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The best films we saw at the BFI London Film Festival 2016

By CW Contributor on 17/10/2016

From Kristen Stewart's ghost to Shia LaBeouf's plait, here's the cream of the BFI London Film Festival. Best films of 2017? Could be. A few are even out now...

A Quiet Passion ★★★★★

Terrance Davis' biopic of poet Emily Dickinson might sound a bit worthy, but it has a razor-sharp script and sports some of the most appropriately poetic visuals on screen this year. Plus Cynthia Nixon is fabulous.

WHEN

01 Jun 2017 – 01 Jul 2017, Times vary

WHERE

Various Locations

Graduation ★★★★★

Are you up for a grim Romanian drama about failed dreams, compromise, and bureaucracy? Of course you are! Especially as Graduation was made by the director of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, one of the best films of the 2000s.

WHEN

03 Mar 2017 – 03 May 2017, Times vary

WHERE

Various Locations

After Love ★★★★★

Ah, divorce, how many films have you inspired? Well, there's always room for one more – especially when it's as accomplished as After Love

WHEN

28 Oct 2016 – 28 Dec 2016, Times vary

WHERE

Various Locations

Personal Shopper ★★★★★

No, we didn't expect the 'Kristen Stewart ghost story' to be much good either. But Personal Shopper isn't a case of Stewart exchanging her Twilight vampires for ghouls. It's a wonderfully bizarre drama about... well, give it a watch and let us know.

WHEN

03 Mar 2017 – 05 May 2017, Times vary

WHERE

Various Locations

American Honey ★★★★★

Andrea Arnold's American Honey is patchy, overlong, ambling, and romanticised. It's also the best film we saw at the BFI London Film Festival, and it's in cinemas now. Do yourself a favour and watch it.

WHEN

14 Oct 2016 – 16 Dec 2016, Times vary

WHERE

Various Locations

Raw <span class="star-block"><span class="star">★★★★</span>★</span>

Raw ★★★★★

Perhaps you don't think you need to see a horror film about cannibals? You think you can do without it, right? What if we tell you that it's arty and French and critically acclaimed? Interested now, aren't you? So predictable.

WHEN

01 Jun 2017 – 01 Jul 2017, Times vary

WHERE

Various Locations

The Handmaiden ★★★★★

Director Park Chan-wook is known for making films as bonkers as they are brilliant, and The Handmaiden is no exception: seductive, sapphic, and savage.

WHEN

17 Feb 2017 – 17 Apr 2017, Times vary

WHERE

Various Locations

Queen of Katwe ★★★★★

A lot of the films on this list are pretty bleak and/or shocking – so you're lucky that Queen of Katwe is a lovely Disney film about chess that actually earns the label 'feel good'.

WHEN

21 Oct 2016 – 21 Dec 2016, Times vary

WHERE

Various Locations

Manchester by the Sea ★★★★★

Flashes of humour keep this sombre, subtle drama from being the festival's major downer, and Casey Affleck makes a strong case for being more talented than his old bat-brother, Ben.

WHEN

13 Jan 2017 – 13 Mar 2017, Times vary

WHERE

Various Locations

Trespass Against Us ★★★★★

A family drama set in a community of West Country travellers, this debut film from Adam Smith boasts irresistible performances from Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson, and Rory Kinnear.

WHEN

03 Mar 2017 – 03 May 2017, Times vary

WHERE

Various Locations

The Rehearsal ★★★★★

Director Alison Maclean returns to the screens with unusual film The Rehearsal, in which the themes of youth, friendship, scandal, love, and personal growth are tackled within the story of an end-of-year drama project.

WHEN

01 Jun 2017 – 01 Jul 2017, Times vary