Olivier Award-winner Hiran Abeysekera (Life of Pi) is Hamlet in this fearless, contemporary take on Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.
Trapped between duty and doubt, surrounded by power and privilege, young Prince Hamlet dares to ask the ultimate question – you know the one.
National Theatre Deputy Artistic Director, Robert Hastie (Standing at the Sky’s Edge, Operation Mincemeat) directs this sharp, stylish and darkly funny reimagining.
Open Captions
Mike has spent five years living on London’s streets, begging, stealing and eating at charity food trucks. When someone steals what little money he has, his violent response lands him in prison. But this in turn leads to a hostel place, a job, a period of sobriety. Just when it seems that Mike is getting his life back on track, a restorative justice session with his victim which is supposed to be healing and cathartic instead seems to upend him emotionally and undermine his progress. Will Mike manage to regain his equilibrium or spiral back into his old life?
Starring Frank Dillane, Diane Axford, Murat Erkek
Dir Harris Dickinson | UK | 2025 | 99 mins | Rating TBC | English
In a residential shelter for young mothers in Liege, Belgium, five young women grapple with the challenges of pregnancy and parenting, while at the same time dealing with the legacies of their own troubled backgrounds. Whether dealing with their own abusive parents, absentee fathers of their children, recovering from addiction, preparing for the birth of their first child, or getting ready to leave the shelter having succeeded in getting their life back on track, all these women are facing up to the challenges of being a young mother in this emotionally honest social-realist film marked by the Dardenne brothers’ typical no-frills approach.
Starring Babette Verbeek, Elsa Houben, Janaina Halloy
Dirs Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne | France, Belgium | 2025 | 105 mins | Rated 12A | French
An unconventional romantic comedy about a young American photographer and a French woman with a taste for the macabre.
Paul & Paulette’s chance encounter on a Parisian boulevard sparks an unusual relationship that grows around a dark game; reenacting scenes of notorious crimes from bygone eras at the sites they occurred. For Paul, the game is a way of getting closer to Paulette. For Paulette, it’s a way of escaping a painful break-up. As their road trip approaches the more recent past it becomes more uncomfortable, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, but finding a surprising joy in the darker corners of humanity.
Running Time: 1 hour 49 mins Language: English Genre: Comedy Content Warnings: TBC
2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA is the second feature film from the Oscar®-winning team behind 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL — Ukrainian filmmaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning AP journalist Mstyslav Chernov, producer and editor Michelle Mizner and producer Raney Aronson-Rath.
In 2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA, Chernov turns his lens towards Ukrainian soldiers — who they are, where they came from, and the impossible decisions they face in the trenches as they fight for every inch of land.
Amid a failing counteroffensive in 2023, Chernov and his AP colleague Alex Babenko follow a Ukrainian platoon traversing through one mile of a heavily fortified forest on their mission to liberate the small, Russian-occupied village of Andriivka. But as 2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA reveals with haunting intimacy, the farther the soldiers advance through their destroyed homeland, the more they realize that, for them, this war may never end.
Weaving together intensive Ukrainian Army bodycam footage and powerful moments of reflection, Chernov captures the war in his own country from a personal and devastating vantage point. This new film documents a battle emblematic of the broader Russian-Ukraine war — the largest military operation in Europe since World War II — and presents a view of modern warfare reminiscent of battles fought nearly a century ago.
Running Time: 1 hour 46 mins Language: English Genre: Documentary Content Warnings: strong threat, violence, language, images of real dead bodies, flashing images
Elias is a 14-year-old boy living in rural Belgium. His grandad is a farmer nearby, his parents are comfortably off, and Elias lives a normal life, enjoying his first relationship with girlfriend Valerie. When Alex, a boy the same age, moves in next door, Elias is taken aback by how candid Alex is about being gay – and by how attractive he is. As the boys’ friendship develops into something more, they have to handle homophobic bullying at school while Valerie is left to deal with her feelings of rejection, the trials of young love affecting each of them in different ways.
Dirs Anthony Schatteman | Belgium, Netherlands | 2024 | 99 mins | Rated 12A | Dutch, French
Director Xiaorui convinces his cast and crew to resume the shooting of a film halted ten years earlier. In January 2020, with the shoot almost complete, rumours regarding an illness begin to circulate. A hairdresser from Wuhan is sent home, while the crew follows the news on their phones.
The director has to decide whether to halt the filming once again. Some of the crew and actors manage to leave before the hotel is locked down by security guards and everyone left on set is confined to their hotel rooms. As all communication is reduced to phone screens, Wuhan is locked down. The crew continues to communicate via video calls, whilst the quarantined main actor Jiang Cheng struggles to
support his wife who is now locked-down with their month-old baby in Beijing.
This screening is part of Mint on Tour, a women-led Chinese cinema touring programme presented by the MINT Chinese Film Festival and funded by Film Hub North, bringing the best of Chinese film and women’s cinema from Asia across Northern England this Autumn.
Running Time: 1 hour 45 mins Language: Mandarin with English subtitles Genre: Docufiction Content Warnings: moderate threat, violence, upsetting scenes, sex reference, strong language, flashing images
This film screening includes descriptive captions, intended for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. They are also known as HOH (Hard of Hearing) subtitles or SDH (Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing).
An entirely ordinary day on the beds ward of a surgical department. The nursing team is understaffed due to a shortage of personnel. Despite the hectic environment, Floria cares for her patients with expertise and full dedication. Although she gives her all, the shift gradually spirals out of control – until it eventually leads to a dramatic outburst.
Awards & Festivals
Official Selection: Berlin Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, New Zealand Film Festival
“Occasionally schematic, albeit only in the service of pricking our consciences, Petra Volpe’s tense drama is a shot in the arm of undiluted empathy for the over-stretched, under-valued nursing profession.” – Screen International
“The wiry and intense physicality that Benesch brought to her role as a newbie schoolteacher in The Teachers’ Lounge finds new depths in her Late Shift performance… Floria is a full-blooded and beautifully etched character and, yes, a heroine.” – The Hollywood Reporter
“Benesch brings a tough, smart, credible presence.” – The Guardian
Running Time: 1 hour 32 mins Language: German, Turkish, French with English subtitles Genre: Drama Content Warnings: infrequent strong language, upsetting scenes
Donghwa, a poet in his thirties, drops off Junhee, his girlfriend of three years, at her house and marvels at how large it is. He intends to look around the front yard and then leave, but by chance he runs into Junhee’s father, and ends up spending the entire day with Junhee’s family.
From this simple meet the parents premise Hong Sangsoo crafts a deft and moving exploration of sincerity, familial bonds and the value of a life dedicated to art.
Awards & Festivals
Nominee: Golden Bear, Berlin Film Festival
Official Selection: Berlin Film Festival, Karlovy Vary Intl Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival
Running Time: 1 hour 48 mins Language: Korean with English subtitles Genre: Drama
Molly is a young woman released from prison struggles to regain custody of her children. When she bumps into her childhood friend Amina the two women soon realize their only chance is to join forces and take destiny into their own hands.
Awards & Festivals
Official Selection: Edinburgh Film Festival
“★★★★ “Powerful…an impassioned, humane and urgently performed drama.” — The Guardian
“A rousing, emotional wrecking ball in the very best way possible, boasting star-making turns across the board and a story that is guaranteed to stay with you.” – Empire
“Although the emotions in this story are raw, Daisy May-Hudson approaches them with sensitivity and a strong respect for people who are trying hard even if they don’t always succeed.” – Eye For Film
Running Time: 1 hour 40 mins Language: English Genre: Drama Content Warnings: very strong language
Leni Riefenstahl is considered one of the most controversial women of the 20th century as an artist and a Nazi propagandist. Her films TRIUMPH OF THE WILL and OLYMPIA stand for perfectly staged body worship and the celebration of the superior and victorious. At the same time, these images project contempt for the imperfect and weak. Riefenstahl’s aesthetics are more present than ever today – but is that also true for their implied message?
The film examines this question using documents from Riefenstahl’s estate, including private films, photos, recordings and letters. It uncovers fragments of her biography and places them in an extended historical context. How could Riefenstahl become the Reich’s preeminent filmmaker and keep denying any closer ties to Hitler and Goebbels? During her long life after the fall of Nazism, she remained unapologetic, managing to control and shape her legacy. In personal documents, she mourns her “”murdered ideals””. Riefenstahl represents many postwar Germans who, in letters and recorded telephone calls from her estate, dream of an organizing hand that will finally clean up the “”shit-hole state””. Then, her work would also experience a renaissance, in a generation or two this time could come – what if they are right?
Running Time: 1 hour 56 mins Language: German with English subtitles Genre: Documentary Content Warnings: strong real violence, discrimination, sexual violence references
From Director Andrew Ahn comes a joyful comedy of errors about a chosen family navigating the disasters and delights of family expectations, queerness, and cultural identity.
Angela and her partner Lee have been unlucky with their IVF treatments, but can’t afford to pay for another round. Meanwhile, their friend Min, the closeted scion of a multinational corporate empire, has plenty of family money but a soon-to-expire student visa. When his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris rejects his proposal, Min makes the offer to Angela instead: a green card marriage in exchange for funding Lee’s IVF. But their plans to quietly elope are upended when Min’s sceptical grandmother flies in from Korea unannounced, insisting on an all-out wedding extravaganza.
With a pitch-perfect cast of multigenerational talent that includes Bowen Yang, Academy Award nominee Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen, and Academy Award winner Youn Yuh-jung, this fresh reimagining of Ang Lee’s beloved, Award-winning rom-com teems with humour and heart in a poignant reminder that being part of a family means learning to both accept and forgive.
Running Time: 1 hour 43 mins Language: English Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance Content Warnings: strong language and flashing images
Live from The British Library
Join us for a special evening celebrating The Thursday Murder Club from page to screen.
Step into the world of Richard Osman’s beloved, bestselling novel, which follows four irrepressible retirees whose casual sleuthing takes a thrilling turn when they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands. Discover how this much-loved tale has been brought to life in the forthcoming film adaptation, releasing globally on Netflix on Thursday, 28th August.
The film, directed by Chris Columbus (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) and with a screenplay by Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote, features an extraordinary cast including Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie to name just a few.
This is a live screening direct from the British Library.
Silents Synced pairs classic silent movies with epic rock music to bring audiences a unique big screen experience. This reimagining of the iconic Nosferatu (1922) features Radiohead’s Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) albums.
An unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Nosferatu (1922) is the quintessential silent vampire film, crafted by legendary German director F. W. Murnau. Rather than depicting Dracula as a shape-shifting monster or debonair gentleman, Murnau’s Graf Orlok (as portrayed by Max Schreck) is a nightmarish, spidery creature of bulbous head and taloned claws — perhaps the most genuinely disturbing incarnation of vampirism yet envisioned.
Don’t miss out on the chance to experience this imaginative new take on an iconic horror classic!
Whether you’re a movie lover or a rock music fan this is an experience you won’t want to miss!!
Priority booking until 01/08.
Please note this is a recording and not a live, on stage performance.
Love Never Dies continues the story of The Phantom of the Opera. Featuring one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s finest musical scores performed by a 21 piece orchestra, a stunning cast of 36 including Ben Lewis and Anna O’Byrne, over 300 incredible costumes and a magnificent set illuminated by over 5000 dazzling light bulbs.
The year is 1907. It is 10 years after his disappearance from the Paris Opera House and the Phantom has escaped to a new life in New York where he lives amongst the screaming joy rides and freak-shows of Coney Island. In this new electrically-charged world, he has finally found a place for his music to soar. All that is missing is his love – Christine Daaé.
Priority booking until 01/08.
Please note this is a recording and not a live, on stage performance.
Five-time Olivier Award winner Imelda Staunton (The Crown) joins forces with her real-life daughter Bessie Carter (Bridgerton) for the very first time, playing mother and daughter in Bernard Shaw’s incendiary moral classic.
Vivie Warren is a woman ahead of her time. Her mother, however, is a product of that old patriarchal order. Exploiting it has earned Mrs. Warren a fortune – but at what cost?
Filmed live from the West End, this new production reunites Staunton with director Dominic Cooke (Follies, Good), exploring the clash between morality and independence, traditions and progress.
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