The programme for the 77th Edinburgh International Film Festival has been launched. A total of 37 feature films, and a full programme of short films will play across the six days of the festival, which runs from Thu 15 to Wed 21 Aug. Our managing editor Kevin Ibbotson-Wight has cast his eye over the programme and these 10 films have caught his eye. From big-budget sci-fi, through Cannes-bothering body horror, to sombre drama and tiny budget character pieces; from household names and respected international filmmakers, to talented newcomers, there’s an embarrassment of riches. 

The Outrun (Nora Fingscheidt/ UK, Germany/ 2024/ 118 mins). The Opening Gala film may be the obvious choice for a preview, but The Outrun is a mouthwatering prospect. Adapted from Amy Liptrot‘s memoir of a troubled woman returning to the Orkney Islands where she grew up, it features the reliably great Saoirse Ronan with a central performance that’s been hoovering up superlatives wherever it’s been screened. It’s also helmed by talented German director Nora Fingscheidt, who made the superb, almost unbearably stressful care system drama System Crasher. Add the gorgeous backdrop of the Orkneys and a talented supporting cast featuring the likes of Stephen Dillane, Saskia Reeves, and Paapa Essiedu and we’re in must-see territory.

Alien: Romulus (Fede Alvarez/ USA/ 2024/ 120 mins). The quality of the Alien franchise has been mixed since the indisputable brilliance of the first two instalments. Happily, Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) is stepping up to the plate with an offering set between the events of Alien and Aliens, suggesting a certain stripping back of the more portentous tones of recent entries. The trailer suggests it will lean more towards the action-orientated sequel than Ridley Scott’s original, but let’s be honest, if you’re even remotely interested in horror, you’re going to check this out. That 18 Certificate is tantalising as well.

The Substance (Coralie Fargeat/ USA, UK/ 2024/ 140 mins) It might have been odd to see such a bold, outrageous horror as The Substance in competition for the prestigious Palme d’Or had Julia Ducournau‘s bugnuts Titane not sped off the prize a few years earlier, suggesting an unlikely embracing of genre on the Croisette. By any measure The Substance is as far from the tasteful winners of Cannes legend as you could imagine. Demi Moore goes for high camp as a woman who goes to extreme lengths to remain a star in the ageist, misogynist realms of Hollywood. There’s a hint of a Faustian pact, a bit of Death Becomes Her, and a lot of gore in this satirical body horror that feels like Maps to the Stars made by 1980s Cronenberg instead of 2010s Cronenberg. Coralie Fargeat’s previous film was the ferocious Revenge, so expect more style than subtlety.

To Kill A Wolf (Kelsey Taylor/ USA/ 2024/ 92 mins) A more unknown quantity now, with the debut feature from Kelsey Taylor receiving its World Premiere at EIFF. Taylor reimagines Little Red Riding Hood as a troubling exploration of trauma and redemption as a social pariah discovers a teenage girl alone in the Oregon forests. She has run away from her abusive uncle and an ambiguous relationship builds between the two as he tries to help her find a way home. Little Red Riding Hood is a malleable fable, but serving as an allegory for sexual abuse is a bold, grim utilisation of the story. A delicate, nuanced hand is required with this kind of material, but To Kill A Wolf has the promise to be something really powerful.

A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things (Mark Cousins/ UK/ 2024/ 89 mins) Mark Cousins’ new documentary seeks to foreground a relatively obscure figure in British art. Wilhelmina Barns-Graham was born in St Andrews and had a long career as a modernist landscape painter, establishing herself in St Ives in Cornwall. Cousins focuses on a seminal moment in her life: a 1949 hike to the Grindelwald Glacier in Switzerland. There she was bewitched by the rock and ice formations, and they would become a motif in her work for decaes to come. Cousins narrates in his own familiar style, with assistance from regular collaborator Tilda Swinton. A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things won the top prize at Karlovy Vary film festival, and is sure to be another distinctive and thoughtful work from the prolific Cousins.

Steppenwolf (Adilkhan Yerzhanov/ Kazakhstan/ 2024/ 102 mins) Unfortunately, if you think about Kazakhstan and cinema you’re going to think about Borat. Adilkhan Yerzhanov is out to change that, although Steppenwolf is unlikely to be any more of a hit with the Kazakh tourist board. It’s an uncompromising take on the classic tropes of the Western and the Samurai film. In a bleak, dystopian landscape a woman searches for her missing son amid the chaos of a civil war. She encounters a brutal, corrupt investigator who will use any means necessary to locate the missing boy. With the title directly referencing the classic Herman Hesse novel of alienation and inner turmoil expect some dark musings on the beastly nature of man, although propelled by a beating maternal heart.

Timestalker (Alice Lowe/ UK/ 2024/ 105 mins) Alice Lowe’s long-awaited sophomore feature is a sci-fi romcom that sees a woman pursuing her true love across the centuries. Agnes (Lowe) falls for and loses her reincarnated beau in 1680s Scotland, 1790s rural England, 1980’s Manhattan, and an apocalyptic 22nd century. The title suggests that all is not as it seems, and that perhaps Agnes’ love isn’t entirely reciprocated. A strong cast of familiar faces like Aneurin Barnard, Kate Dickie, Nick Frost, and Tanya Reynolds play supporting roles in this offbeat love story that sounds like a less po-faced spin on Aronofsky’s The Fountain.

Fugue (Bénédicte Liénard, Mary Jiménez/ Belgium, France, Netherlands, Peru/ 2024/ 89 mins) A young Peruvian Indian takes a trek into the Amazon to bury his lover in her home village. Bénédicte Liénard and Mary Jiménez’s poetic drama slowly fills in the details of the young woman’s troubled past as the grieving partner undergoes a broken heart of darkness into the jungle. This deliberately-paced World Premiere is the latest in a line of indigenous South American stories like Embrace of the Serpent and Sorcery that deal with past trauma in isolated communities. If it approaches the quality of those films Fugue could be an arthouse breakout.

Gala & Kiwi (Axel Cheb Terrab/ Argentina/ 2024/ 117 mins) Two old friends reunite after several years and discover they perhaps should have remained estranged in this World Premiere from Axel Cheb Terrab. An example of what can be done with a tiny budget, Gala & Kiwi takes a barebones premise and relies on script, performances, and dynamic camerawork to slowly build a series of revelations that rock the pair’s friendship to its foundations. A film of specificity that should nevertheless resonate with anyone who has been part of that kind of complicated friendship.

Mongrel (Wei Liang Chiang, Aimee Yin/ France, Singapore, Taiwan/ 2024/ 128 mins) This glacial drama examines various strata of the exploited and abused in Taiwan. Oom (Wanlop Rungkumjad) is an undocumented care worker looking after the disabled and elderly. If the care system suffers from its privatisation in the UK, imagine what it would be like when the industry means easy profits for ruthless gangs. Oom finds himself in an impossible situation, torn between the demands of his hideous boss (Yu-hong Hong) and the dignity of his charges. Subtle and humane, Mongrel is one that’s sure to reward patience.

Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from Thu 15 Aug to Wed 21 Aug 2024