The Beast15

Directed by Bertrand Bonello | France | 2023 | 2h 27m | French w/ English subtitles | Starring Léa Seydoux, George MacKay, Guslagie Malanda, Elina Löwensohn, Dasha Nekrasova

In a not-so-distant future where emotions pose a danger, a woman makes a bold choice: she opts to cleanse her DNA using a machine that will plunge her into her past lives, stripping away any intense feelings. Throughout these sessions, she crosses paths with a young man who she recognises from a previous life. Bertrand Bonello creates a gripping blend of sweeping melodrama and dystopian horror in this suspenseful sci-fi delving into various contemporary anxieties, from the unchecked ascent of AI to the dread of emotional connection and rejection.

Reviews

‘MacKay and Seydoux have a natural frisson together whatever the era, one sparked from the fact that he’s always changing, and she never does.’
★★★★★
David Ehrlich, IndieWire

‘A luxurious cinematic experience…created with such elan and attack, and the musical score amplifies its throb of fear.’
★★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed The Beast between June 14, 2024 and June 20, 2024.

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What else is on?

Today (Wednesday 4th December)

15:15

Small Things Like These 12A
1h 38m
Cillian Murphy stars as a coal merchant in a small town during the 1980s who uncovers a shocking secret at the heart of his community. Haunting Irish drama adapted from Claire Keegan’s Booker Prize-nominated novel.

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17:45

Anora 18
Deaf/HOH Subtitles
2h 19m
A young sex worker and the son of a Russian billionaire go on the run after spontaneously getting married against his father's wishes in Sean Baker's (The Florida Project) freewheeling, Palme d'Or-winning modern romance.

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20:45

Love Actually 15
2h 15m
To me, you are perfect! Ten interwoven stories all build to a grand crescendo on Christmas Eve, proving that love is the common thread driving each of their lives. One-off festive screening presented by Oxford University Filmmaking Foundation.

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Tomorrow (Thursday 5th December)

15:45

No Other Land 15
1h 32m | Arabic & Hebrew w/ English subtitles
Award-winning documentary created by a collective of four young Palestinian-Israeli activists, filmed over five years, examining the displacement and destruction faced by a young Palestinian’s community in the southern West Bank.

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18:00

NT Live: Prima Facie 15
1h 53m
Directed by Justin Martin, this solo tour de force theatre production stars Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) in an Olivier and Tony Award-winning performance. Filmed live during its sold-out 2022 run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End.

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20:30

Heretic 15
1h 51m
Two young Mormon missionaries get caught in a sinister game of cat-and-mouse in this delightfully twisted and darkly funny chamber horror from writer-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (A Quiet Place), starring Hugh Grant.

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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 don’t show adverts, just a couple of trailers, so don't be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!