BFI Player’s December 2025 line-up

We top and tail the month with stories of seedy London, old and new, featuring Bob Hoskins and Harris Dickinson. Between them come dancing girls and pharaohs alongside prisoners and kings. Add cult sci-fi and ancient mutiny, and the year ends well for devotees of world cinema.

Mona Lisa
1986/United Kingdom
An ungainly cockney chauffeur navigates the seedy streets of London, gradually falling for the elegant and mysterious prostitute who is his passenger.

Showgirls
1995/United States
Reviled upon its release, now reclaimed as a cult classic — one can only submit to the trash-tastic delights of Paul Verhoeven’s erotic disasterpiece.

Scrubbers
1982/United Kingdom
1980s borstal drama – billed as the female Scum – featuring Amanda York and Kathy Burke as inmates in a ruthless women’s prison.

La Reine Margot
1994/France
Sumptuous historical drama starring Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Auteuil; a thunderous yarn full of dastardly plots, familial hatred and perverse desire.

Desire: The Carl Craig Story
2024/Switzerland
Subscription exclusive
An intimate portrait of legendary techno producer, DJ and record label creator Carl Craig and an ode to his beloved city, Detroit.

Pharaoh
1966/Poland
Dazzling epic in which the young Pharaoh Ramses XIII clashes with Egypt’s clergy over influence on the affairs of the state and its coffers.

Je t’aime, je t’aime
1968/France
A mysterious time-travel experiment becomes a warped voyage through memory in this mesmerising sci-fi from acclaimed director Alain Resnais.

Chicken Town
2025/United Kingdom
Subscription exclusive
Two old schoolfriends join forces with an elderly neighbour to fence a shed full of weed in this sprightly, easy-going British comedy.

Battleship Potemkin (Pet Shop Boys score)
1925/USSR
Subscription exclusive
Marking the centenary of Sergei Eisenstein’s landmark film, with a thrilling score by the Pet Shop Boys.

The Ice Storm
1997/United States
An impressive ensemble cast populate Ang Lee’s riveting portrait of family life in 1970s America.

Les Amants du Pont-Neuf
1991/France
A homeless addict (Denis Lavant) and a young painter (Juliette Binoche) with failing eyesight forge a bond on the streets of Paris.

Dragon’s Return
1968/Czechoslovakia
A reclusive potter nicknamed ‘Dragon’, exiled from his isolated homestead, returns years later, aiming to win back the trust of the villagers.

Eureka
2023/France
Subscription exclusive
Multi-stranded meditation on the experiences of indigenous communities across the Americas, from Argentinian filmmaker Lisandro Alonso.

Daughters of Darkness
1971/Belgium
A newlywed couple is entangled by the spellbinding aura of a vampire in Harry Kümel’s seductive horror.

Malpertuis
1971/Belgium
Orson Welles stars in this labyrinthine mythological fantasy set in a baroque mansion, from the director of Daughters of Darkness.

Godland
2022/Denmark
Breathtakingly inventive and ambitious historical epic about a young Danish priest travelling to a remote Icelandic outpost to establish a church.

Urchin
2025/United Kingdom
Subscription exclusive
The debut feature from actor Harris Dickinson sees a homeless addict get a shot at recovery and redemption.