BFI Player’s April 2026 line-up

It’s an offer you can’t refuse – a season dedicated to trash cinema. One highlight is the 1930s pearl-clutcher Reefer Madness, warning of the evils of addiction. That’s something Sherlock Holmes ignores when solving classic cases in our newly restored dramas, which complement more recent works, exclusive to subscribers, including Rose Byrne coming apart in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You…

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Thundercrack!
United States/1975
One dark and stormy night a group of strangers take refuge in a remote house…what happens next guaranteed this film a place in cinema history.

Plan 9 from Outer Space
United States/1957
Edward D. Wood Jr’s infamous sci-fi film continues to fascinate, long after legions of terrible B movies have been forgotten, for its stark refusal to conform to cinematic language or convention. The unique brainchild of one of cinema’s true outsiders.

Reefer Madness
United States/1936 
This 1930s public information film, an extraordinary combination of paranoia and naivety, was later embraced as an underground classic.

Salvation!
United States/1987
This wild and sleazy satire from Beth B follows a young woman who hooks up with a televangelist to become a heavy-metal Christian rock star. Also stars Viggo Mortensen in an early film role.

Vapors
United States/1965
Set in a New York bathhouse, this gritty portrayal of pre-Stonewall gay life, chronicles an awkward encounter between two strangers.

The Body Beneath
United Kingdom/1970
Vampires rampage around Hampstead in a bewildering, bloody cult horror by low-budget sex-gore auteur Andy Milligan.

Nightbirds
United Kingdom/1970
A sinister story about the doomed relationship of two outcasts living in the squalid East End of London in the early 1970s.

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?
United States/1964 
Ray Dennis Steckler’s masterpiece exists on the very edges of experimental film culture – an unusual, unpredictable story of monster mayhem and hypnotic possession.

The Female Bunch
United States/1971
Al Adamson’s psychedelic low-budget western follows a gang of dangerous drug-smuggling women dishing out their own form of justice.

The Doll Squad
United States/1973 
An elite group of female agents join to form The Doll Squad, with a mission to save the world from a diabolical madman intending to wreak havoc.

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
United States/2025
Subscription exclusive
Rose Byrne gives a mesmerising, Golden Globe-winning performance as an overwhelmed mother, in Mary Bronstein’s nerve-shredding comedy-thriller-horror.

The Hurricane
United States/1999
Norman Jewison’s moving, Oscar-nominated biopic details the life of New Jersey boxer Rubin ‘the Hurricane’ Carter (Denzel Washington) and his 20-year fight for justice.

Jawbone
United Kingdom/2017
Johnny Harris revitalises the British boxing film with this grippingly authentic, BAFTA-nominated ringside saga starring Ray Winstone and Ian McShane.

The Fight
United Kingdom/2018
Jessica Hynes’ directorial debut is a life-affirming lesson in the importance of learning to stand up for yourself.

Fighters
United Kingdom/1991
Raw and nuanced documentary revealing the visceral realities of the boxing world, from groundbreaking director Ron Peck (Nighthawks).

The Voice of Hind Rajab
Tunisia/2025
Subscription exclusive
In January 2024, emergency workers receive a call from five-year-old Hind Rajab, trapped in a car, surrounded by dead bodies, gunfire and Israeli tanks. Using real-life audio recordings, this Oscar-nominated film recreates the desperate mission to save her.

Silent Sherlock: Three Classic Cases
United Kingdom/2025
A major BFI restoration starring Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes in an adaptation of three classic Arthur Conan Doyle cases.

Martyrs
France/2008
A revenge mission leads two young women to the heart of a deranged cult, in Pascal Laugier’s notoriously brutal and unflinching horror.

Trouble Every Day
France/2001
Claire Denis surprised everyone by following up her acclaimed Beau Travail with a cannibal love story starring Béatrice Dalle and Vincent Gallo.

The Chronology of Water
United States/2025
Subscription exclusive
A woman battles addiction and abuse in Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut, an uncompromising depiction of love, trauma and self-expression.

Dig! XX
United States/2024
Ondi Timoner’s cult music documentary returns after 20 years, remastered and extended, to explore rock’s most volatile friendship.