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 (Saturday 27th July)

15:15

Sleep 15
1h 35m | Korean w/ English subtitles
Late one night, a young woman is awakened by her husband's sinister mutterings in his sleep. As the nights pass, his behavior becomes increasingly disturbing in Jason Yu's suspenseful horror debut.

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17:30

The Conversation 12A
1h 54m
A surveillance expert is hired to follow a couple and becomes obsessed with their cryptic conversations in Coppola's neo-noir thriller exploring technology and privacy. Palme d'Or winner, now restored in 4K for its 50th anniversary.

Book here

20:00

Kinds of Kindness 18
2h 44m
A man takes control of his life. A woman searches for a spiritual leader with a unique ability. A man's missing wife returns. Three stories come together in Yorgos Lanthimos' dark comedy, starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, and Willem Dafoe.

Book here


Tomorrow (Sunday 28th July)

14:00

The Conversation 12A
1h 54m
A surveillance expert is hired to follow a couple and becomes obsessed with their cryptic conversations in Coppola's neo-noir thriller exploring technology and privacy. Palme d'Or winner, now restored in 4K for its 50th anniversary.

Book here

16:30

Kinds of Kindness 18
2h 44m
A man takes control of his life. A woman searches for a spiritual leader with a unique ability. A man's missing wife returns. Three stories come together in Yorgos Lanthimos' dark comedy, starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, and Willem Dafoe.

Book here

20:00

Orlando, My Political Biography 12A
1h 39m | French w/ English subtitles
Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel Orlando acts as an inspiration in filmmaker and philosophers Paul B. Preciado’s award-winning documentary illustrating how life, poetry, and gender converge in the lives of trans people from past and present.

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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!