Friday 9th January - at 7:30pm
The Roses (15) - 105 mins Dark Comedy
Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch): successful careers, a loving marriage, great kids. But beneath the façade of their supposed ideal life, a storm is brewing – as Theo's career nosedives while Ivy's own ambitions take off, a tinderbox of fierce competition and hidden resentment ignites. The Roses is a reimagining of the 1989 classic film The War of the Roses, based on the novel by Warren Adler.
"Colman and Cumberbatch are sublimely well matched. We adore them as a couple almost as much as we enjoy them as the bitterest of foes." The Observer
"A smart, wild, entertaining mix of droll British humour and glossy Hollywood film-making." BBC
"Screenwriter Tony McNamara's dazzling script is thespian heaven for stars Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch." The Australian
Friday 13th February - at 7:30pm
Four Mothers (15) - 89 mins Comedy/Drama
Loosely based on Gianni Di Gregorio's hit Italian comedy-drama Mid-August Lunch (2008). Edward (James McArdle), an anxiety-ridden gay man in his thirties, is scheduled for a tour of the US to promote his breakout novel. But his elderly mum Alma (Fionnula Flanagan) is recovering from a stroke, and Edward is her primary carer. To compound his difficulties, his three friends decide to take a weekend break to Gran Canaria for Maspalomas Pride, and dump their own mothers on the doorstep of the small Dublin semi that Edward shares with Alma.
"Four Mothers is a charmer of a picture that lures us in with Edward's angst but hits its stride when it digs into the dynamics between the four women who run Edward ragged with their catering requests and incessant bickering. What could have been a sentimental plodder gets a pleasingly acerbic tang from the bracing cattiness of the dialogue." The Guardian
Friday 13th March - at 7.30pm
The Choral (15) - 113 mins Drama
Ramsden, Yorkshire, 1916. The chorus master and most of the men of the ambitious local Choral Society have volunteered for the front, so under the direction of the demanding, driven Dr. Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes), the Choral recruits a crop of teenage boys and girls. Together they discover the joys of singing and the urgency of desire as the new boys come to terms with their imminent conscription into the army.
"This wintry tale of art blooming in adversity is far from a schematic feel-good jaunt. Set in the fictional West Riding town of Ramsden in 1916, when young men are being plucked from their community and sent to a front line in Europe they can barely comprehend, it's an anthem for doomed youth in a familiar Bennett key: wry, melancholic, sneakily profound." The Telegraph
"By focusing on a choral society, the film presents a different take on wartime. Whilst it does acknowledge the sadness of the ongoing conflict, the film, through its practicality and light humour, offers a hopeful interlude." The Upcoming.
Friday 10th April - at 7.30pm
I Swear (15) - 120 mins Dark Comedy
The true life story of John Davidson. Diagnosed with Tourette's at 15, targeted as insane by his peers, he struggled with a condition few had witnessed. Campaigning for Tourette's as an adult, he was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2019.
"A terrifically warm, generous film." The Guardian "It is a drama with three-dimensional people, facing three-dimensional problems and dealing with them... I absolutely loved it." Mark Kermode
"There's a hint of repetition in the mid-section and a schmaltzy third act courtroom scene. But all flaws are overcome by Aramayo's technically precise and heart-rending turn. It's astonishing." The Times
"Just lovely. Tourette syndrome has not been afforded its cinematic dues, but what an affable, funny character to explore it with in John Davidson -- and what a performance from Robert Aramayo." Empire