Edinburgh Film Festival 2024: Opening and closing night films, festival highlights and how to get tickets?

• The Edinburgh Film Festival is set to take place from August 15 to August 21 2024. 
• Highlights this year include brand new works from Saorise Ronan, Nina Conti and the UK premiere of “Alien Romulus.”
• Here’s some of the highlights for this year’s festival, and how to get tickets to each screening.

Running parallel to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, the Edinburgh Film Festival returns for a week of programming kicking off with opening night on August 15 2024.

Having been running since 1947, EIFF has welcomed the likes of John Huston and a young Martin Scorsese before they became titans of the film industry, while the festival has also helped nurture future talents such as Stephen Soderbergh and Stephen Frears.

The red carpet events and premieres over the years have also grown in stature, with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Tilda Swinton, Sienna Miller, Michael Douglas and Judd Apatow having all graced the Edinburgh festival with their presence. 

The talent in hand this year is no exception, with a particular focus it would seems once again on films that exist on the borderlines; a retrospective of “28 Days Later,” for example, will no doubt throw out discussions with Alex Garland and Alex MacDonald about how a digital camera was unheard of to shoot with at the time but has now almost become a standard. 

So, ahead of Thursday’s opening night film and festivities - what is the opening night and closing night films at Edinburgh Film Festival this year, and how can you get tickets to some of the highlights we’ve chosen? 

What is the opening night film at the Edinburgh Film Festival 2024?

This year’s opening night film is the seventh instalment in the long-running “Alien” franchise - “Alien Romulus.” Helmed by Fede Alvarez (“Evil Dead,” “Don’t Breathe”), the new film features Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson and Archie Renaux, as is set between both Ridley Scott’s original “Alien” and James Cameron’s equally as spectacular “Aliens.” 

“Alien Romulus” makes its UK premiere at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival, before going on general release in cinemas on August 16 2024. 

What is the closing night film at the Edinburgh Film Festival 2024?

Girls on Film collaborate with the EIFF to bring this year’s closing night film, “Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands;” a revealing documentary tracking the history of Scottish pop from the 1960s to the present via the women who so often have been brushed out of that history.

Featuring musicians, activists, artists and experts, this scrapbook panorama view of Scottish pop music explores the many bands, cliques and movements that emerged in the country across decades and the many challenges faced by incredibly talented women in a male-dominated industry and world.

What are some of the highlights screening at the Edinburgh Film Festival 2024?

Quite a few throughout the festival’s dates this year, including a few times that French-Argentinian director Gaspar Noe will be presenting to the audiences in attendance. He is set to screen what the EIFF programme has called a “surprise film”, while also taking part in one of a number of “In Conversations” taking place during the festival this year. 

He’s also going to be on hand for a big-screen viewing of Dario Argento’s classic horror film, “Suspiria,” long considered one of the most influential horror movies in terms of visual presentation mixed with traditional horror.

Alex Garland and Andrew McDonald will also be at this year’s festival for an “In Conversation” event, with a retrospective screening of Garland’s work “28 Days Later,” directed by Oscar-winner Danny Boyle and featuring another Oscar-winner - 2024 Best Actor recipient Cillian Murphy. 

There is also a UK premiere for Saorise Ronan’s new film, “The Outrun,” described as “a vivid and unflinching adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s wrenching personal memoir of addiction, powered by an extraordinary central performance from Saoirse Ronan.”

“Addicted to hedonism, drink and drugs, a young woman must wrestle with recovery in the remote islands of Orkney whilst reckoning with her complex family history. Powered by a pounding soundtrack, a kinetic visual style and intricate narrative structure, this extraordinarily moving film is redemptive, cathartic and utterly riveting.”

Edinburgh Fringe regular Nina Conti trades treading the boards for sitting in the director’s chair, with the world premiere of her feature film “Sunlight.” A darkly comedic, subversive and uniquely realised road trip film about a monkey, a man and a dead man’s watch.

A woman escaping a toxic relationship ends up on the road in a monkey suit with a man seeking retribution from his dead father.

Those looking for something a little “progressive” might also be interested in the UK premiere of “King Baby,” a surreal comedy about serving others, arrogance, and the slippery nature of power. 

Prompted by a royal vision, a king and his servant carve themselves a queen. After the introduction of this wooden figure, tensions grow as the divisions of power and responsibility between the men begin to crumble.

How do I get tickets to see screenings at the Edinburgh Film Festival 2024?

Tickets to the screenings at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival are currently available now through the festival’s official website, with tickets priced as follows:

General admission:

• Standard: £11
• Concession: £8

Spotlight tickets:

• Standard: £14
• Concession: £11

Pay what you can tickets:

• Option 1: £6
• Option 2: £3

Are you heading along to the Edinburgh Film Festival this year and have you any early highlights you’re looking forward to seeing? Let us know by leaving a comment down below or tell us what film festival’s you’re looking forward to this year.