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.

Join our mailing list and we'll make sure you always know what's on and when.

What else is on?

Today (Saturday 7th November)
Find out more

15:30

Fatherland 12A
1h 22m | German w/ English subtitles
1949: Erika joins her father, Nobel-winning author Thomas Mann, on a literary tour of East and West Germany. Then tragedy strikes the family. From the director of Ida and Cold War, a post-war drama about guilt, love, and a divided country trying to heal.

Book here

Find out more

17:45

By Design 15
1h 31m
Camille envies a showroom chair so much that she swaps places with it, and finds out that everyone likes her better as a chair. Amanda Kramer (Please Baby Please) directs this camp and darkly funny absurdist satire about desire, starring Juliette Lewis.

Book here

Find out more

20:00

The HorMones: The Women Are Here U
40m
The HorMones are Oxford’s over-fifties women’s Punk sensation. Formed in 2023 when most of them couldn’t play their instruments, this nine-piece band - ranging in age from fifty-two to eighty - is now performing their own songs at festivals and attracting international attention.

Book here


Tomorrow (Sunday 8th November)
Find out more

14:30

The Big Heat 15
35mm Film Presentation
1h 29m
35mm: Films On Film
Homicide detective Dave Bannion takes the law into his own hands to bring down a crime syndicate after a fellow cop’s suspicious suicide. Fritz Lang’s 1953 noir is lean, angry and fatalistic, and one of the hardest-boiled films of the era. 35mm Film On Film Presentation.

Book here

Find out more

17:00

NTLive: Golden Boy 12A
2h 36m
Josh O’Connor leads the cast in this searing revival of Clifford Odets’ knockout American classic. Filmed live from the Almeida Theatre, Olivier Award-winner Sam Yates (Vanya) directs this propulsive drama exploring ambition, identity, and the high price of success.

Book here

Find out more

20:30

Fatherland 12A
1h 22m | German w/ English subtitles
1949: Erika joins her father, Nobel-winning author Thomas Mann, on a literary tour of East and West Germany. Then tragedy strikes the family. From the director of Ida and Cold War, a post-war drama about guilt, love, and a divided country trying to heal.

Book here


See all upcoming films

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!

Find out more