James R | On 18, Sep 2019

With less than a month to go until the 2019 London Film Festival, all the big streamers are headed to Leicester Square to preview their latest originals and exclusives on the big screen. In the case of some, they’ll get another short theatrical run before their debut on MUBI or Netflix, and for others, this may well be the only chance to catch them in cinemas. Either way, here are our picks of the streaming films to catch this October:

To book tickets, visit the official festival website

The Irishman (Netflix)

Martin Scorsese’s ninth collaboration with Robert De Niro reunites him with Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, as the GoodFellas director returns to the crime genre to explore a real-life mystery that has never been solved.

Screening: 13th October

Marriage Story (Netflix)

Fresh from its buzzy debut at the Venice Film Festival, Noah Baumbach’s latest boasts a starry cast in Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Laura Dern and a raw honesty in its depiction of a relationship breaking down.

Screening: 13th October

Atlantics (Netflix)

Director and actor Mati Diop (35 Shots of Rum) delivers a hypnotic, genre-shifting portrait of a girl’s awakening.

Screening: 4th, 5th, 7th October

The Report (Amazon Studios)

The American government takes a long hard look at itself in this politically urgent drama from Scott Z Burns starring Adam Driver and Annette Bening. Curzon Artificial Eye will release the film in UK cinemas later this year.

Screening: 5th, 6th October

Wounds (Netflix)

Armie Hammer and Dakota Johnson are drawn into a bizarre nightmare in Babak Anvari’s fascinating and unconventional follow-up to Under the Shadow.

Screening: 4th, 5th, 6th October

Earthquake Bird (Netflix)

In this dark thriller set in 1989 Tokyo, Alicia Vikander plays a murder suspect at the centre of a tumultuous love triangle.

Screening: 10th, 10th, 11th October

Seberg (Amazon Studios)

Kristen Stewart shines as an idealistic yet fragile Jean Seberg in this impressive new work from Una director Benedict Andrews.

Screening: 4th, 5th October

Bacurau (MUBI)

Teresa comes home to her matriarchal village in a near-future Brazil to find that its citizens have been sold as prey to bloodthirsty foreign hunters.

Screening: 4th, 5th October

I Lost My Body (Netflix)

A severed hand searches for its owner in this striking animation, which grabbed the Grand Prize at the Cannes Critics’ Week.

Screening: 4th, 5th, 12th October

The Two Popes (Netflix)

Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce tussle over the future of the Catholic Church in this two-hander from Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener).

Screening: 7th, 8th, 9th October

37 Seconds (Netflix)

A young woman with cerebral palsy strikes out for independence with the help of a sex worker in this sensational Japanese debut from HIKARI.

Screening: 6th, 7th October

Tell Me Who I Am (Netflix)

UK-based director Ed Perkins follows his Oscar-nominated documentary short Black Sheep with a potent and troubling exploration of trauma, identity and redemption.

Screening: 8th, 9th, 13th October

Zombi Child (MUBI)

On the border of ethnology and fantasy, Bertrand Bonello recounts the destiny of the Haitian Clairvius Narcisse, victim of a voodoo spell that turned him into a zombie. Mixing stories and epochs between Haiti in 1962 and Paris today, between Narcisse, and her aunt, a voodoo priestess.

Screening: 6th, 7th, 11th October

Circus of Books (Netflix)

Imagine discovering that your parents have been running a gay adult book store for most of their lives. Director Rachel Mason turnes her camera on her family to explore this stranger-than-fiction story and the many obstacles her parents encountered.

Screening: 12th, 13th October

Beanpole (MUBI)

1945, Leningrad. World War II has devastated the city, demolishing its buildings and leaving its citizens in tatters, physically and mentally. Two young women, Iya and Masha, search for meaning and hope in the struggle to rebuild their lives amongst the ruins.

Screening: 3rd, 4th October

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