In an unnamed country and unspecified time, a hired guide leads two clients—a writer searching for inspiration and a professor pursuing scientific certainty—through a dangerous wasteland known only as the Zone. This restricted area, left in the aftermath of a long-ago disaster, is said to contain a mysterious Room: a place that grants a person’s deepest desires. With its deliberate pacing and rich symbolism, Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker blends science fiction, political allegory, and philosophical reflection into a haunting cinematic experience. Open to many interpretations, it is often read as a meditation on faith and the difficulty of holding onto it in a broken and oppressive world.

“Hypnotic, immersive, and profoundly philosophical, Stalker expresses, in the most poetic and haunting way possible, the desire for communion with nature and the search for happiness in a devastated world. The “Zone” is a place that will haunt me forever.” – Lucile Hadžihalilović

Part of a season of classics curated by filmmaker Lucile Hadžihalilović. Join us for a director Q&A of her film Earwig on Saturday 30th May 5.30pm (click here to book tickets).