The Marching Band - Sunday 14th December 5pm

We finish our season with The Marching Band, "a very amiable fare..or amiable 'en fanfare'" as Mark Kermode jests, which won our audience vote at the 25th Keswick Film Festival in March; so amiable that we felt we should give a larger audience the chance to see it and the members' vote agree.

“Warm and sure-footed, the film has the feel of a richly satisfying meal in an excellent neighbourhood bistro. Old world pleasures of character and story are generously apportioned.” - Danny Leigh, Financial 

The Mastermind - Sunday 30th November 5pm

If we tell you this is the story of an art-heist, you might start expecting 'Oceans Twelve' or something, but if we tell you the title is definitely ironic you will be closer to understanding the gist; Josh O'Connor, wonderfully scruffy here, plays James, an art-school dropout who has this great idea to steal some paintings from a local museum in Massachusetts. What could be easier?

“'The Mastermind' may be a heist movie about a novice thief with a dumb plan. But Reichardt pulls it off like clockwork: This film is stupendously smart” - Ben Kenigsberg, RogerEbert.com.

Little Trouble Girls - Sunday 23rd November 5pm

In Little Trouble Girls we meet shy, introverted,16 year-old Lucija as she joins a Catholic choir where she is befriended by Ana-Marija. Lucija's over-protected life (she has not even been allowed to wear lipstick) is faced by the challenge of growing up like everyone, especially the sexual awakening she is feeling.

"Djukic’s feature debut echoes the sensitivities of Céline Sciamma’s early coming-of-age stories but with a bold, cinematic bent." - Tara Brady, Irish Times

On Falling - Sunday 16th November 5pm

On Falling is our next members' choice - Aurora is a 'picker', pushing a trolley through the warehouse finding items chosen online by people she will never meet, keeping to a pace set by the machine in her hand. She is paid just enough to live on - when her mobile phone need repairing, this is a disaster as she is forced to go without other essentials.

"Carreira’s is the kind of small, still-waters debut that nonetheless confidently sets out its maker’s store for future work -- a clarion call for a new generation of social-realist cinema." - Guy Lodge, Variety

Dying - Sunday 9th November 5pm

We thought we may need to sell Dying as a film worth your while watching - why should you invest three hours of your life watching a miserable film about dying? Well the critics agree that "this is a film that justifies every second" and "has your undivided attention throughout the vividly composed, brilliantly acted chapters of its three-hour runtime. A miracle."

"Matthias Glasner’s Dying might sound like an ordeal, but this rich, novelistic and mordantly funny Berlin film festival prize winner wears its themes and running time lightly.” - Wendy Ide, Observer

Cloud - Sunday 2nd November 5pm

Kiyoshi Kurosawa had several award-winning films early this century, including the horror movie 'Pulse', where he portrayed the internet as the home of evil spirits. He is back now with Cloud, a film portraying the internet as dangerous, but this time it is human danger; is the main character who is an immoral 'reseller' of anything and everything for huge profits the baddy, or the people he sells to who decide enough is enough…? A story of our time, then.

"This riveting and highly unusual shoot-em-up finds Kurosawa returning to his roots." - David Ehrlich, IndieWire

Falling Into Place - Sunday 26th October 5pm

Our next Members' Choice is Falling Into Place; Kira has gone to Skye to help her get over an ex-boyfriend. Ian is there to see his friends and his ailing parents. They see each other across a crowed pub and the rest is obvious... except it isn't. 

"An antidote to Hollywood-style romcoms...Sensitive, fearlessly honest and forgiving, it sees two people make a connection amid the ongoing chaos of their lives" - Emma Simmonds, The List.

Parthenope - Sunday 19th October 5pm

Director Paolo Sorrentino has always been fascinated by beauty and in this weeks film he concentrates totally on the beauty of one woman - Parthenope - whose very appearance seems to have every man obsessed. She herself doesn't like where this power leads her; rather than giving her freedom and enjoyment, her suitors want to own her or bring her sadness.

“An exquisite treatise on cinematic beauty” - Siddhant Adlakha, Variety

Dreams - Sunday 12th October 5pm

Our first Members' Choice of the season is Dreams; 17 year-old Johanne has a crush on her new teacher Johanna, building into first love and even obsession.

"A story of hazy memories that’s also a city symphony, Dreams elegantly captures the disorienting rush of first love and the frustrations and anguish that stem from romantic fantasies colliding with reality." - Derek Smith, Slant Magazine

The Other Way Around - Sunday 5th October 5pm

When Ale and Alex's relationship comes to an end they decide to do things The Other Way Around and thrown a breaking up party.

"Even as they insist that they're perfectly fine about separating, the film is skilfully shot to both put Ale and Alex at odds within the frame and also show them as loving partners...Both take involving internal journeys through the narrative, dealing with their thoughts in their own ways as they speak with the people around them." - Rich Cline, Shadows On The Wall

The Return - Sunday 28th September 5pm

 

Most attempts at filming the story of Odysseus have played on the return of a King, but not so for Uberto Pasolini; in The Return he concentrates on the return of a man, a beaten soldier ashamed at the loss of all his men, whilst his Queen has suffered abandonment and humiliation. Odysseus finally gets home penniless and unrecognizable, washed up as a beggar on the shore, whilst Penelope fights off suitors, wishing to marry her for power and wealth.

The return of Odysseus to Penelope after twenty years is mirrored ironically by the re-meeting of Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche after 28 years since 'The English Patient'.

"The film shines when it's simply Binoche and Fiennes facing off, especially in scenes where Penelope pretends not to recognize her husband, trying to force him to step forward into his rightful place." - Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times.

Late Shift - Sunday 21st September 5pm

In Late Shift, this Sunday at 5pm, we join Floria as she arrives for her afternoon shift to find she is understaffed, with only one nurse and a student to help her. Constantly on the move from one patient to another, from one crisis to the next, the camera (and us) follow her all the way, involving us in her stress and the odd short moments of calm.

"In its cool, propulsive procedural tracking of ward activity, Late Shift quite sufficiently makes its point regarding the monumental challenge and value of Floria’s work, and that of thousands like her." - Guy Lodge, Variety

A Real Pain - Sunday 14th September 5pm

Our 26th Year continues on Sunday 14 September with the Oscar winning A Real Pain - and it is a comedy! As IMDb describe it - "Mismatched cousins reunite for a tour through Poland to honour their beloved grandmother, but their old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history"

Your Program for Autumn 2025

Our new season of films is getting closer! The autumn season films are now booked (including 5 films voted for by the members), the brochure is at the printers and can be downloaded from the web. 

The films are all on the Alhambra website ready to book - where you can also join the club if you want - We so hope you do. It is still only £10 and you still get to see any or all club films for £6 each; We are keeping the non-member prices in line with the Alhambra prices, so that will give you a saving of £4.50 for every film you see; so not just great films but a bargain too!

We hope that you will want to see many of the films and that our 26th Year continues as a memorable one for us all  - don't forget to tell your friends about us!