Alpha18

Directed by Julia Ducournau | France | 2025 | 2h 8m | French w/ English subtitles | Starring Mélissa Boros, Tahar Rahim, Golshifteh Farahani, Emma Mackey, Finnegan Oldfield

Rebellious teenager Alpha lives with her single mother, a doctor who runs an at-home practice treating patients afflicted by a strange new blood disease, one that slowly turns the infected to marble. When Alpha returns home from a party, drunk and sporting a fresh tattoo, her mother fears the worst: that her daughter may be infected. Palme d’Or–winning director Julia Ducournau (Titane) fuses body horror with a haunting coming-of-age story, creating a visceral exploration of love and the fragile intensity of family bonds.

Reviews

‘[Ducournau] has found a new way to talk about memory, trauma, addiction and illness — sometimes baffling but always striking.’
★★★★
Ed Potton, The Times

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Alpha between December 13, 2025 and December 18, 2025.

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What else is on?

Today (Wednesday 25th March)

14:30

One Battle After Another 15
2h 41m
A paranoid ex-revolutionary and his daughter are forced into confrontation when an old nemesis returns. Leonardo DiCaprio stars in Paul Thomas Anderson’s (There Will Be Blood, The Master) sharp satirical adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s ‘Vineland’.

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17:45

The Testament of Ann Lee 15
2h 17m
From poverty in England to revolutionary America, Ann Lee’s spiritual vision and utopian dreams shape the lives of a newly formed religious community. Mona Fastvold’s sweeping historical epic stars Amanda Seyfried as the founder of the Shaker Movement.

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 (Thursday 26th March)

14:45

The Testament of Ann Lee 15
Descriptive subtitles
2h 17m
From poverty in England to revolutionary America, Ann Lee’s spiritual vision and utopian dreams shape the lives of a newly formed religious community. Mona Fastvold’s sweeping historical epic stars Amanda Seyfried as the founder of the Shaker Movement.

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

Blue Morpho U
1h 45m
Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien joins us for a Q&A screening of short film Blue Morpho, focussing on his journey through the wilds of Wales as he prepares for the release of his new solo album. A special event screening plus two short film screenings by director Kit Monteith.

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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!