Film festival season as a whole might have been less star-studded than usual this year, owing to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes which have ground Hollywood to a halt, but that doesn’t mean the season’s films themselves are any less worthy of watching.
As this year’s London Film Festival gets underway in the capital, there might be a shortage of A-listers gracing its film’s premieres, but the movies in all of their glory are still as wonderful as ever.
While far being a microcosm of London itself, this year’s line-up has increased its representation of female and non-binary film-makers. The London Film Festival this year includes 99 works by female and non-binary film-makers, which accounts for 39% of the programme, and that doesn’t include the works that feature women in starring roles.
Which is precisely why we’ve taken it upon ourselves to round-up the female-led films — either with women in leading roles or works that are directed and created by women — that are worthy of either grabbing a ticket to at this year’s LFF or bookmarking for when they're released in cinemas later in the year.
Saltburn
Promising Young Woman director Emerald Fennell’s sophomoric film, Saltburn, which is making its international debut at the LFF, promises a romp through the upper echelons of British society that few could ever forget.
Starring Euphoria star, Jacob Elordi, Barry Keoghan and Rosamund Pike, Saltburn is set in the mid-2000s and follows an Oxford student who develops an obsession with a wealthy classmate and his family while visiting their estate. Taking inspiration from revered novelists, Evelyn Waugh and Alan Hollinghurst, Fennell's film is uncomfortable, indulgent and a very British ‘tale of excess.’
‘[The London Film Festival] is a festival that inspired me so much growing up, one that I followed excitedly from my bedroom on the other side of London. It feels extra-special that Saltburn, this very British tale of excess, is able to make its international debut at the wonderful BFI,’ Fennell said in a statement.
Saltburn will be released in UK cinemas on 24 November 2023.
May December
Starring Oscar-winners Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, May December interrogates the seemingly perfect relationship between Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton). The Todd Haynes-directed film premiered to rapturous applause at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
May December’s official synopsis says: ‘Elizabeth, an actor, arrives at their home to research for a role in a film based on Gracie, it becomes clear that the couple’s relationship isn’t as strong as they’d like to believe. As the truth begins to unspool, and Elizabeth immerses herself in her role, it becomes clear that she’s not the only one acting.’
May December is showing at LFF on 6, 7 and 11 October 2023.
Priscilla
Based on the memoir Elvis And Me by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon and directed by Sofia Coppola, whose work includes Marie Antoinette and The Virgin Suicides, Priscilla delves into the life of Elvis Presley’s wife, Priscilla. The A24-produced film stars Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Jacob Elordi as Elvis and elegantly explores the complexities of the famous couple’s highly-publicised relationship.
In an interview, Coppola said: ’I’m excited to do something rooted in that Americana style for the first time. And Priscilla is a quintessential glamour icon. I was just so interested in Priscilla’s story and her perspective on what it all felt like to grow up as a teenager in Graceland. She was going through all the stages of young womanhood in such an amplified world.’
Priscilla is showing at LFF on 9 and 10 October 2023.
Poor Things
Winner of the prestigious Golden Lion prize at this year's Venice Film Festival, Poor Things is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and stars Emma Stone as Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr Godwin Baxter in Victorian London.
Poor Things, which is adapted from the 1992 novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray, is a riff on a Frankensteinian experiment and will have you laughing and gasping in equal measure.
Poor Things is showing at LFF on 14 and 15 October 2023.
The End We Start From
Based on Megan Hunter’s 2017 novel of the same name, The End We Start From is a dystopian and eerily prescient drama about catastrophic floods engulfing Britain. Jodie Comer plays a young woman with a newborn baby as they try to seek refuge in a crumbling post-apocalyptic society. The End We Start From also stars Benedict Cumberbatch and is directed by BAFTA-winner, Mahalia Belo.
The End We Start From is showing at LFF on 13 and 14 October 2023.
How To Have Sex
After premiering earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival — and promptly winning the festival’s coveted Un Certain Regard prize — Molly Manning Walker’s directorial debut, How To Have Sex, is one of the industry’s most talked-about films of the year.
The story follows Tara, played by Persuasion's Mia McKenna-Bruce, and her two friends as they embark on a post-exam, rite-of-passage holiday to Crete, which is filled with drinking, clubbing, relationships — and more importantly, consent.
How To Have Sex is showing at LFF on 10 and 12 October 2023.
Expats
Starring Nicole Kidman and Ji-young Yoo, Expats is the long-awaited adaptation of Janice Y. K. Lee’s 2016 novel about a group of expatriates living in Hong Kong. Directed by Lulu Wang, the writer-director also responsible for The Farewell, tells the story of three American women against the backdrop of the 2014 Hong Kong protests and the subtle ways in which their stories entwine.
According to an official synopsis, the series is ‘a sad, angry love letter to Hong Kong at a time of deep tension and political turmoil.’
Expats is showing at LFF on 9 October 2023.
Hoard
First-time feature director Luna Carmoon tells the sad tale of a young woman whose dysfunctional unhappiness has its roots in her relationship with her troubled mum.
The official synopsis of Hoard reads: ‘Haunted by memories of her disturbed mother, Cynthia, mixed-up teen Maria develops an animalistic bond with the troubled Michael over one hot summer in the 1990s.’
Hoard is showing at LFF on 9 and 15 October 2023.
Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.
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