You Will Die at Twenty12A

Directed by Amjad Abu Alala | Sudan | 2019 | 1h 42m | Arabic w/ English subtitles | Starring Mustafa Shehata, Islam Mubarak, Bonna Khalid

A young man growing up in a small Sudanese village is haunted by a holy man’s prediction that he will die when he turns twenty. Dubbed ‘the son of death’ and bullied by local children, he finds himself torn between a desire to live and accepting his fate. Amjad Abu Alala’s striking coming-of-age debut’s won the Lion of the Future Award at 2019’s Venice Film Festival and is Sudan’s first-ever submission to the Oscars.

Reviews

‘The film is a parable about the dangers of blind faith in religion and authority, but it’s also warmly compassionate and accepting of human nature.’
★★★★
Cath Clarke, The Guardian

‘Spirited and philosophical…Its quiet profundity strikes you hours, days after viewing.’
★★★★
David Jenkins, Little White Lies

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed You Will Die at Twenty between December 11, 2021 and December 19, 2021.

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What else is on?

Today (Friday 27th March)

15:15

The President's Cake 12A
1h 45m | Arabic w/ English subtitles
During 1990s Iraq, schoolgirl Lamia is chosen by her class to bake a birthday cake for Saddam Hussein. With her pet rooster beside her she searches the town for ingredients in an award-winning debut about childhood resilience and life under dictatorship.

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17:45

Sinners 15
2h 18m
Twin brothers seek a fresh start in their 1930s Southern hometown but uncover an evil lurking beneath the surface. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan reunite for this chilling supernatural thriller set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow-era South.

Book here

20:45

Sirāt 15
1h 54m | Spanish, French & Arabic w/ English subtitles
Oliver Laxe’s intense, hallucinatory road movie follows a father and son through Morocco as they try to find a missing relative at various sprawling, illegal raves. Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival 2025.

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Tomorrow (Saturday 28th March)

14:15

Sound of Falling 18
2h 35m | German w/ English subtitles
Across the twentieth century four teenage girls spend their youth in the same farmhouse decades apart, yet their lives echo each other. German director Mascha Schilinski interweaves generations of girlhood, revealing loneliness and lost innocence across a turbulent century.

Book here

17:45

Sirāt 15
1h 54m | Spanish, French & Arabic w/ English subtitles
Oliver Laxe’s intense, hallucinatory road movie follows a father and son through Morocco as they try to find a missing relative at various sprawling, illegal raves. Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival 2025.

Book here

20:30

Sinners 15
2h 18m
Twin brothers seek a fresh start in their 1930s Southern hometown but uncover an evil lurking beneath the surface. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan reunite for this chilling supernatural thriller set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow-era South.

Book here


Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!