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14 Jan Perfect Days
Wim Wenders / Japan, Germany 2023 / 125 min / Cert PG / Subtitles
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Wenders’ best film since Wings of Desire is a heart-warming Oscar-nominated drama which finds beauty and serenity in the everyday. Kôji Yakusho won Best Actor in Cannes for his portrayal of Hirayama, a fastidious, solitary man who takes pride in his work as a toilet cleaner and finds joy through music (his collection of classic rock and pop cassettes), reading (second-hand paperbacks), photography (film camera) and trees. Perfect Days is a gentle and quietly profound character study of an analogue man in a digital world, a love letter to Tokyo and a case for leading a simpler way of life.
21 Jan Challengers
​Luca Guadagnino / USA, Italy 2024 / 131 min / Cert 15
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Following a triangle of relationships between tennis prodigies, Challengers vividly communicates the pains and gains of the professional tennis circuit, with a brilliantly innovative soundtrack. Josh O’ Connor captures the charisma of talented but wayward Patrick; Mike Faist exemplifies boyhood buddy Art’s dogged discipline; Zendaya personifies beautiful Tashi’s talent, discipline and love for the game (that treats her cruelly). We see the single-mindedness of elite athletes – attractive maybe but not necessarily nice or loveable? Former world Top-10 player Andrea Petkovic wrote: “It’s not the best movie I have ever seen. But it is the best tennis movie. Maybe even the best sports movie. Sorry, Moneyball”
28 Jan IO Capitano
Matteo Garrone / Italy/Belgium/France 2023 / 122 min / Cert 15 / Subtitles
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Seydou and Mousa, two Senegalese teenagers seduced by the promise of a better, more exciting time in Europe, embark on a journey across Africa toward the Mediterranean Sea. They face a series of grave hardships including a dangerous trek across open desert and potentially deadly encounters with counterfeiters, thieves and traffickers. Bustling with energy, with vivid details from the director's research and the real-life experiences of former migrants, and in turn both horrifying and beautiful, this timely film was Oscar nominated for best international feature. The central actor, Seydou Sarr, won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor at the Venice Film Festival.
4 Feb Juror #2
Clint Eastwood / USA 2024 / 114 min / Cert 12A
An excitingly tense drama, in which recovering alcoholic and father-to-be Justin (Nicholas Hoult) is a reluctant murder trial juror. It soon becomes clear he’s more involved in the case than expected.  Both he and the prosecuting attorney (Toni Collette) gradually realise they face moral dilemmas in balancing their own fates and interests – family or career – against the defendant’s. The stellar supporting cast includes Zoey Deutch, Kiefer Sutherland and JK Simmons. “If this is to be Eastwood’s swansong, it’s a fitting one: a thrillingly watchable legal thriller about truth, justice and (for better and for worse) the American way, as told by an all-American icon” Empire
11 Feb Àma Gloria
Marie Amachoukeli-Barsacq / France 2023 / 84 min / Cert 12A / Subtitles
Six-year-old Cléo (Louise Mauroy-Panzani) loves her nanny Gloria more than anything. When Gloria must suddenly return to Cape Verde to care for her own children, Cléo makes her promise that they will see each other very soon. Gloria invites Cléo to her island and the two must make the most of their last summer together in this simple story of love and loss. The charming performance by the child star in this gentle French drama is guaranteed to steal your heart. “It is a beautiful film, full of humanity and experience” Guardian
18 Feb The Room Next Door
Pedro Almodóvar / Spain, USA 2024 / 107 min / Cert 12A
Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become an autofiction novelist while Martha became a war reporter. After years of being out of touch, Ingrid learns that Martha has been diagnosed with a rare cancer. Having been unexpectedly reunited under difficult circumstances they become almost inseparable. “In his English-language feature debut, director Almodóvar returns to the theme of aging with the sensitivity and psychological depth that has defined his finest films.” Alan Zilberman, Washington City Paper
4 Mar Lee
Ellen Kuras / UK 2024 / 117 min / Cert 15
Kate Winslet gives a powerhouse performance as the iconic Lee Miller, in a film that will stay with you long afterwards. Lee takes a captivating look at Miller’s incredible life, the fashion model, artists’ muse and socialite, turned ground-breaking photographer and war correspondent. The film captures the extraordinary, sometimes devastating events that she witnessed and the emotional toll they took on her. The storytelling is gripping and moving, offering a deep look into resilience, art, and humanity in the face of turmoil and atrocities. “Lee is beautiful, daring and elusive, as all great art should be”, Andy Howell, Film Threat.
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11 Mar My Favourite Cake
Maryam Moghadam, Behtash Sanaeeha / Iran 2024 / 97 min / Cert 12A / Subtitles
This sweet and funny film looks at love, loss, loneliness and old age. Mahin is a widow whose daughter and grandchildren live abroad and her lonely life is shown in beautifully compressed tableaux. One day she meets her friends for tea and meets someone who makes her feel alive again. Faramarz is a personable, single man and emotional connection manifests itself when she offers to bake him her favourite cake. “Plans have a way of going awry in this lovely, intimate, tragicomic tale of late-blooming love in the shadow of Iran’s repressive regime. In its gentle way, this is a subversive piece of filmmaking” Observer
18 Mar A Complete Unknown
James Mangold / USA 2025 / 141 min / Cert 15
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In 1965 at Newport Festival a 19-year-old from Minnesota shakes up the world of folk music by going electric and becoming the voice of his generation. A sure contender for an Academy Award, Timothee Chalamet stars as Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown, supported by Edward Norton and Elle Fanning. The biopic comes with a seal of approval from the great man himself, who also granted music rights to Mangold for the movie. “Chalamet delivers the performance of the year…. the film is a true tour de force” Scott Menzel, Variety Magazine
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25 Mar Hard Truths
Mike Leigh / UK 2025 / 97 min / Cert 12A
This expansive film from a master dramatist and legendary filmmaker Mike Leigh returns to familiar ground with a fierce, compassionate, and often darkly humorous study of family and the thorny ties that bind us. Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets and Lies) gives an exceptional performance as Pansy, a woman wracked by fear, tormented by afflictions, and prone to raging tirades against her husband, son, and anyone who looks her way. The contrast between Pansy and her easy-going younger sister Chantal, who brims with communal warmth, provides a backdrop to the way that we still find ways to love those we call family.
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1 Apr The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre de La Patellière, Matthew Delaporte / France 2024 / 178 min /Cert 12 / Subtitles
In this latest adaptation of the epic tale, Pierre Niney (Yves St Laurent, 2014) plays the role of Edmond Dantes who becomes the target of a sinister plot. He is arrested on his wedding day for a crime he did not commit. After 14 years in the island prison of Château d'If, he manages a daring escape. Now rich beyond his dreams, he assumes the identity of the Count of Monte-Cristo and exacts his revenge on the three men who betrayed him. This visually stunning and fast-moving period drama, with its energetic script and action sequences keeps the audience engaged throughout.
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8 Apr We Live in Time
John Crowley / UK 2024 / 109 min / Cert 15
A time-hopping romantic comedy drama in which chef, Almut (Florence Pugh), and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) are brought together in a surprise encounter that changes their lives. Through snapshots of their life together, falling for each other, building a home, becoming a family - a difficult truth is revealed that rocks its foundation. As they embark on a path challenged by the limits of time, they learn to cherish each moment of the unconventional route their love story has taken, in filmmaker John Crowley's decade-spanning, deeply moving romance. The excellent performances and palpable chemistry of the two leads, together with the non-linear narrative and a willingness to tackle complex issues beyond joy and tragedy, raise this film above the expectations of the genre, making it a smart and mature crowd-pleaser.
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15 Apr All We Imagine As Light
Payal Kapadia / India 2024 / 118 min / Cert 15 / Subtitles
Three women navigate life in the urban sprawl of modern-day Mumbai. Stoic and dutiful Prabha is estranged from her husband, who moved to Germany shortly after their arranged marriage. Anu, her impulsive flatmate, is pursuing a secret relationship with a young Muslim man. Meanwhile, the home of their older, widowed colleague Parvaty is under threat of demolition. First ever Indian winner of the 2024 Grand Prix at Cannes, this is a portrait of Mumbai crafted with exquisite delicacy. "The best reviewed film of the year” The Criterion Collection
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13 May Small Things like These
Tim Mielants / Ireland 2024 / 97 min / Cert 12A
Based on Claire Keegan’s Booker nominated novel of the same name, Cillian Murphy plays a coal merchant living in 1980s Ireland, who discovers a Magdalene laundry operating in his town. Directed by Tim Mielants and starring Emily Watson the film shines a light on both our human ability to look the other way but also on the moral courage needed to act when confronted by evil.“With Cillian Murphy’s quiet, almost small and yet grand performance carrying the story every step of the way, “Small Things Like These” is quite possibly the best movie I’ve seen so far this year.” Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times.
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20 May Conclave
Edward Berger / UK 2024 / 120 min / Cert 12A
This thrilling and thought-provoking film is based on Robert Harris' book. Ralph Fiennes is on sumptuous form as the deeply troubled Cardinal Lawrence at the centre of a murky Vatican plot. When the Pope unexpectedly dies the Cardinal has the task of running one of the world's most secretive and ancient events, that of selecting the new Pope. The Roman Catholic Church's most powerful leaders are locked together in the Vatican halls and here Lawrence uncovers a trail of secrets left in the dead Pope's wake, secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church.