London Film Festival 2025 – High Wire, Dreams and Khartoum reviews

More reviews, including a potential global hit with a big East Asian heart…

High Wire – British Chinese ‘Bend It Like Beckham’?

Director: Calif Chong

1 hour 45 mins

THIS could be a surprise global breakout hit – if they can get the marketing right.
It reminds The Bird No1 (SR) of a cross between ‘Billy Elliot’ – ‘High Wire’ is set in Yorkshire and – ‘Bend it like Beckham’; the central British Chinese character of Go-wing (a fine Isabella Wei) is sporty and has big dreams, inspired by her deceased mother.
Yes, it’s very much an underdog story and yes, it’s not a big budget production and yes, it’s a little rough around the edges but boy, does it have heart and it really does have a punch too.
So much of the film is a powerful shout out for diaspora communities everywhere and anywhere – these are folks, especially the first generation who migrate – and will do anything and everything to survive and the let their children, prosper – well, in the fields they think they should.
Go-wing and her Dad run the local Chinese takeaway restaurant in a small Yorkshire village – her Dad (Dominic Lam Kar Wah) works primarily behind, in the kitchen, while Go-wing is front of house answering the phone and taking orders. I think we have all seen this sort of this set up – ‘High Wire’ deals with racism, family homophobia and racial and community stereotypes and it tackles with them gusto, spirit and comedy – even when the characterisation is a little one dimensional, but you can forgive this loads, because its heart is in the right place and there are several scenes that are powerful and moving and memorable.
Go-wing has her roller-skating and one day chances upon a circus in the next village – the creatives there like her roller skating but are essentially high wire artists and think of a way to incorporate the two. Problem is Go-wing’s Dad thinks his daughter is set on being a top notch lawyer and will soon at be uni on her way to The King’s Counsel Bench. She can’t tell him about her dreams and how she is going to pursue them and not the law.
There are several languages in this film, besides English and Cantonese.
Is there artistic triumph? Not necessarily – you will have to watch the film, but deeper truths emerge – Calif Chong (Hong Kong Chinese origin) has a great calling card – she is based here and this is a British film – support it, watch it! And Calif, go conquer the world! haha. Her cinematic energy reminds one of America’s Lulu Wang (‘Expats’, ‘The Farewell’)…
ACV rating: **** (all out of five)

High Wire – today (Friday, October 18) – & Soho Screen 2 6.15pm, 6.30pm Curzon Soho Screen 3

Dreams – Undocumented, desire and treachery

Director: Michel Franco

1 hour 35 mins

STARRING Jessica Chastain and ballet dancer Issac Hernandez, making his feature film debut, this has much to recommend it but be warned it isn’t pleasant viewing in places.
And not meant to be – Franco who wrote this too, weaves a tale of desire, ambition and personal politics into a neat ball then sets about rolling it down a high and steep San Francisco (SF) street…
Jennifer McCarthy is fabulously wealthy heiress, whose job is running a charitable foundation that invests a lot in art. She likes dance-ballet and contemporary and has helped to set up a dance school in Mexico City.
One fine night, she discovers the principal dancer, Fernando (Issac Hernandez) has got into her home in SF – and into her bed.
She seems quite amenable to the latter and two have been well acquainted before – despite the age difference – neither look their age in real life shall we say, and both are beautiful…do we need to say more?
Their affair is torrid and intensely sexual – there’s no romance and actually not a great deal of affection between them – even though both profess to love each other at one point. Or at least Jennifer will say she does.
Fernando is basically undocumented and has broken into the apartment: he dreams of living and working in the US but he can’t and his talent can only take him so far there – he has to head back to Mexico. There is undoing, if we can put it like that. Jennifer will fly in her private jet to be reunited…in Mexico things seem better but Jennifer isn’t going to live there…it’s where the discord begins and grows…
Powerful and nicely done with Franco turning the tables on exploitation, power and desire and putting Jennifer at the centre of all that. Not an easy watch but one that may stay with you. More please, Franco and Chastain who executively produced. ACV rating: ****

LFF screening – Friday (today – October 17) ICA 4.40pm – see listings for ticket information below

Khartoum – Strife, civil war and refugees…

Directors: Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Anas Saeed, Timesa M Ahmed, Phil Cox.

1 hour 38 minutes.

SUDAN and its civil war is not getting the attention it should.
This imaginative, entertaining and original documentary sets about correcting that and does so admirably.
It focuses on five people whose lives will be turned upside down after civil war breaks out in 2023…
These subjects were all filmed in happier times before – and other than the two boys who are plastic bottle pickers on the street, the others are relatively well settled and have a reasonable standard of life.
War upsets all that and they – and the directors (named above) looking after each of these stories – have to flee the violence in Sudan.
The show must go on as they say, they flee to Egypt first to film and each becomes an actor in their own story – they depict what happened and you see their lives before and what it has become.
It shows the resilience and courage of ordinary folks – they are safe for now and not all see their future away from Sudan.
Catch this for its humanity, and inspirational quality – we should remember that refugees sometime (more often actually) end up in countries not a lot richer than the one they fled. Think about that. ACV rating: ****

London Film Festival (October 8-19) – BFI London Film Festival – 8 to 19 October 2025