R.E.M X Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. - The Ultimate Picture Palace

R.E.M X Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr.12A

Directed by Buster Keaton & Josh Frank | USA | 2025 | 1h 13m | Starring Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton, Erwin Connelly, Ward Crane

Silents Synced brings classic cinema roaring back to life, pairing iconic silent films with landmark rock albums for a one-of-a-kind big-screen experience. Buster Keaton’s sublime 1924 masterpiece Sherlock Jr. gets the full treatment, scored live to R.E.M.’s Monster and New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Keaton plays a small-town film projectionist with big detective dreams. Framed by a love rival for the theft of his girlfriend’s father’s pocket watch, he embarks on a case that blurs the line between reality and fantasy in ways only Keaton could pull off, with breathtaking stunts, deadpan genius, and a dreamlike wit that still feels startlingly modern.

Our screening on Sunday 26th July will be introduced Oxford Comedy Festival Founder, Matthew Chadourne, and our screening on Monday 27th July will be introduced by Alastair Pitts (Film programmer, writer, and co-host of Gentlemen Don’t Get Caught: an R.E.M. track-by-track podcast).

Oxford Comedy Festival 2026

This screening is presented in partnership with The Oxford Festival Fringe Preview Comedy Festival – a month-long comedy festival happening throughout July created and curated by QED Comedy Lab.

Book tickets

Sunday 26 July + Introduction	8.00pm	Book tickets
Monday 27 July	6.15pm	Book tickets

What else is on?

Tomorrow (Saturday 20th June)

14:30

The Turin Horse 15

2h 35m | Hungarian w/ English subtitles

Bleak Week 2026: Cinema of Despair

Inspired by an anecdote involving philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, Béla Tarr's award-winning parable follows a frail farmer and his young daughter struggling to eke out a living amidst harsh conditions in the Hungarian countryside.

18:00

Obsession 18

1h 49m

Bear pines for his friend Nikki but can't confess his feelings, until a lucky charm does the work for him. In this sharp, darkly comic horror debut, getting what you want proves to have a terrible, skin-crawling cost.

20:45

Red Rooms 18

1h 58m | French w/ English subtitles

Bleak Week 2026: Cinema of Despair

A young woman becomes fixated on a high-profile murder trial, drawn into a disturbing online underworld. Red Pascal Plante’s tense, chilling thriller explores obsession, true crime, and the darker edges of internet culture.

Sunday 21st June

14:45

The Ascent 12A

1h 50m | Russian & German w/ English subtitles

Bleak Week 2026: Cinema of Despair

Two soldiers on a wartime mission face betrayal and impossible choices. Larisa Shepitko’s powerful, haunting war drama is both a gripping survival story and a deeply moving meditation on sacrifice and moral courage during conflict.

17:30

Backrooms 15

1h 45m

When a patient vanishes through a strange basement doorway of a furniture showroom, his therapist follows him into a disorienting dimension. Expanding Kane Parsons’ cult online series, this feature-length adaptation stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve and bringing “liminal horror” to the big screen.

20:00

Oldboy 18

2h | Korean w/ English subtitles

Bleak Week 2026: Cinema of Despair

After fifteen years of mysterious imprisonment, Oh Dae-su is suddenly released and is fuelled by a need for answers and revenge. Oldboy is a gripping, shocking thriller from Park Chan-wook that became a global cult hit.

See all upcoming films

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!