The BFI today announces a new season celebrating the vivid visual language, heightened dramatics and emotional pathos at the heart of film melodrama, inviting film audiences to follow their emotions. United by their emotion driven plots, vivid visual language and self-conscious audience manipulation, these films are designed to make you break down in tears, cause a scene, fall in love, feel something. Presented by the BFI at BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX and by the BFI Film Audience Network (BFI FAN) using funds from the National Lottery at cinemas and venues across the UK, Too Much will take place from October to December 2025 via programmes of special events, talks and screenings. Too Much will also be available UK-wide online via a curated collection of films available to stream on demand on BFI Player.
The season will explore the world of melodrama through the ages, with films ranging from cult classics to lesser-known international gems. Melodrama is steeped in contradiction. Swooningly romantic, people fall in love at first sight, sacrifice their lives in acts of devotion, find one another across space and time. Simultaneously they are grounded in the trappings of reality: rigid class boundaries, threat of punishment, and fear of scandal loom at every corner. The characters in these films are culturally diverse, from different generations and social backgrounds, but endlessly human and relatable. Their stories shed light on injustice and oppression…