A Queer and (Un)pleasant Danger: Queer Thrillers pulls together five tense, sometimes seedy, and often erotic films, from the neon-soaked gay porn scene in 1980s Paris to a sumptuous Korea under Japanese rule.
What happens when LGBTQ+ characters are allowed to be complicated, violent, a threat to the conventions of society? As these films show, there can be a subversive pleasure in being the villain.
Bound (1996)
Saturday 14 June 8.30pm
Wednesday 18 June 6.15pm
Victim (1961)
Sunday 22 June 1.45pm
Wednesday 25 June 8.45pm
Knife+Heart (2018)
Saturday 28 June 6pm
Thursday 3 July 8pm
Femme (2023)
Tuesday 1 July 6.15pm
The Handmaiden (2016)
Saturday 5 July 5.45pm
Monday 7 July 8pm
This season has been curated by Ella Dawson-Gorton (UPP Duty Manager).
Before The Matrix, the Wachowskis burst onto the scene with this taut, stylish noir. A sexy, subversive heist film with queer leads, Bound is now a revered cult classic – razor-sharp, fiercely confident, and decades ahead of its time.
This landmark 1961 film broke taboos as the UK’s first to confront homosexuality head-on. Dirk Bogarde delivers a career-defining performance in a brave, compassionate legal thriller that helped change public attitudes.
In 1979 Paris, a gay porn director reels from heartbreak and a brutal murder on set. As she fights to finish her film, danger looms. With neon visuals and a haunting M83 score, this is erotically charged giallo horror.
Adapted from the BAFTA-nominated short, this striking queer revenge thriller twists power and identity into provocative territory. A stylish, seductive and a bold new entry in modern queer cinema, starring George MacKay and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett.
Park Chan-wook’s lush erotic thriller dazzles with deception, desire and double-crosses. Set in 1930s Korea and based on Fingersmith, this modern classic is a masterwork of suspense and sensuality. A bold reimagining of the period drama.
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!