2025 is nearly at an end and but we've still got many best of the year contenders for your consideration before 2026 begins. With WICKED: FOR GOOD selling out our screens all weekend and WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY joining us on Friday, its safe to say we've got the Hollywood contingent covered. But we wouldn't be Lexi if we didn't spotlight the smaller and more unsung films still left to see this year!
We kickstarted December with last Sunday's launch of our mini-season on the master of melodrama: Pedro Almodóvar and four of his most iconic female acting collaborators. You'll have a chance to see Victoria Abril's fearless performance in TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN! (1989), the late Marisa Paredes' thoughtful role in THE FLOWER OF MY SECRET (1995), Cecilia Roth's award winning work in the iconic ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (1999) and Penélope Cruz in VOLVER (2006) who became the first Spanish actress to be nominated at the Academy Awards. All Sunday screenings will feature an introduction and tickets are only £10/£8 for members. Escape the winter blues with four trips to sunny Spain and read more about the season HERE.
A Lexi Christmas tradition, we will of course be screening IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE over the holidays, but this year we've got an extra treat too. Fans of Ralph Fiennes recent northern escapades in THE CHORAL won't want to miss beloved 2004 French musical-drama LES CHORISTES, a beautiful story of a music teacher who transforms a boarding school for troubled boys into a choir after the Second World War.
On the new release front for Christmas, Freida McFadden's bestselling thriller novel THE HOUSEMAID gets a tense big screen adaptation featuring a delicious Amanda Seyfried performance, previewing at The Lexi from the 22nd. The hotly awards tipped SENTIMENTAL VALUE joins us from the 27th too. An acclaimed Norwegian drama about family relations starring Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning, its the director's follow-up to Lexi smash hit The Worst Person In The World from 2022. Plus do not miss our one-week only theatrical engagement of Kate Winslet's directorial debut GOODBYE JUNE from the 19th. This Christmastime British family drama features one of the best ensembles of the year with Timothy Spall, Andrea Riseborough and a heartbreaking Helen Mirren.
We get a lot of requests from customers and its often hard to show everything, particularly at this time of year. Which is why we're trialing a new strand to give everyone a 'One Night Only' opportunity to catch some of the films that got away from our programme. We're launching this on Thursday 11th December with ANEMONE, Daniel Day-Lewis' return to acting after an eight year hiatus. Starring alongside Sean Bean as two warring brothers, Daniel co-wrote the screenplay with his son Ronan who takes the directorial reins. We're got activist documentary POWER STATION + Q&A happening on Wednesday, a real grassroots cinematic success story with sold out screens up and down the country. Then there's PRIME MINISTER + RECORDED Q&A on Thursday 18th December, an inspiring profile on New Zealand's 40th Prime Minister: Jacinda Ardern. And speaking of documentaries we're very proud to be one of the only cinemas in the UK screening COVER-UP. A brilliant and intricate portrait of journalist Seymour Hersh, it is the latest film from director Laura Poitras who recently won the Golden Lion for All The Beauty And The Bloodshed.
Three festival favourites make up my personal recommendations for the month, starting with the Cannes Palme d'Or winner: IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT. Jafar Panahi's acclaimed Iranian thriller is a powerful and political genre piece that is tipped for Oscar success in the new year. There's also Cannes UCR Best Screenplay Winner PILLION, an unlikely love story between Alexander Skarsgård and his devoted and submissive partner Harry Melling which has wowed audiences across the UK. I'd also like to highlight Ethan Hawke's incredible turn in BLUE MOON. He plays an embittered Lorenz Hart drowning his sorrows as Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) celebrates the opening night of his ground-breaking hit musical “Oklahoma!”.
Our Exhibition on Screen screening of CARAVAGGIO a few weeks ago was so busy that we've added extra showings of that in December, well worth catching in Screen One! Speaking of returning favourites, we're giving you one final chance to catch Rosamund Pike in NT Live's INTER ALIA before it leaves UK screens on December 11th. Anyone seeking a newer National Theatre fix would do well to catch Jack Lowden and Martin Freeman in the buzzy new production of THE FIFTH STEP, playing at Lexi on Saturday 6th and Wednesday 10th December.
Coming on a Tuesday? Remember you can bring a friend for free! And not forgetting £6 tickets all day for members on Mondays.
