The 65th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express is delighted to announce that this year’s American Express Headline Gala will be The Power of the Dog, directed by Oscar & Palme d’Or winning filmmaker Jane Campion. The film will receive its UK premiere on Monday 11 October at LFF gala venue the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, with Campion expected to attend along with key cast.

Adapted for the screen by Campion & based on the 1967 novel by Thomas Savage, the film features a fantastic international cast with Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch & Jesse Plemons playing the Burbank brothers, alongside Kirsten Dunst & Kodi Smit-McPhee. A See-Saw Films, Bad Girl Creek & Max Films production in association with Brightstar, The New Zealand Film Commission, Cross City Films & BBC Film, the film is produced by Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning & Roger Frappier. The film was developed with BBC Film, and will debut on Netflix later in the year following a theatrical release in UK cinemas.

The Power of the Dog is the story of Phil Burbank, played by Cumberbatch, a charismatic rancher who inspires fear & awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife & her son, Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love.