Jennifer Lawrence‘s Performance Fuels Oscar Buzz at London Film Festival
LONDON – Early contenders for the 2025 Academy Awards are already emerging from the 2024 London Film Festival, with Lynne Ramsay‘s latest film generating meaningful attention for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance. Ramsay brings a “gothic realist steam heat” to the study of a woman grappling with postpartum depression, played by Lawrence in a role reminiscent of Gena Rowlands’ work for John cassavetes. lawrence’s character is left alone with a baby while her husband, played by Robert Pattinson, is frequently absent.
The festival also showcased a range of other compelling films. Kaouther Ben Hania’s docufictional movie, recounting the tragic story of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab, who was killed during a 2024 assault in Gaza, moved audiences to tears at Venice. The film utilizes the real audio recording of Rajab’s desperate pleas for help to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
Elsewhere, Kelly Reichardt presents an art heist with a twist, starring Josh O’Connor as a non-heroic art school dropout who funds a bizarre scheme to steal paintings from a local gallery. Claire Foy leads an adaptation of a classic nature-writing memoir, portraying a woman who trains a goshawk to cope with grief after her father’s death.
Iranian director Jafar Panahi, a democracy campaigner facing ongoing harassment from authorities, won the Cannes Palme d’Or this year with a satirical suspense film exploring state violence and revenge. The film centers on a mechanic who seeks retribution against a man involved in a hit-and-run accident.
