Best Autumn film releases 2018: London cinema guide

Cold War

The latest film from UK-based Polish director Paweł Pawlikovski is a chilling black-and-white melodic odyssey through Communist Europe, Paris and beyond. There are times when the audience can forget all about that frosty political climate, when Cold War appears more timeless than tragically of-its-time, and enchantingly so.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Based on the 2012 coming-of-age teen novel by Emily M. Danforth, the film is British-Iranian director Desiree Akhavan's follow-up to her outstanding debut, Appropriate Behavior. Cameron Post (Chloë Grace Moretz) is sent off to a gay conversion therapy camp called God's Promise, after being caught kissing the prom queen in the backseat of a car. The exciting director and young cast take on a brave story with unashamed energy and surprising comedy.

Climax

Sex, death, time, drugs and self-destructive behaviour have been a constant of filmmaker Gaspar Noé’s universe from the very beginning, and all those ingredients are mixed together for maximum effect in a 90-minute exercise in self-aggrandising that is shamelessly the brainchild of its director, for better or worse.

A Star is Born

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper star as the central couple in the third remake of the 1937 film, a story about an older musician who discovers and promotes a talented young singer but who finds his star declining while hers rises.

First Man

Taking no more than a single year off, the La La Land dream team is back in action for another awards season contender with First Man. Director Damien Chazelle is taking on a story of epic proportions, as he brings Neil Armstrong's mission to life on the biggest screen yet. Ryan Gosling will be playing the role of the first man to walk on the moon.

Mandy

A revenge story of cosmic proportions from visionary director Panos Cosmatos featuring a career-defining performance from Nicolas Cage, Mandy has us holding on to our seat.

Bohemian Rhapsody

It was only a matter of time before the king of Queen was awarded the spotlight on the silver screen. Nearly 30 years after his death, Freddie Mercury (played by Mr Robot actor Rami Malek) takes centre stage in Bohemian Rhapsody, the film telling the story of his legendary life.

Peterloo

200 years after the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, kitchen realist Mike Leigh honours the milestone with his new film, Peterloo set for a UK premiere in Manchester. The film stars Rory Kinnear, Maxine Peake and Pearce Quigley who will join Leigh to promote the film after the world premiere at this year's Venice Film Festival.

Widows

Opening this year's London Film Festival, 12 Years A Slave director Steve McQueen teams up with writer Gillian Flynn on this Autumn's biggest hard-hitting crime drama. Widows follows the lives of four women (Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki and Cynthia Ervo) as they reckon with the mess their dead criminal husbands have left behind.

Wildlife

A directorial debut from actor Paul Dano and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan, Wildlife is a stripped-back drama about being reckless in your quietest moments. It might be the finest feature of the year.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

The Crimes of Grindelwald is shaping up to be an exciting sequel with a case to prove, as Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and director David Yates have confidently continued to defend the casting of Johnny Depp as the antagonising central villain, Grindelwald. All will be revealed as to whether magic will soar or sink against the dark side. Get your wands ready.

Shoplifters

Innocence and experience jostle in Shoplifters, a beautiful, alchemical family drama from Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda who snapped up the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Seamlessly modulating from the atmosphere of police procedural to thriller to goofy romance, even as secrets begin to bubble up to the surface and shadows edge in on the frame, an inner glow remains.

The Old Man & the Gun

Following indie hit A Ghost Story, director David Lowery is teaming up with Casey Affleck once more. But Affleck isn't the main event here - The Old Man & the Gun is all about Robert Redford.

Based on the true life story of Forrest Tucker, the film retells the trials and tribulations of the prison escape artist. After a September premiere in Toronto, you can catch the movie just in time for Christmas.

Foxtrot

Introduced to those in the know at last year's London Film Festival, indie darling Foxtrot is finally getting a UK release this Winter. Dancing with fate and sharp satire in a world of tight knit families and even tighter political restrictions, the Israeli comedy offers a fresh understanding of grief with imaginative and evocative style. Plus, that dancing scene in the trailer is worth the trip alone.

Mary Poppins Returns

We've been waiting. She's now back. It's not a remake, not a spin-off - everyone's favourite magical nanny graces us from the skies once more as Mary Poppins well and truly returns. A record-breaking 54 years after the original film, Emily Blunt takes on the iconic role for a Christmas to remember. With Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer as grown-up Michael and Jane as well as some casually iconic Mamma Mia stars, it seems almost too good to be true.