Picnic At Hanging Rock12A

Directed by Peter Weir | Australia | 1975 | 1h 48m | Starring Rachel Roberts, Anne-Louise Lambert, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse, Tony Llewellyn-Jones

In the early 1900s, Miranda attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine’s Day, the school’s typically strict headmistress treats the girls to a picnic field trip to an unusual but scenic volcanic formation called Hanging Rock. Despite rules against it, Miranda and several other girls venture off. It’s not until the end of the day that the faculty realises the girls and one of the teachers have disappeared mysteriously. Peter Weir’s wonderfully enigmatic film, with its ethereal cinematography and ghostly, foreboding atmosphere helped usher in a new era of Australian cinema.

Join us on Sunday 18th May (3pm) for a screening introduced by film lecturer Dr Andrew Webber.

Reviews

‘The film’s mystery still shimmers.’
★★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

‘The “readings” are endless, the mood impossibly eerie and the legacy untouchable.’
★★★★★
Kevin Maher, The Times

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Picnic At Hanging Rock between May 18, 2025 and May 19, 2025.

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What else is on?

Tomorrow (Thursday 13th August)

14:30

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

17:00

The Odyssey 15
2h 52m
Odysseus, King of Ithaca, journeys home after the Trojan War, confronting vengeful gods and monstrous trials along the way. Christopher Nolan adapts Homer's epic, starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Tom Holland, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.

Book here

20:30

Blackbird 15
1h 28m
Oxford Bad Film Club are proud to present Michael Flatley’s Blackbird. In his legendary 2018 vanity project, Michael Flatley plays a retired spy who wears many hats but must face up to his past when confronted by an old flame.

Book here


Friday 14th August

15:15

The Summer Book PG
1h 35m
Eight-year-old Sophia spends the summer with her father and grandmother on their family island in Finland's Gulf, all three grieving her mother's recent death. Directed by Charlie McDowell and starring Glenn Close, this quiet drama adapts Tove Jansson's novel.

Book here

17:30

The Odyssey 15
2h 52m
Odysseus, King of Ithaca, journeys home after the Trojan War, confronting vengeful gods and monstrous trials along the way. Christopher Nolan adapts Homer's epic, starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Tom Holland, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.

Book here

21:00

Jazz on a Summer's Day U
1h 23m
Bert Stern's 1958 concert film documents the Newport Jazz Festival, widely considered the first feature-length music documentary. It captures performances by Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong and Mahalia Jackson, forming a portrait of America on the cusp of the Kennedy era.

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!