Stop Making SensePG

Directed by Jonathan Demme | USA | 1983 | 1h 28m

Big songs. Even bigger suit! Director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) captures the intoxicating experience of New York art-rockers Talking Heads performing live at the peak of their powers in 1983. Beginning with frontman David Byrne performing a solo rendition of ‘Psycho Killer’, members of the band join the set one-by-one, song-by-song to create one of the most legendary and joyous live music experiences put to film. Newly restored in 4K to coincide with the film’s 40th anniversary, it is now considered by critics and fans to be the greatest concert documentary of all time.

Join us for a Byrne’s Night double-feature screening of Stop Making Sense alongside David Byrne’s 1986 directorial debut True Stories on Saturday 25th January. Click here to book your double-feature tickets.

Reviews

‘The energy of Jonathan Demme’s 1984 film defies categorisation, and David Byrne in the ‘Big Suit’ is the Chuck Berry of new wave art-rock’
★★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

‘And even now, how fresh it seems. For all the reverence and influence, how unique as well. The greatest concert movie ever made? Whether truth or fact, it is.’
★★★★★
Danny Leigh, The FT

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Stop Making Sense between October 13, 2023 and January 31, 2025.

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What else is on?

Tomorrow (Monday 14th September)

18:00

Bitter Christmas 15
1h 51m | Spanish w/ English subtitles
Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film is a sun-dappled exploration of life, art and storytelling, as two filmmakers’ lives intertwine in a playful meditation on memory, creativity and the blurred boundaries between reality and fiction.

Book here

20:30

Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Mias 15
1h 52m
Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow) unleashes a bloody, bewildering meta-horror, as a young director and a reclusive scream queen descend into a delirious world of queer desire, fear and blood-soaked obsession. Starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson.

Book here


Tuesday 15th September

18:00

Lady 15
£6 for Members
1h 35m
Self-described "aristocracy's answer to the Kardashians", Lady Isabella has everything but loneliness to fill. When a filmmaker arrives to document her estate, her hunger for attention takes a strange turn. Sian Clifford (Fleabag) stars in this riotous mockumentary.

Book here

20:30

Bitter Christmas 15
£6 for Members
1h 51m | Spanish w/ English subtitles
Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film is a sun-dappled exploration of life, art and storytelling, as two filmmakers’ lives intertwine in a playful meditation on memory, creativity and the blurred boundaries between reality and fiction.

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!