Best Films to Watch in London This Week

All the movies worth catching in the capital, from a family drama "based on an actual lie" to Brad Pitt in space...

Out and about this week? Fancy a film but can't make your mind up what to see? Look no further: we’ve assembled the best of what’s on in London and gathered them here to make choosing a great movie as easy as possible. Whether it's one of the best – and most notorious – films of the '90s or a crime drama that positions Jennifer Lopez as a genuine Oscar contender, WeLoveCinema has you well and truly covered…

 

The Farewell

Based on true events experienced by the film's writer and director, Lulu Wang, The Farewell zeroes in on a Chinese family who learn that their elderly matriarch is terminally ill and decide not to tell her. Instead they fake a wedding party as a way of gathering the family together for one last goodbye. Though fairly common in China, such practices are – of course – at odds with western sensibilities, a point emphasised here by Wang surrogate “Billi,” played by the ace Awkwafina (finally getting the nuanced role she deserves). The Farewell has already been lauded overseas for its balanced approach to the subject matter and its fresh depiction of family life. Remarkably, it even stars some of the director's actual family.

Get The Farewell showtimes in London or read our full review here.

 

Hustlers

Slick, sexy, and relentlessly entertaining from start to finish, Hustlers arrives as one of the year's most unexpected triumphs. Think of this empowering feminist tale as a reverse Wolf of Wall Street, in which a group of strippers fight back against the greedy bankers who brought the financial system to a halt in 2008. Constance Wu – fresh from a squeaky clean role in Crazy Rich Asians – is dynamite as “Destiny,” a stripper drawn into the hustle of the title. Funny, relevant, and boosted by a brilliantly authentic camaraderie between its stars, Hustlers also contains what might just be Jennifer Lopez's greatest screen performance to date – as Ramona, she's resourceful, tantalising, and completely mesmerising to behold.

Get Hustlers showtimes in London or read our full review here.

 

Fight Club

David Fincher's classic of men taking their tops off and fighting each other in dingy basements is back on the big screen – and just in time to coincidence with the release of Ad Astra. Brad Pitt gives what is arguably his best performance (or at the very least his sexiest) in this bold, brutal adaptation of the Chuck Palahniuk novel. The politics of Fight Club have been debated to death over the years, but there's no denying it's one of the most relentlessly watchable films of the '90s. Co-starring Ed Norton as the puppet to Pitt's charismatic enabler, Tyler Durden, Fight Club's themes of toxic masculinity have never felt so relevant.

Get Fight Club showtimes in London.

 

Ad Astra

James Gray has made his best and most mythic film yet with this strange, hypnotic, and life-affirming space adventure starring Brad Pitt. Like so many directors who venture into this cosmic territory, Gray is channeling 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris (and even a bit of Interstellar). But he's also reworking Apocalypse Now here, too, with a Freudian story about a stoic astronaut (played by Brad Pitt) on a perilous mission to stop his dad (Tommy Lee Jones) from destroying the universe. What sets Ad Astra apart from other sci-fi films is the surreal blend of blockbuster action sequences and Terrence Malick-like ruminations. And at the middle, there's Pitt – quiet, contemplative, shining like the brightest star in the galaxy.

Get Ad Astra showtimes in London or read our full review here.

 

For Sama

It's impossible to imagine what trying to live your every day life in the midst of a war zone is actually like; this riveting documentary is about as close as most of us will get. Recorded using a handheld camera during the Siege of Aleppo in war-torn Syria, For Sama hones in on a student-turned-filmmaker named Waad al-Kateab (who shot the footage), her husband, and daughter, Sama, as they attempt to survive five years within the city walls. The footage was later assembled with help from co-director Edward Watts, and the results are terrifying and brutal, but ultimately life-affirming. Surviving a war zone is one thing; raising a baby as bombs are dropping around you is another. If you only catch one doc this year, let it be this one: more than deservedly, it won the Prix L'Œil d'Or at Cannes in May.

Get For Sama showtimes in London or read our full review here.

 

Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey enjoyed six hit seasons on ITV, and now – perhaps due to the popularity it experienced across the pond – it's a fully-fledged film. Though it doesn't exactly attempt to be anything more ambitious than a plus-sized episode, which will probably do just fine for the legions of fans awaiting a bumper instalment. The story, set in 1927, concerns King George V and Queen Mary, who send Hugh Bonneville and his wife, played by Elizabeth McGovern, into hysterics when they announce a visit to the proud establishment of the title. Maggie Smith is here, too, of course, on brilliantly sardonic form – to the point that it occasionally feels like they just made the film so she could spout some particularly acidic lines. A must for fans.

Get Downtown Abbey showtimes in London.

 

The Shiny Shrimps

Have you noticed? Films about awkward situations amongst male swim teams are officially in vogue. First there was Sink or Swim, and then there was the Rob Brydon-starring Swimming With Men. Now there's the brilliantly titled The Shiny Shrimps, an amusing comic caper that's sort-of inspired by true events. Sharing its DNA with camp classic The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, this fun and easy-going yarn hones in on a swimming champion – played by the aptly-named Nicolas Gob – who is sentenced to join an all-gay swim team after he's caught making homophobic remarks. Story-wise, there isn't much to The Shiny Shrimps, but it does its best to wring ever bit of humour out of a delicious premise.

Get The Shiny Shrimps showtimes in London.

 

Pain and Glory

Pedro Almodóvar's latest film is his most personal yet, a vivid, imitate, semi-autobiographical portrait of a Madrid-based filmmaker named Salvador Mallo who, crippled with pain, is experiencing something akin to a mid-life crisis. As played by Antonio Banderas in a career-best performance, Pain and Glory exists as a series of episodes that draw heavily upon the director's own experiences; as Mallo reflects on the choices that lead him to his current state, including a battle with drugs, the film unfolds with a truly naked quality. Visually stunning, beautifully acted (it also stars Almodóvar regular Penelope Cruz as Mallo's mother), and packed with details to appease long-time fans and newcomers alike, it's Almodóvar's best in years.

Get Pain and Glory showtimes in London or read our full review here.

Other Features

Repertory Rundown: What to Watch in London This Week, From Little Women to Sergio Leone

From classics to cult favourites, our team highlight some of the best one-off screenings and re-releases showing this week in the capital

Repertory Rundown: What to Watch in London This Week, From Coppola to Cross of Iron

From classics to cult favourites, our team highlight some of the best one-off screenings and re-releases showing this week in the capital

20 Best Films of 2023 (So Far)

With the year at the halfway point, our writers choose their favourite films, from daring documentaries to box office bombs

Repertory Rundown: What to Watch in London This Week, From Mistress America to The Man Who Wasn’t There

From classics to cult favourites, our team highlight some of the best one-off screenings and re-releases showing this week in the capital

Reviews

The Innocent review – 60s-inspired heist movie with an existential twist

In his fourth feature film, writer-director Louis Garrel explores with wit and tenderness the risk and worth of second chances

Baato review – Nepal’s past and future collide in an immersive, fraught documentary

A mountain trek intertwines with a road-building project, granting incisive, if underpowered, insight into a much underseen world

The Beanie Bubble review – a grim new low for the “corporate biopic” genre

With none of the saving graces of Tetris, Air, or Barbie, this ambition-free look at the Beanie Baby craze is pure mediocrity

Everybody Loves Jeanne review – thoroughly modern fable of grief, romantic confusion, and climate anxiety

Celine Deveaux's French-Portuguese debut can be too quirky for its own good, but a fantastically written lead character keeps it afloat