Camp Miasma Double Feature: Sunset Boulevard12A

Directed by Billy Wilder | USA | 1950 | 1h 50m | Starring Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, Fred Clark

Roger Ebert described Sunset Boulevard as “the best drama ever made about the movies because it sees through the illusions.” It’s illusions that are truly key to the film: those by and about Hollywood, and particularly those about ourselves and others. In this lavish film, regularly heralded as one of the greatest of all time, director Billy Wilder sets the stage for Gloria Swanson to deliver one of the all-time great performances as Norma Desmond, a fading Hollywood icon. Time has moved on, but not in her 1920s mansion on Sunset Boulevard, the home of Old Hollywood. A young screenwriter, Joe Gillis, is drawn into this shadow world and the orbit of Norma, secreted in her mansion and dreaming of her return to the screen.

Sunset Boulevard is showing alongside Friday the 13th (1980) as part of a Camp Miasma Double Feature, introduced by Dr Michael Goodrum (Canterbury Christ Church University), in anticipation of our screenings of new release Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Book tickets to both screenings in a single transaction and receive a 25% discount on the total cost.

Reviews

‘The best film to capture the transitory nature of film fame.’
★★★★★
George Parry, BBC

‘It is Wilder’s passion, and fulminating anger, that fill every frame of this dark and majestic noir.’
★★★★★
Kevin Maher, The Times

Book tickets

Saturday 5 September

5.45pmBook tickets

What else is on?

Today (Monday 13th July)

18:00

What We Do in the Shadows 15
1h 25m
Cult mockumentary follows the undead navigating modern life with gloriously incompetent results. Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement at their most gloriously funny. Part of the Oxford Comedy Festival 2026.

Book here

20:15

Blue Heron 15
1h 31m
Eight-year-old Sasha's family move to Vancouver Island seeking a fresh start, but her eldest brother increasingly dangerous behaviour casts a long shadow. Sophy Romvari's lyrical feature debut is a deeply felt study of family bonds and the elusive nature of memory.

Book here


Tomorrow (Tuesday 14th July)

17:45

Effi o Blaenau 15
£6 for Members
1h 31m | Welsh w/ English subtitles
In a Welsh town stripped of its pubs and jobs, hard-partying Effi keeps her head just above water. But a chance encounter in a Llandudno nightclub offers a glimpse of another life. Leisa Gwenllian is searing in this spikily funny adaptation of Gary Owen's celebrated one-woman play.

Book here

20:00

Disclosure Day 12A
£6 for Members
2h 25m
When a Kansas City meteorologist intercepts an inexplicable alien signal during a live broadcast, she begins to unravel a decades-long government cover-up. Steven Spielberg returns to sci-fi with a summer blockbuster of genuine scale and philosophical weight, led by Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor.

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!