BFI London Film Festival 2026: Which LGBTQ+ movies are showing this year?
With films featuring Sir Ian McKellen, Kit Connor and Andrew Scott, queer cinema is a standout at this year’s BFI London Film Festival
By Aaron Sugg
The BFI London Film Festival is bringing a diverse selection of LGBTQ+ stories to the big screen this year, spanning queer romance, trans identity and the AIDS crisis.
2026 marks the 70th anniversary of the BFI London Film Festival, which starts on 7 October 2026 with Andrew Scott in Elsinore leading the event and closes with Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut on 18 October.
Elsinore tells the true story of Ian Charleson (Scott), the acclaimed gay actor who prepared to play Hamlet at London’s National Theatre while fighting an AIDS-related illness. He passed away at the age of 40 on 6 January 1990.
BAFTA-nominated Simon Stone directed the film, written by BAFTA winner and Golden Globe nominee Stephen Beresford, with Scott producing the project.
BFI London Film Festival 2026 queer films
Beyond the opening film, the festival’s queer selection is something truly magnificent, exploring the many different ways LGBTQ+ lives and experiences can be represented on screen.
One of the major titles is The Man I Love, directed by Ira Sachs, who continues his exploration of New York life with a tender portrait of the city’s gay scene in the 1980s.
Rami Malek stars as Jimmy George, an artist driven by his passions, alongside Tom Sturridge as his boyfriend Dennis. Set against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis, the film explores love, community and artistic expression at a time when the shadow of the epidemic lingered.
Sir Ian McKellen and Roger Allam star in Frank and Percy
Also exploring queer love is Frank and Percy, directed by Sean Mathias and starring Sir Ian McKellen and Roger Allam. The pair play two older men who meet while walking their dogs on Hampstead Heath.
What begins as an unlikely friendship gradually develops into something more tender, offering a warm-hearted look at romance and connection later in life. The film also features Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley, Derek Jacobi, Ncuti Gatwa and Siân Phillips.
Trans representation
Trans stories are also at the heart of this year’s selection. Harvey Zielinski’s Sweet Milk Lake follows Jake, a young trans man who returns to see his estranged, dying father. When his father mistakes him for his cisgender twin brother, Jake chooses not to correct him.
As part of the BFI Flare Special Presentation, Sweet Milk Lake adds another perspective to the festival’s growing collection of trans stories.
BFI London Film Festival 2026: The full list of LGBTQ+ films
- The Man I Love by Ira Sachs | starring Rami Malek, Tom Sturridge
- Frank and Percy by Sean Mathias | starring Roger Allam, Sir Ian McKellen, Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley, Derek Jacobi, Ncuti Gatwa, Siân Phillips
- Elsinore by Simon Stone | starring Andrew Scott, Olivia Colman, Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn, Juliet Stevenson, Adeel Akhtar, Peter Mullan
- Coward by Lukas Dhont | starring Valentin Campagne, Emmanuel Macchia, Willem De Schryver, Boris Bouchat
- A Long Winter by Andrew Haigh | starring Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Kit Connor, Martin Freeman, Caitríona Balfe
- Sweet Milk Lake by Harvey Zielinski | starring Harvey Zielinski
- Queer Edward II by Theo Rollason | featuring Derek Jarman and Seamus McGarvey
- MASC by Bertil Nilsson | starring Joshua Griffin, Tega Alexander, Ed White and Reece King
- La Bola Negra by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo | starring Penélope Cruz and more
- Animol by Ashley Walters | starring Tut Nyuot, Stephen Graham
- Black Church Bay by Rhys Marc Jones | starring Tom Cullen, Joe Locke
- Easter by Mokya Shin | starring Saekja, Jinhyo Lim and Rosemary