The Real Charlie Chaplin12A

Directed by Peter Middleton & James Spinney | USA | 2021 | 1h 54m | Starring Pearl Mackie, Jeff Rawle, Paul Ryan, Dominic Marsh

Combining unheard audio recordings, dramatic reconstructions, and personal archives, this documentary traces Charlie Chaplin’s rise from the slums of Victorian London to the heights of Hollywood superstardom. A fascinating look at the life of one of cinema’s greatest icons from the filmmakers behind the BAFTA-nominated 2016 documentary Notes On Blindness.

Reviews

‘A representative picture of Chaplin’s life and career does emerge, bolstered by plenty of wonderful clips which are allowed to speak – or more often not speak – for themselves.’
★★★★
Robbie Collin, The Telegraph

‘This snappy and searching doc makes a very solid fist of finding the man behind the Little Tramp.’
★★★★
Philip De Semlyen, Time Out

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed The Real Charlie Chaplin between March 14, 2022 and March 24, 2022.

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What else is on?

Today (Friday 27th March)

15:15

The President's Cake 12A
1h 45m | Arabic w/ English subtitles
During 1990s Iraq, schoolgirl Lamia is chosen by her class to bake a birthday cake for Saddam Hussein. With her pet rooster beside her she searches the town for ingredients in an award-winning debut about childhood resilience and life under dictatorship.

Book here

17:45

Sinners 15
2h 18m
Twin brothers seek a fresh start in their 1930s Southern hometown but uncover an evil lurking beneath the surface. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan reunite for this chilling supernatural thriller set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow-era South.

Book here

20:45

Sirāt 15
1h 54m | Spanish, French & Arabic w/ English subtitles
Oliver Laxe’s intense, hallucinatory road movie follows a father and son through Morocco as they try to find a missing relative at various sprawling, illegal raves. Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival 2025.

Book here


Tomorrow (Saturday 28th March)

14:15

Sound of Falling 18
2h 35m | German w/ English subtitles
Across the twentieth century four teenage girls spend their youth in the same farmhouse decades apart, yet their lives echo each other. German director Mascha Schilinski interweaves generations of girlhood, revealing loneliness and lost innocence across a turbulent century.

Book here

17:45

Sirāt 15
1h 54m | Spanish, French & Arabic w/ English subtitles
Oliver Laxe’s intense, hallucinatory road movie follows a father and son through Morocco as they try to find a missing relative at various sprawling, illegal raves. Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival 2025.

Book here

20:30

Sinners 15
2h 18m
Twin brothers seek a fresh start in their 1930s Southern hometown but uncover an evil lurking beneath the surface. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan reunite for this chilling supernatural thriller set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow-era South.

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!