To save paper, cut costs and give us flexibility in selecting films at short notice, we no longer produce printed programmes. All of our films are listed on the Buxton Opera House Cinema website as well as our own. If you’d like to receive a weekly alert for our Monday film please subscribe to our newsletter.
Here is our diary – we update it as soon as new films are confirmed. You won’t find a more varied and interesting programme anywhere!
| Monday 21/9/26 7.30pm | EOS James McNeill Whistler (U) | In an era of great change and great beauty emerged the character of James McNeill Whistler. Considered by some to be one of the great innovators of 19th century art, he was a contemporary of the Impressionists, much admired by Van Gogh and Manet. Boldly experimental and famously witty, Whistler disrupted the strict conventions of Victorian society in pursuit of a new cult of beauty, creating “art for art’s sake” and earning himself a place in the history of great art. He found a parallel between painting and music, and entitled many of his paintings "arrangements", "harmonies" and "nocturnes", emphasizing the importance of tonal harmony in his work. His most famous painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1871), commonly known as Whistler's Mother, is a revered and often parodied portrait of motherhood. It is arguably one of the most famous paintings in history and this film will unveil the artist behind the art. Tate Britain is now holding the first major retrospective of Whistler in three decades. This blockbuster exhibition promises to reawaken the world to just how important Whistler is to art history, uniting world-famous masterpieces with rarely seen works. Exhibition on Screen will bring these stunning works and the incredible story behind them to cinemas around the world while the exhibition is still running, bringing this truly global artist to a global audience. This will be an unmissable chance to get to know this visually spectacular artist and the influence he has had on those who followed. |
| Monday 28/9/26 7.30pm | Iron Winter (12A) | Although not on general release in the UK, we spotted this film at the Borderlines Film Festival in March where it won the Audience Award for Best Documentary. The cinemaphotography of Mongolia’s breathtaking landscapes is exceptional and the story a window into another world far from our daily routines. For countless generations, the herders of the Tsakhir Valley have protected their horses from ferocious arctic storms by amassing a giant winter herd, nominating their bravest young men to protect it. The daring tradition served as a brutal coming of age ritual, until five years ago, when under increasing environmental pressure, it abruptly ended. Fearful about the loss of culture, elders soon vowed to revive it. And two young friends were handed the daunting responsibility to not only protect the valley's herd - but to save its most sacred practice. For four months, the boys battle Mongolia's deadliest winter on record, testing friendship and faith in a fight to keep 2000 horses alive, and preserve an ancient way of life. |
| Monday 5/10/26 | Bitter Christmas (15) | After winning the Golden Lion for The Room Next Door at Venice in 2024, Pedro Almodóvar returned to the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year where this, his latest film, was nominated for the Palme D’Or and where it won the Soundtrack Award. Raúl is a cult filmmaker in the midst of a creative crisis. When tragedy strikes one of his closest collaborators, he draws inspiration from it to write his next film. Little by little, he imagines Elsa, a filmmaker in the midst of writing a script, whose journey begins to mirror his own. The two filmmakers become two sides of the same character, in a game of mirrors where the raw honesty of autofiction reveals as much as it destroys. But how far can one go to tell a story? |
| Monday 12/10/26 | La Femme Infidèle (15) | In our occasional series of classic masterpieces, we’ve selected this newly remastered domestic thriller from 1969 to coincide with London’s BFI Southbank recent Claude Chabrol season. The film is the story of a complex marriage in which the husband Charles suspects his wife Hélène is cheating on him. Charles hires a private detective to follow Hélène who, on the pretext of visiting her beautician, frequently goes to Paris. Described by one critic as “a brilliant ballet of repression and fear”, Chabrol’s mastery of tension and atmosphere is at its best as we witness the protagonists weave their way to a conclusion about the future of their marriage. Superb performances portraying complex characters. ★★★★★ The Guardian. |
| Monday 19/10/26 | The Cycle of Love (12A) | This moving film follows the extraordinary true story of PK, a 23-year-old street artist from Delhi who sets off with a handful of paint brushes and a second-hand bicycle on a 6,000 mile journey across Europe and Asia to find Lotta, the woman who captured his heart during her visit to India. Convinced their meeting was fate, reinforced by an astrologer’s prophecy that matched Lotta’s description, PK embarks on a leap of faith that becomes a journey of love, identity and transformation. With unprecedented access, the Oscar-winning filmmaking team partner closely with PK, Lotta and their families to bring this intimate, thrilling and life-affirming story to the big screen. |
| Monday 26/10/26 | Queen At Sea (15) | Receiving its world premiere in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, Queen At Sea won both the Silver Bear Jury Prize and the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance for both Courtenay and Calder-Marshall. The film follows Amanda and her stepfather, Martin, at odds over a moral quandary involving Amanda’s mother, Leslie, In the advanced stages of dementia. They quarrel over whether Leslie has lost all ability to make critical decisions in her own best interests, and, if so, who is responsible – a spouse, a child, an institution – for making such a determination? As Amanda and Martin are forced to make increasingly difficult choices, the repercussions spiral out of their control. ★★★★★ "a lacerating movie...a startling portrait of intimacy" Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian |
| Monday 2/11/26 | Bad Apples (15) | A struggling primary school teacher begins to make some questionable decisions after one of her students is injured. |