Huller as a woman who has disguised herself as a man, first to be a soldier in the Thirty Years War, then to settle down as a farmer;
• Tender Loving Care – Mike Leigh’s new film about the social care services, which whilst powerful in places, felt too much like a series of improvisations lacking in directorial control;
• A Good Little Soldier – A French drama by Stéphane Brizé about a French HR exec who is considered a strong businesswoman by her ex-husband and son, but is a bit of a pushover at work.

And finally, the ones that really disappointed me:

• The Liberation – Guy Nattiv’s film, based on his own grandmother’s involvement with a cult and her daughters’ attempts to free her from its clutches. Too worthy but a weak dramatic structure;
• A Long Winter – Andrew Haigh’s adaptation of Colm Toibin’s short story, which coincidentally I read quite recently. I found the adaptation failed to breathe life into the story;
• The Idiot(s) – The story of writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky as he and his wife Anna flee Russia to Germany, penniless and short of literary inspiration, directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert. Too silly by half!
• Minotaur – Andrey Zvyagintsev’s adaptation of Claude Chabrol’s The Unfaithful Wife, with a few scenes grafted on about conscription for the Russian war in Ukraine. Simply doesn’t add anything of value to the Chabrol, other than about 45 minutes;
• Coward – Lukas Dhont’s gay love story set in the Belgian army during the Great War. It simply doesn’t work on any level.

And that is it for another year. My full reviews will appear if/when the films get their UK releases, but in some cases, there will not be long to wait: at least one of the films will be out this coming Friday!