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Scoring tickets for everything you want to see at the BFI London Film Festival can be a bit of a bunfight, what with a few million film fans in the capital and demand outstripping supply by a factor of, well, a lot. But don’t despair because even a week or so out from the curtain-raiser, there are still seats available in front of some preposterously exciting films that no one else in the UK has seen yet. To make it a bit easier and save you half an hour clicking around the festival website, here’s a few movies with tickets still available to buy – at the time of publishing, at least. Our advice? Move fast.
1. Emilia Pérez
Take one Sicario-alike cartel thriller, complete with violent offings and shadowy narcotics business, add a transgender twist, throw in a few big musical numbers and, presto, you’ve got the most unexpected movie of 2024. Jacques Audiard has turned this combo into a soulful story of a mob boss who yearns for a new life (the Oscar-tipped Karla Sofía Gascón), the wife she leaves behind (Selena Gomez), and the attorney caught in the crossfire (Zoe Saldaña).
2.40pm, Monday Oct 14. Royal Festival Hall
Book tickets here
2. Elton John: Never Too Late
Hometown hero Elton John is the subject of a new documentary that’s stepping into the LFF spotlight. It’s co-directed by the rock legend’s long-time partner David Furnish, so it’s unlikely to be a vicious takedown, but it won’t be swerving the tougher corners of Elton’s tale either as it leads up to his final US gig, at Dodger Stadium. There are tickets up for grabs for the film’s gala and every chance the Rocketman himself with be there. Tickets are a bit pricier for galas (£30) but it should be a memorable, nostalgic occasion.
6pm, Thu Oct 10. Royal Festival Hall
Book tickets here
3. One To One: John & Yoko
One of the buzz films at this year’s Venice Film Fest is a must-see for fans of pop icons, seismic cultural shifts and surround-sound music docs. Director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, Whitney) always brings a real storytelling nous to his work, so expect an unusually intimate portrait of the two icons during their time living in New York’s Greenwich Village in the 1970s. Plus, loads of footage from Lennon’s famous 1972 One to One concert at Madison Square Garden.
12pm, Wed Oct 16. BFI Southbank
4. Joy
Not the one where Jennifer Lawrence flogs mops on QVC, this Joy is the real-life origin story for IVF and the creation of what was known in the 1960s and ’70s as the first ‘test tube baby’. Happy Valley’s James Norton plays the pioneering scientist, Robert Edwards, who first cracked in-vitro fertilisation, while Thomasin McKenzie and Bill Nighy co-starring as the embryologist and obstetrician who helped make it happen. With reproductive rights under threat in the US, this Netflix drama comes with unexpected emotional resonance.
11.30am, Wed Oct 16. Royal Festival Hall
5. Sujo
Emilia Pérez isn’t the only cartel story in town this year. This gritty Mexico-set drama is a Boyhood-mets-Sicario tale of a four-year-old boy called Sujo whose cartel enforcer dad is murdered. Raised by his aunts in a remote mountain shack, he’s drawn back into the machinery of the drug trade and the violence that comes with it. Scoring great reviews when it premiered at Sundance earlier this year, it should offer a fresh but thrilling take on the gang thriller.
3.10pm, Sat Oct 19. Vue West End
6. Familiar Touch
The best kind of heartbreaker for anyone with ageing rellies, this American drama, billed as ‘a coming of (old) age film’, follows an octogenarian woman as she confronts her mortality and transitions into assisted living. It’s not the most feel-good entry on the LFF programme, but MCI and dementia is a brutal reality for so many people and Familiar Touch is an act of cinematic solidarity with them all.
8.50pm, Wed Oct 9. Curzon Soho
This year’s LFF runs from Wednesday, October 9 to Sunday, October 20.
Everything you need to know about this year’s London Film Festival.
The 10 best films to see in cinemas in October.