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BFI Flare Festival 2025: Every time the BFI Flare Festival comes around, it feels bigger and bolder, and plunges into all sorts of genres with just their LGBTQIA+ flavour linking them. This year’s schedule was chock-full of fun and thrills, and if I hadn’t been struck down with illness halfway through, I would have seen many more features. But as it is, I am giving you my own take on where the festival sits now, through the seven choice cuts that I did see. Enjoy!
FEATURE MOVIES
The Wedding Banquet
Director Andrew Ahn’s 2025 remake of Ang Lee’s much-loved 1983 original was deservedly the festival’s Opening Night Gala. Now set in laidback, artsy Seattle, it’s got a cast to die for, from Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), Kelly Marie Tran (The Last Jedi) and Joan Chen (Hero), to the eternally wonderful Youn Yuh-jung (Minari), it also has the familiar structure of its predecessor – with modernisation and a twist. We are in the heart of the conservative South Asian community in direct collision with the gay community. A lesbian couple are planning their next life stage, with one partner desperate to have a baby, the other less sure.
Two of their gay male friends are also their lodgers, which is where it gets complicated. Would an arranged, ‘straight’ marriage across the couples satisfy conservative expectations back home in Korea for the younger, wealthier one in this quartet, or will this smoke-and-mirrors subterfuge explode in their faces? Add in some alcohol and a drunken night out, infidelity and infertility, plus a sudden visit from the ‘stuffy’ Korean grandmother and you have a recipe for disaster. Role playing gets out of hand when they’re all trying to conform to stereotypes in their different circles, and it’s fun trying to work out how all this can be resolved.
Four Mothers
Another remake – from 2008’s Mid-August Lunch – is beautifully transferred from Italy to Ireland by director Darren Thornton and co-written with his brother Colin Thornton. Starring the always-empathetic James McArdle (as a frustrated writer) and a quartet of the finest Irish actresses – including the mighty Dearbhla Malloy – it pulls at the heartstrings, even as the older women insist that they’re not to be belittled or overlooked. Secret weapon in the film is the bonus casting of Niamh Cusack as the dodgy medium the women consult on their road trip. Containing literal and emotional journeys, the plot reveals itself gradually, but it’s more of a mood, revealing itself as a movie you want to hug close like a comfort blanket, with sharp wit and gentle charm obviously relished by the expert cast.
Departures
This unexpected delight from Manchester was directed by Lloyd Eyre-Morgan and Neil Ely, and stars the latter in a very personal and at times outrageously funny drama. Hand on heart, I wasn’t sure this would be up my street at all, and how wrong I was. Guffaws, guilt, lust, longing, raw emotion, intoxication, toxic masculinity and the complexities of just living are laid bare across two main locations, away in Amsterdam and back home in two guys’ very different existences in northern towns. It’s presented episodically, almost cartoonishly, punctuated by witty graphics dividing up scenes and baldly describing the situation. Using ‘Peep Show’-style POV in split screen, crammed with cultural references and underscored with a banging soundtrack makes it feel even fresher, despite the lead character’s propensity for falling for wrong ‘uns.
Summer’s Camera
Pictured above, this sweet Korean first love story comes from Divine Sung, who also wrote the screenplay. It’s the classic tale of teen nerd falls for jock – but in this case serious swot Summer is instantly besotted by another girl at her school, footballer Yeonwoo, who already has hordes of adoring fans. Intertwined with their romance is the mystery of Summer’s late father’s camera – and the final roll of film within. When she gets it developed, she discovers an unfamiliar person in the photos, who she strives to track down. Will this bring her closer to her beloved dad, perhaps even connect them and soften her grief? Can she hide the revelations from her mother? The viewer is as anxious on the journey as Summer herself, as secrets are revealed in the midst of her teen crush and inevitable heartbreak, and she is given sage advice: “when you come face to face with it, the fear fades away.”
DOCUMENTARIES
You can usually find something off the beaten track and edgier if you explore the documentaries in any film festival. BFI Flare Festival 2025 is no exception.
How To Live
Focusing on the scene in Nairobi, Kenya, this episodic doc comes from debut filmmaker Njoroge Muthoni. The key message for all the drag artists here is to live without fear, and memorable phrases pepper the feature, including “joy is like catastrophe, you can’t build a wall against it.” Voguing and lip syncing are celebrated by audiences at floor shows that mash up and combine cabaret, burlesque and karaoke. The strength of the more contemplative, spoken parts of the film reveals more depth than the glamorous performance scenes, and maybe it needs more structure, as it’s almost two different films vying for attention. Away from the costumes and attitude we hear of men not taught how to build friendships, plus the sharp observation that “this should be a podcast!” Lots of promise here though…
LATIN LOVERS
The Pleasure Is Mine
This Argentine feature from director-screenwriter Sacha Amaral focuses on a transient, restless drifter, Antonio (Max Suen), who casually steals from his casual lovers, male and female. There are snapshots of the hustler’s encounters with his customers, adding up to a character study of a young man who only seems to live in the present. And here he’s trapped by his desires, yet lacks love and enough money to get by. Meanwhile he leaves a trail of those he’s fallen out with in his wake.
Night Stage
Jointly directed and written by Filipe Matzembacher and Marsio Reolon, this is their follow-up to Hard Paint (2018) and made an incredibly vivid choice for the festival’s Closing Night Gala. Beautifully shot and lit, this erotic Brazilian drama constantly gives the protagonists – and the viewers – the feeling of being on the edge of danger. The two central characters – an actor and a politician – are elegantly portrayed, and their characters are gradually revealed by their relationship in daring situations. There’s an obvious power dynamic at play even as they flirt and become emotionally entwined. Young actor Matias (Gabriel Faryas, exceptional) and businessman and would-be mayor Rafael (Cirillo Luna) get off on the very idea of getting caught where they shouldn’t be. Secondary plots of onstage rivalries and political shenanigans underline that both men are on an upward trajectory in their careers. But like Icarus, they seem compelled to fly too close to the sun, as they indulge in outdoor sex. The added layer of thriller and betrayal makes this a satisfying movie, with Faryas one to watch.
That’s the best of the BFI Flare Festival 2025! Can’t wait for next year’s Flare festival!