Motel Destino18

Directed by Karim Aïnouz | Brazil | 2024 | 1h 55m | Portuguese w/ English subtitles | Starring Iago Xavier, Nataly Rocha, Fábio Assunção, Renan Capivara, Fabiola Liper

At a roadside sex hotel in northern Brazil, the arrival of a young gang member on the run turns the daily routine of its fiery owners and eccentric residents upside down. Beneath glowing neon lights and under the scorching blue skies, a tense and seductive game of desire, power, and violence begins to unfold. This steamy, erotic neo-noir is written and directed by Cannes award-winning filmmaker Karim Aïnouz (The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão).

Reviews

‘A film dripping with desire, danger, and urgency, all very welcome. A film that grows on you the more you tear it apart’
★★★★
Rafa Sales Ross, Little White Lies

‘This film is terrifically acted by its central trio: three intensely and unselfconsciously physical performances in which their bodies are frequently on show, sensual but fragile.’
★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Motel Destino between May 30, 2025 and June 3, 2025.

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What else is on?

Today (Monday 29th September)

20:30

The Roses 15
1h 45m
Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch star in this razor-sharp comedy-drama about ambition and rivalry. When careers collide and resentments rise, a seemingly perfect couple unravels in a darkly funny, painfully relatable portrait of a marriage on the rocks.

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Tomorrow (Tuesday 30th September)

18:00

Legend of the Stardust Brothers 15
£6 for Members
1h 41m | Japanese w/ English subtitles
In this outrageously fun Japanese cult musical, a punk rebel and a new-wave crooner are remade as glitter-clad pop idols. Macoto Tezka’s eccentric, star-studded comedy blends Rocky Horror energy with gleeful 1980s absurdity.

Book here

20:30

Put Your Soul on Your Hand 12A
£6 for Members
1h 53m | Arabic with English subtitles
An intimate documentary capturing life under siege in Gaza through video calls with Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona, tragically killed in an airstrike. Selected for Cannes, the film blends raw immediacy with humanity in portraying resilience amid devastating conflict.

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 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!