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Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF

@insertmontage.com

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Channel 4 staffer by day, film writer by night (sometimes during the day too). This is now my primary space for reviews, opinions & ramblings on anything & everything film & tv related. InsertMontage.com | Stage-Screen.co.uk | Film Critics Association UK

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Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 10d

Ok #filmsky. Another year, another banging #LFF line-up to cover!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be dropping reactions & reviews for everything weird & wonderful #LondonFilmFestival has to offer. There’ll be coverage on insertmontage.com & bite sized thoughts in the thread below 👇 #LFF2025 🎞️🎬📽️

BFI London Film Festival 2025. 8-9 October

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Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1m

Kind of looks like Marvel saw The Studio and went “yeah sure go on then fuck it why not” and I’m very much here for it #WonderMan

Marvel Television’s Wonder Man | Official Trailer | Disney+

YouTube video by Marvel Entertainment

youtu.be

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 59m

#LondonFilmFestival REVIEW

AFTER THE HUNT (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
Messy. Luca is on real shit-stirring form & I don’t know what to make of it. The plot & messaging are so erratic it’s all pretty off putting. I would very much like Michael Stuhlbarg to cook for me all day every day though.

★ ★ ½

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1h

#LondonFilmFestival REVIEW

IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (dir. Jafar Panahi)
A highly effective moral conundrum thriller with very real world resonance. More loose & farcical than anticipated but never less than gripping with a fantastic final act that will keep you guessing until the end #LFF

★ ★ ★ ★

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1h

#LondonFilmFestival REVIEW

BUGONIA (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)
Kidnap thriller, oddball comedy, horror, offbeat sci-fi, societal commentary, existential drama. Even by Yorgos standards, there’s a lot going on here yet somehow, amidst all the weirdo chaos is his most mainstream & accessible work to date

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1h

RIP Diane Keaton. We’ve lost some serious Hollywood royalty here. To have an on-screen career lasting over five decades and manage to remain iconic that entire time is no mean feat and she made it look easy. A huge loss

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Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 2h

20. AFTER THE HUNT (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
Messy. Luca is on real shit-stirring form with this & I don’t know what to make of it. The plot & messaging are so erratic it’s hard to know whether it’s coming or going. I would very much like Michael Stuhlbarg to cook for me all day every day though #LFF

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 7h

19. BUGONIA (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)
Kidnap thriller, oddball comedy, horror, offbeat sci-fi, societal commentary, existential drama. Even by Yorgos Lanthimos standards, there’s a lot going on with #Bugonia yet somehow in amidst the weirdo chaos is his most mainstream and accessible work to date #LFF

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Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 10h

#NowWatching Buglonia

#LFF day 4, film 2. Nothing like a bit of Yorgos weirdness to perk up your morning

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 10h

Back on the #LondonFilmFestival grind and back at the Southbank for the first time this year. This is a huge one too. Hoping for big things from #Bugonia. Head back this way in a bit for my reaction! #LFF

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 10h

18. IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (dir. Jafar Panahi)
A highly effective moral conundrum kidnap thriller with very real world pertinence. More loose and oddly farcical than anticipated but never less than gripping throughout with a fantastic final act that will keep you guessing until the very end #LFF

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Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 13h

#NowWatching It Was Just an Accident

#LFF day 4, film 1 here we go…

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 13h

17. GOD IS SHY (dir. Jocelyn Charles)
The nature of fear and subconscious are tackled via unsettling, eye-catching animation over the course of 15 highly surreal minutes. Will admit that my grasp on what was actually going on was pretty loose but I did find it absolutely impossible to look away #LFF

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1d

Tron: Ares sounds like ass. Pass

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1d

Sandler is fucking great though it has to be said

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1d

#LondonFilmFestival REVIEW

JAY KELLY (dir. Noah Baumbach)
Overindulgent & overlong. An emotional husk of a film. Clooney playing Clooney in a midlife crisis could be fun but Baumbach misses the mark. Glimmers of heart but forced plotting, muddled messaging & wonky writing offer little #LFF

★ ★

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Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1d

Balls deep in #LFF at this point #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1d

16. JAY KELLY (dir. Noah Baumbach)
Overindulgent & overlong, this is an emotional husk of a film. Clooney playing Clooney having a midlife crisis could be fun but Baumbach misses the mark. Glimmers of heart & humour but forced plotting & wonky writing offer little to engage. Sandler is great though

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Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1d

#NowWatching Jay Kelly

#LFF day 3, film 1. Staring the day with some Clooney

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1d

Another day, another anxiously forming #LFF queue

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1d

I would instantly age a million years if I heard this

a close up of a man in a military uniform looking at the camera with a serious look on his face .

ALT: a close up of a man in a military uniform looking at the camera with a serious look on his face .

media.tenor.com

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1d

#LFF day 3 is locked and ready to go…and because of my Bugonia balls up the other day, I even got a lay in this morning which I have decided is a very good thing

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1d

Ha! Human rights watch be like

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Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1d

#LondonFilmFestival REVIEW

CHAO (dir. Yasuhiro Aoki)
Big Ghibli vibes but also entirely its own thing. With walking fish, bold animation, eccentric characters & an oddball sense of humour, this is defo the wackier end of anime but there’s plenty of heart, imagination & emotion to hook you #LFF

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 1d

#LondonFilmFestival REVIEW

BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER (dir. Edward Berger)
Visually & audibly, this is more than a match for Berger’s previous work. Elsewhere, it doesn’t quite hit the jackpot you’re looking for. That said, it’s all extremely watchable stuff and Collin Farrell is on an absolute role

Patrick J. Hurst @ #LFF @insertmontage.com · 2d

Always feel like a strategic anime is the right call for #LFF to break the inevitable cinematic depression cycle. Never fails to cut through the gloom