Oldboy18

Directed by Park Chan-wook | South Korea | 2003 | 2h | Korean w/ English subtitles | Starring Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Kim Byeong-Ok, Lee Seung-shin

After fifteen years of unexplained imprisonment, businessman Oh Dae-su is suddenly released without answers. What follows is a relentless pursuit of vengeance that is as psychologically intricate as it is viscerally shocking. Directed with formal precision and operatic intensity by Park Chan-wook (No Other Choice, The Handmaiden), Oldboy stands as the defining work of his Vengeance Trilogy and a landmark in 21st-century world cinema. Premiering to international acclaim at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where it was championed by jury president Quentin Tarantino, the film helped cement the global reputation of contemporary South Korean filmmaking.

Reviews

‘It’s a movie that you feel you’re not so much watching on screen as having beamed directly into your skull from some malign, alien planet of horror.’
★★★★★ Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

‘Oldboy is a powerful film not because of what it depicts, but because of the depths of the human heart which it strips bare.’
★★★★★ Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Oldboy between June 19, 2026 and June 21, 2026.

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What else is on?

Today (Sunday 26th July)

15:00

The Invite 15
1h 47m
Joe and Angela's shaky marriage faces its biggest test yet when dinner with their enigmatic upstairs neighbours takes a wild turn. Rashida Jones's razor-sharp script and Olivia Wilde's direction fuel this riotous relationship comedy, with Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton on scene-stealing form.

Book here

17:30

A Private Life 15
1h 43m | French w/ English subtitles
A patient's sudden death sends a renowned psychiatrist chasing murder, secrets and lies, with her charming ex-husband along for the investigation. Jodie Foster dazzles in fluent French and comic form in this stylish mystery thriller from director Rebecca Zlotowski (Other People's Children).

Book here

20:00

R.E.M x Sherlock Jr 12A
+ Introduction
1h 13m
From the team behind Silents Synced, Buster Keaton's dreamlike 1924 masterpiece gets an electrifying makeover, scored to R.E.M.'s Monster and New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Part of the Oxford Comedy Festival 2026.

Book here


Tomorrow (Monday 27th July)

18:15

R.E.M x Sherlock Jr 12A
+ Introduction
1h 13m
From the team behind Silents Synced, Buster Keaton's dreamlike 1924 masterpiece gets an electrifying makeover, scored to R.E.M.'s Monster and New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Part of the Oxford Comedy Festival 2026.

Book here

20:15

The Invite 15
1h 47m
Joe and Angela's shaky marriage faces its biggest test yet when dinner with their enigmatic upstairs neighbours takes a wild turn. Rashida Jones's razor-sharp script and Olivia Wilde's direction fuel this riotous relationship comedy, with Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton on scene-stealing form.

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!