Beau Is Afraid15

Directed by Ari Aster | USA | 2023 | 2h 58m | Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane, Parker Posey, Richard Kind

Living alone in a rundown downtown apartment and beset by paranoid anxiety, a middle-aged man prepares to visit his mother and inadvertently embarks on a mind-bending odyssey to confront his darkest fears. Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix stars in this brilliantly baffling psychological epic by the director of modern horror classics Hereditary and Midsommer.

Reviews

‘What began as a comically exaggerated paranoid farce ends as an audacious slice of surreal, Charlie Kaufman-esque purgatorial art, likely to draw admirers as much as a sense of alienation.’
★★★★
John Nugent, Empire Magazine

‘At points, it’s a stress-watch to rival the Safdie bros’ nerve-shredder Uncut Gems. But it’s also a deeply funny Freudian head-shag, laden with Jewish guilt and unresolved mummy issues.’
★★★★
Jordan Farley, Total Film

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Beau Is Afraid between June 9, 2023 and June 15, 2023.

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What else is on?

Today (Monday 17th March)
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16:00

History of the UPP Talk U
When the Oxford Picture Palace (now the Ultimate Picture Palace) opened in 1911 it was Oxford's first purpose-built 'electric theatre'. Join local historian Liz Woolley for this FREE talk about Oxford's cinema history. Booking essential.

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17:45

I'm Still Here 15
2h 18m | Portuguese w/ English subtitles
Awards Season 2025
In 1970s Brazil, as the military dictatorship tightens its grip on the country, a mother is forced to rebuild her life after her husband is abducted by police. Powerful drama based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s memoir and nominated for 3 Oscars, including Best Picture.

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20:45

Cottontail 12A
1h 34m
After his wife’s death, Kenzaburo receives a letter from beyond the grave asking him to travel to Lake Windermere in England to scatter her ashes. Deeply emotional exploration of family, love, and forgiveness starring Lily Franky (Shoplifters).

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Tomorrow (Tuesday 18th March)
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17:45

The Monkey 15
Deaf/HOH Subtitles
1h 35m
When two brothers discover their father’s old toy monkey in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths follows. Osgood Perkins (Longlegs) returns with another terrifying tale, this time adapting a chilling short story by Stephen King.

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20:00

Soundtrack to a Coup d'État 12A
2h 30m
A hypnotic, Oscar-nominated documentary revealing how the U.S. State Department sent jazz to the Congo in the early 1960s to divert attention from a CIA-backed coup. Charity fundraiser screening for Friends of Congo.

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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 don’t show adverts, just a couple of trailers, so don't be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!

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