It has been announced that John Maclean’s Tornado will open this year’s Glasgow Film Festival. The full line-up for this year’s edition has also been revealed. Lionsgate has also confirmed a May 2025 release date for the feature.
Set in the rugged landscape of 1790’s Britain, Tornado (played by model-songwriter K?ki,) finds herself caught in a perilous situation when she and her father’s travelling puppet show crosses paths with a ruthless criminal gang led by Sugarman (Pulp Fiction star Tim Roth) and his ambitious son Little Sugar (Slow Horses’ Jack Lowden). In an attempt to create a new life, Tornado seizes the opportunity to steal the gold from the gang’s most recent heist; what follows is a thrilling tale of adrenaline-fueled action as Tornado fights to escape a violent demise.
Tornado will open the festival on February 26th while Scottish documentary filmmaker Martyn Robertson’s Make It To Munich will close the festival on 9th March.
UK premieres include Ralph Fiennes and Juliet Binoche reuniting in The Return, Jessica Lange and Ed Harris in the star-studded adaptation of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Vicky Krieps in the chilling New Zealand ghost story Went Up The Hill, and music documentaries Peaches Goes Bananas and Desire: The Carl Craig Story
Scottish premiere highlights include Scottish folk horror Harvest shot on location in Argyllshire, Tilda Swinton and George Mackay in the post-apocalyptic musical satire The End, Nicolas Cage in trippy psychological thriller The Surfer, and Glasgow’s James McArdle in the feel-good comedy Four Mothers.
Also getting a world premiere at the festival is the documentary Hill , a family story set against the backdrop of the fastest sport in the world, Formula 1. The film tells the story of how Damon Hill defied the odds and overcame tragedy to step out of his father’s shadow and become a racing legend in his own right.
Other world and international premieres include The Players, a 1990s coming-of-age drama about teenage actor Emily, cast as the youngest member of an avant garde theatre production, and Daniel V Masciari’s debut feature Stationed at Home, following a small-city taxi driver in 1998 awaiting the sight of the International Space Station.
James McAvoy will take part in a talk looking back at his impressive career.
A full list of the films playing at Glasgow this year can be found here.
