Out and about this weekend? Planning to catch a film but can't make your mind up what to see? Look no further: we’ve assembled the best of what’s showing in London and gathered them here to make choosing a great movie as easy as possible. Whether it's a film about a rave shot in beautiful black-and-white, or what is possibly the cutest film ever made, Walloh has you covered. Enjoy!

 

Birds of Passage

Ciro Guerra made a deep, visceral mark with 2015’s Embrace of the Serpent, an elusive, hallucinogenic film that confirmed him as a director of unique vision. His follow-up, Birds of Passage, feels like a natural progression, so brimming with bold ideas and unforgettable images, and touched with elements of magical realism that made Embrace so memorable. Set over two decades, Birds explores the rise of the Columbian marijuana trade across five distinct chapters, with a focus on the little people entangled in the mechanism that cinema usually ignores. Essentially it asks what happens when ancient cultures are infected with modernity, semi-channeling the vibe of a Godfather-esque crime thriller. “Dreamlike” is a word that is easily tossed about these days, but here's a film that truly qualifies.

Get Birds of Passage showtimes in London.

 

Beats

Given Beats is set in 90s Scotland, the Trainspotting comparisons are inevitable, so here we go: Beats is sort of like Trainspotting. Really, though, it's a film marching to the (ahem) beat of its own drum. A joyous, energetic ride though the rave culture that came to define an era – and shot in a crisp black-and-white that somehow feels timely – Beats hones in on two pals, played by Cristian Ortega and Lorn Macdonald, as they set out for an illegal warehouse ravel. Drugs, music, the liberation of youth – it’s all here, deftly explored. But Beats earns bonus points because it gets us to invest in its insanely likeable characters between the memorable tracks. Just like the best kind of night out, it's a film that stays with you long after it's over. And no hangover.

Get Beats showtimes in London.

 

Amazing Grace

It’s taken ages for Aretha Franklin’s legendary 1972 performance of album Amazing Grace to make it to the big screen. First, due to a synchronisation issue, and later on due to legal issues raised by the singer herself. The good news is that, despite all the years spent in a Warner Bros. vault, it’s been well worth the wait: Amazing Grace is a certified masterpiece. Shot at a Baptist church in Los Angeles by esteemed filmmaker Sydney Pollack (who's to blame for the sync error), the films lays bare the entire concert, with occasional flashes of Franklin at her diva-ish best. As you watch her belting out and nailing every song, it's obvious you're seeing the embodiment of soul.

Get Amazing Grace showtimes in London.

 

Tucked

Fewer films nowadays lean on the talents of actors in their twilight years, unless their surname happens to be “Eastwood.” But that’s precisely what makes Tucked so special. Its star, Derren Nesbitt, is 83-years-old, here playing a drag queen at the receiving end of a terminal cancer diagnosis. All this sounds very heavy and depressing, but Tucked – as suggested by its playful title – manages to find warmth where there could have been bleakness. Co-starring Jordan Stephens from band Rizzle Kicks, Tucked occasionally errs on the side of sentimentality and there are few bum notes here and there. All said and done, though, it’s a watchable little film and one that – in offering up a warts and all character study from a leading man in his 80s – is also quietly radical.

Get Tucked showtimes in London.

 

Pick of the Litter

It’s the documentary you never knew you wanted – and now that it’s here, how did you ever live without it? The premise is simple: five adorable puppies are trained to be guide dogs, and we follow them from selection to graduation. Are you sold? Need we go on? For 80 adorable minutes audiences are invited to join Potomac, Patriot, Poppy, Phil, and Primros (there’s a theme with the names) as they attempt to make the cut as certified dogs for the blind. And the competition is surprisingly stiff, given only 300 out of a possible 800 pups will make the grade. You probably gathered that Pick of the Litter is not groundbreaking cinema. What it is, however, is darn cute, and sometimes that's enough.

Get Pick of the Litter showtimes in London.

 

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

Books, knives, dogs, horses: there’s nothing Keanu Reeves’ stoic assassin won’t utilise as a weapon in the excessively titled John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the third – and best – film in the wildly successful action franchise. It has to be said: the first half hour of this film consists of some of the most intense, awesomely creative action sequences in recent memory, and arguably cinema’s best ever knife fight. That’s not to say that the rest of the film isn’t greatly entertaining, though an emphasis on an overwritten story sucks out a little of the fun. Still, you’d be lucky to find another third instalment that delivers on the promise of its predecessors in so many ways. And trust us when we say you’ve never seen a man kill somebody with a book like this.

Get John Wick 3: Parabellum showtimes in London.

 

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

The genius of Kubrick, in many ways, was in his ability to take a pre-existing property and adapt it to his own ends without compromising the integrity of the source material (though Stephen King might argue that one). So Red Alert, a basic thriller novel about the end of the world, was repurposed for Dr. Strangelove, a comic satire set almost entirely inside a “war room” as a team of military personnel, scientists, and politicians try to prevent a nuclear apocalypse. Now back at the BFI as part of their Kubrick season, it's a pleasure to report Dr. Strangelove hasn’t aged a day: prescient, hilarious, and endlessly quotable, it also contains what it arguably Peter Sellers’ greatest ever performance – as three different characters, in fact, including the titular doctor himself.

Get Dr. Strangelove showtimes in London.

 

High Life

Claire Denis isn't the first filmmaker you’d associate with the sci-fi genre, and yet she proves to be a natural fit with this poetic and somewhat disturbing drama set aboard a spacecraft. With shades of 2001: A Space Odyssey at its core, High Life focuses on Robert Pattinson (a prisoner) and Juliette Binoche (a doctor) as they try to survive a mission into a black hole. Less said about the specifics the better, though interestingly Denis' original script was only 30 pages long, with much of the story conjured up during production; the film retains a strange and sometimes unfocused quality as a result. But it's this strangeness that makes High Life feel like something totally fresh to the genre. And don’t even get us started on the “Fuckbox.”

Get High Life showtimes in London.

 

Avengers: Endgame

After more than 10 years of intricate world-building, Avengers: Endgame arrives with its huge cast of superheroes reeling in the wake of a catastrophe that wiped out half of the life in the Universe. But this is nowhere near as bleak an outing as Infinity War set it up to be. Instead it works as a glorious love letter to the MCU, a thank you to fans who've stuck around for the entire ride. You’ll laugh. You’ll cheer. And when it all comes together in the film’s final hour – the culmination of 22 films – you’ll even shed a tear. A monumental cinematic achievement, Endgame is everything a fan could want from a “final” instalment, and somehow not at all the film you'd expect. In other words, it's a perfect farewell.

Get Avengers: Endgame showtimes in London.

 

Batman

People tend to think the modern era of superhero fever began with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man. Really, though, the craze can be traced to Tim Burton’s Batman (back in cinemas for its 30th anniversary with a glorious 4K restoration), which flipped all notions of what a superhero movie could be, offering up a template that filmmakers are still using today. Michael Keaton was not the obvious choice for the role of Bruce Wayne, and yet here he brings something unique to the role, a sense of understated comic energy. As for Jack Nicholson’s Joker… he was the obvious choice, and for good reason. He steals every scene he’s in. After Batman people started talking comic books films seriously, and on reflection – that Elfman score! those Prince tracks! – it’s easy to see why.

Get Batman showtimes in London.