Sessions (London Premiere) - LIFF
Running time: 87 mins
Genre: Drama
Directed by: Giles Alderson
Release Date: 09/10/2026
Sessions is a generation defining film, it’s a stark look at how cocaine culture destroyed the mental health of millions of men around the UK. How shame and guilt took those men from their families.
Richie’s (Daniel O'Reilly) life looks picture-perfect: a new wife, a baby on the way, and a loyal best friend who always knows how to turn up the volume. But beneath the surface, Richie is silently drowning. Terrified by the pressures of impending fatherhood and financial strain, he hides his crippling anxiety behind a mask of lad culture—fueling himself with cocaine, whiskey, and denial. When his charismatic best friend Steve (Jonas Armstrong) drags him into a high-stakes property deal with a corrupt developer (Leo Gregory), Richie sees one last shot at fixing his life and proving his worth as a man.
What starts as a quick score turns into a waking nightmare. As the deal unravels, Richie loses his job, his marriage, and his grip on reality. Hunted by a creditor (Rupert Graves) and haunted by his own mind, he spirals through a haze of drugs and paranoia, desperate to hold onto the one person he thinks he can trust. Sessions is a visceral psychological thriller that unmasks the silent epidemic of the male mental health crisis, exploring the devastating cost of toxic enabling, the trauma of unspoken grief, and the urgent, life-saving need for men to finally ask for help.
About London Independent Film Festival
The London Independent Film Festival (LIFF) is devoted to the advancement of first- and second-time filmmakers telling amazing stories with limited budgets. Hosted every spring at the Genesis cinema – repeatedly voted the best cinema in the UK – the October 2026 London Independent Film Festival will screen the work of almost 100 filmmakers from around the world. Stretching over 10 days with numerous industry events, LIFF offers an unmissable opportunity for networking and building collaborations for future projects. It's little wonder that Time Out Magazine has called LIFF "a treasure trove of undiscovered cinematic gems, one of Europe's top indie film fests". With a reputable support system for emerging filmmakers, LIFF includes popular training programs run by industry professionals who understand the ins and outs of moving a filmmaker's career to the next level.
