The 58th BFI London Film Festival kicks off tonight with The Imitation Game, a suspense-filled biopic of British mathematician and cryptographer Alan Turing, cracker of Nazi Germany’s seemingly impenetrable Enigma machine at Bletchley Park during World War Two, father of modern computer science and tragic victim of the era’s anti-homosexuality laws. Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch, no stranger to playing preternaturally brainy outsiders, takes the lead role, with stellar support from Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Mark Strong and Charles Dance. At the helm is Morten Tyldum, maker of the nail-biting corporate espionage thriller Headhunters, yet another Scandinavian director – see, too, Lorne Scherfig with The Riot Club – tackling a quintessentially British subject with aplomb.
The Odeon Leicester Square hosts tonight’s Opening Night Gala at 7pm, with a live satellite link to Cineworld cinemas across the UK and Ireland.
The Imitation Game also screens at the Odeon West End on Thursday 9th October at 3.15pm and Hackney Picturehouse on Friday 10th October at 8.45pm, and goes on general release from Friday 14th November.
To activate the sound in the trailer: hold your cursor over the screen to reveal the control panel and click on the volume control in the bottom right-hand corner.