Awarded LGBTQIA+ cinema’s highest honour at Berlin, this rip-roaring
comedy centres on Saira, introvert heir to the throne of planet
Clitopolis. She’s still reeling from being dumped by her hot bounty
hunter girlfriend, Kiki, when Kiki is kidnapped by the “Straight White
Maliens”. Steeling herself, Saira recruits the help of an enby popstar
and a cantankerous boomer spaceship and launches a mission to rescue
Kiki and, she hopes, win her back. LESBIAN SPACE PRINCESS, is a one-of-a-kind, out of this world triumph.
If you found out we weren't alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? When meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) finds herself at the centre of a bizarre on-set incident, she crosses paths with cybersecurity expert Daniel Kellner (Josh O'Connor) who claims to understand what happened to her – and to have proof that we're not alone in the universe.
Bear is a painfully shy music store worker who is secretly fixated on his bubbly colleague, Nikki. After a botched attempt to confess his feelings, he breaks a novelty "One Wish Willow" to make her fall in love with him, only to discover that her all-consuming devotion comes with dark, sinister consequences...
One of the defining pieces of internet horror folklore of the last decade, BACKROOMS sees viral creator Kane Parsons expand his hugely influential found-footage nightmare into a feature film for A24 and producer James Wan, starring Renate Reinsve, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mark Duplass. When a therapist’s patient vanishes through a mysterious doorway hidden beneath a furniture showroom, she follows ...
The internationally acclaimed, queer South Asian feature, Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda) , written and directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, made history at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025, becoming the first Indian fiction feature and the first Marathi-language film to win the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize. Further awards include the Jury Prize at the inaugural SXSW London. Set in rural...
Joe and Angela’s marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbours for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. Have they reignited the spark or lit the match that burns it all down? Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton are on unmissable form in this razor-sharp adult comedy from A24. Everything is on the table.
Awarded LGBTQIA+ cinema’s highest honour at Berlin, this rip-roaring comedy centres on Saira, introvert heir to the throne of planet Clitopolis. She’s still reeling from being dumped by her hot bounty hunter girlfriend, Kiki, when Kiki is kidnapped by the “Straight White Maliens”. Steeling herself, Saira recruits the help of an enby popstar and a cantankerous boomer spaceship and launches a missio...
The internationally acclaimed, queer South Asian feature, Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda) , written and directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, made history at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025, becoming the first Indian fiction feature and the first Marathi-language film to win the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize. Further awards include the Jury Prize at the inaugural SXSW London. Set in rural...
SHOOT THE PEOPLE is a documentary capturing photographer and activist Misan Harriman’s journey documenting global protest movements that drive social change. Renowned for his wide-ranging work — including powerful breakthrough images from the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and capturing the Palestinian liberation movement on film — Harriman also made history as the first Black man to photograph ...
DJ YODA comes to The Rio this Summer to celebrate 50 years of cinema for the people, by the people! Yoda is a world-class turntablist, music producer, and trailblazing video artist and has dazzled audiences around the globe and sharing epic stages with giants from Snoop Dogg to Damon Albarn, Diplo to Dame Evelyn Glennie. Described by Q Magazine as “One of the 10 DJs to see before you die”, DJ Yo...
TV PARTY, TONIGHT!: Saul Bass - The Art of The Title + Shorts
Now Playing
Saul Bass: The Art of The Title + Shorts Doors 7pm, Into 7.15pm Bass on Titles (1982) 32min Before Saul Bass, movie title cards were generally generic pages that simply listed the cast and crew. Bass treated the opening credits as the "prologue" to the film, setting the climate for the unfolding story and enhancing the audience's emotional experience. Together with his wife and collaborator, Elai...
The Arabic Cinema Club returns with A Song On The Passage (1972) dir. Ali Abdel Khaleq, curated by writer, political analyst and radio host, Nihal El Aasar. During the 1967 war, the connection drops between a group of soldiers on a passage in the desert and the command centre. They try to survive despite the enemy attacks and the lack of supplies. The film will be followed by a DJ set. Pre...
Hungama presents Cactus Pears Q&A with director, Rohan Kanawade, hosted by Hungama founder, Ryan Lanji. The internationally acclaimed, queer South Asian feature, Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda) , written and directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, made history at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025, becoming the first Indian fiction feature and the first Marathi-language film to win the World Cinema Dra...
The All Out of Bubblegum Film Club presents SPEED RACER, the legendary 2008 kaleidoscopic cult classic. Speed Racer is aiming to be the best driver in the world. The only thing in his way is Royalton Industries and the unassailable might of money. But this kid was born to race and nothing is going to stop him. A visceral, eye-popping rush that breaks all the rules of how a film is supposed to loo...
RIO STAFF SELECTS MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE: LIFE ON THE MURDER SCENE
THU 02 & SAT 04 JUL
RIO STAFF SELECTS MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE: LIFE ON THE MURDER SCENE (2006) As pioneers of emo rock and youth subculture My Chemical Romance embark on a worldwide tour, come and celebrate the return of 2006 at the Rio Cinema with a screening of the documentary MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE: LIFE ON THE MURDER SCENE. Screening Thursday 2nd July, 8:15, in the Rio’s screen one, this is a very rare opportunity to s...
London, 5th November 1892, Bonfire Night. The famous playwright Oscar Wilde and his lover Lord Alfred Douglas discreetly go to a luxurious brothel where the owner, Alfred Taylor, has prepared a surprise for the renowned author: a private and very special performance of his play Salome , banned by the authorities, in which Taylor himself and the peculiar inhabitants of the exclusive establishment w...
SHOOT THE PEOPLE is a documentary capturing photographer and activist Misan Harriman’s journey documenting global protest movements that drive social change. Renowned for his wide-ranging work — including powerful breakthrough images from the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and capturing the Palestinian liberation movement on film — Harriman also made history as the first Black man to photograph ...
Seminal American visual artist Paul McCarthy introduces a selection of his pioneering video performance works from the early Black and White Tapes to the UK premiere of a new episode from the ongoing A&E project. Conceived as both a survey and a point of entry, this one-night event offers a rare opportunity to encounter the groundbreaking video practice of one of the most influential and provocat...
HOW TO GET ON WITH EVERYBODY follows the remarkable life of Rabbi Gluck, a unique figure within the Haredi community who is crossing divides and building friendships in unlikely places. Behind his playful manner lies a timely message about our shared humanity in a time of global tension and division. The screening is followed by a Q&A discussion with Rabbi Herschel Gluck and filmmakers Winstan Wh...
Two maladapted young women, both part of the same internet gore enthusiast community, formulate a plan to meet in person with the intent that one will kill the other, film the killing, and then sell the cameras that “watched” to unsuspecting customers online in the hopes of spurring on a “new era of death.” Inspired in equal parts by mumblecore, shot-on-video horror, and a deep unease formed by t...
For our July Classic Matinee, we?re heading to Sheffield with THE FULL MONTY, the beloved British comedy that strips away pride, prejudice and plenty of inhibitions. After losing his job at the local steelworks, Gaz is desperate to raise money and prove himself to his young son. Inspired by the success of a touring male dance troupe, he recruits a group of fellow unemployed men to form their ow...
For our August Classic Matinee, we hit the open road with THELMA & LOUISE, Ridley Scott’s landmark drama and one of the defining American films of the 1990s. What begins as a weekend getaway for two friends soon becomes an unexpected flight across the American Southwest after a violent encounter changes everything. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon are magnificent as the titular pair, whose journe...
For our September Classic Matinee, we’re heading to the windswept Scottish coast with LOCAL HERO, Bill Forsyth’s much-loved comedy-drama about place, belonging and the value of what cannot be bought... When an ambitious American oil executive is sent to a remote Highland village to purchase the land for a new refinery, he expects a straightforward business deal. Instead, he finds himself captiv...
The internationally acclaimed, queer South Asian feature, Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda) , written and directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, made history at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025, becoming the first Indian fiction feature and the first Marathi-language film to win the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize. Further awards include the Jury Prize at the inaugural SXSW London. Set in rural...
The internationally acclaimed, queer South Asian feature, Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda) , written and directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, made history at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025, becoming the first Indian fiction feature and the first Marathi-language film to win the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize. Further awards include the Jury Prize at the inaugural SXSW London. Set in rural...
Pink Palace: THE INCREDIBLY TRUE ADVENTURE OF TWO GIRLS IN LOVE
Showing from Thu 18 Jun
Pink Palace presents this quintessential queer rom-com, a stand out for avoiding tragic tropes offering a rare, joyful look at young lesbian love. Randy Dean is a high school senior with poor grades and a cashier’s job at a gas station. One day her classmate Evie, stops by, unsure if her tires need air, sparks fly, and Randy and Evie must balance the passion of adolescent romance with the pitfall...
A lecherous college professor takes a student to a sleazy New York motel, and becomes the first victim of a sharp-toothed, murderous condom. Assigned to the case, gay cop Luigi Mackeroni visits the motel, picks up young hustler Billy and takes him to a room, where they barely escape intact from an attack by another vicious prophylactic. Mackeroni must overcome the understandable doubts of his supe...
From 1971-1973, Jack Hazan gained intimate access to David Hockney and his circle of friends and lovers to create A Bigger Splash. Using a 'structured reality' format rather than pure documentary, he crafted a mesmerising film, groundbreaking in style and daring in nature. “Hockney was initially horrified by the movie's intimacy, but was soon persuaded by his friends of its brilliance, and indeed...
Pink Palace presents a new 4k restoration of this landmark of gay and bisexual cinema. David Buckley's excursion into bisexuality, 70s relationship politics, and the historical importance of gay bathhouse culture is celebrated in this 1975 film Saturday Night at the Baths. When struggling pianist Michael lands a job at the legendary Continental Baths in NYC, his wife Tracy encourages him, even em...
The Rio’s beloved and historic Saturday Morning Picture Club returns! Join us from 10.15am for craft activities, before the film screening at 11am! This month we’re heading on a high-tech family adventure with SPY KIDS. Before the screening, we will have arts and crafts activities in the lobby led by Sophie, who as well as being a member of the Rio team has worked with children as a teacher,...
If you found out we weren't alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? When meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) finds herself at the centre of a bizarre on-set incident, she crosses paths with cybersecurity expert Daniel Kellner (Josh O'Connor) who claims to understand what happened to her – and to have proof that we're not alone in the universe.
Bear is a painfully shy music store worker who is secretly fixated on his bubbly colleague, Nikki. After a botched attempt to confess his feelings, he breaks a novelty "One Wish Willow" to make her fall in love with him, only to discover that her all-consuming devotion comes with dark, sinister consequences...
One of the defining pieces of internet horror folklore of the last decade, BACKROOMS sees viral creator Kane Parsons expand his hugely influential found-footage nightmare into a feature film for A24 and producer James Wan, starring Renate Reinsve, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mark Duplass. When a therapist’s patient vanishes through a mysterious doorway hidden beneath a furniture showroom, she follows ...
Awarded LGBTQIA+ cinema’s highest honour at Berlin, this rip-roaring comedy centres on Saira, introvert heir to the throne of planet Clitopolis. She’s still reeling from being dumped by her hot bounty hunter girlfriend, Kiki, when Kiki is kidnapped by the “Straight White Maliens”. Steeling herself, Saira recruits the help of an enby popstar and a cantankerous boomer spaceship and launches a missio...
The internationally acclaimed, queer South Asian feature, Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda) , written and directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, made history at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025, becoming the first Indian fiction feature and the first Marathi-language film to win the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize. Further awards include the Jury Prize at the inaugural SXSW London. Set in rural...
Joe and Angela’s marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbours for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. Have they reignited the spark or lit the match that burns it all down? Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton are on unmissable form in this razor-sharp adult comedy from A24. Everything is on the table.
Rio Forever celebrates 1 year of Japanese Film Club at The Rio! Come along early to celebrate with drinks and a DJ playing Japanese music all night. This film is the first part of a double bill. When her niece is found dead along with three friends after viewing a supposedly cursed videotape, reporter Reiko sets out to investigate. She finds the tape, watches it and receives a phone call informin...
SHALL WE DANCE? + Q&A (Japanese Film Club 1st Birthday Party!)
Showing from Sat 20 Jun
Rio Forever celebrates 1 year of Japanese Film Club at The Rio! This is a very special screening with a live Zoom Q&A with the director, Masayuki Suo, and main female star, Kusakari Tamiyo. Come along early to celebrate with drinks and a DJ playing Japanese music all night. This film is the second part of a double bill. Shohei Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) seems to have it all - a high-paying job as an...
Loosely-based on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Gus Van Saint’s 1991 movie is a queer classic featuring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves as a pair of gay hustlers who travel from grungy Portland, Oregon to Italy on a journey of sex, drugs and self-discovery. Screening as part of SLACKER SHAKESPEARE, a season of 1990s indie cult movie classics, inspired by the world of William Shakespeare. These events are...
Slacker Shakespeare: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO + JULIET
Showing from Sun 5 Jul
Baz Luhrmann’s gloriously over the top modern day adaptation of Shakespeare’s greatest romantic tragedy, reimagined the feuding Montague and Capulets as rival street gangs in Veracruz. With Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as the star-crossed lovers and a soundtrack featuring Garbage and The Cardigans, it remains one of the liveliest takes on the classic ever made. Screening as part of SLACKER ...
Why have one boyfriend when you can have two… Twenty-two year old budding actress Veronica finds her love life taking a turn for the better after meeting Abel and Zed. As she pursues them both simultaneously, she can’t pick just one. Veronica works around the clock to make sure the guys never meet, but when they inevitably do she somehow convinces them to both move in with her. As she lives out a...
RIO FOREVER X QUEER HORROR NIGHTS: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (DIRECTOR’S CUT)
Showing from Sat 11 Jul
Queer Horror Nights celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the much-loved cult movie musical LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS with a special midnight screening of the radical 2012 Director’s Cut. Join us for an outrageous night of queer monstrosity featuring a passionate intro by film fanatic Token Homo (BAR TRASH), live commentary by cult icon Loose Willis (FIST CLUB), lip-synch by the incredible Miss Terri Bo...
DJ YODA comes to The Rio this Summer to celebrate 50 years of cinema for the people, by the people! Yoda is a world-class turntablist, music producer, and trailblazing video artist and has dazzled audiences around the globe and sharing epic stages with giants from Snoop Dogg to Damon Albarn, Diplo to Dame Evelyn Glennie. Described by Q Magazine as “One of the 10 DJs to see before you die”, DJ Yo...
BLOOD X BONES As part of Category H’s late night season Rio Forever/Rio Never Ever, you are invited to an evening of BLOOD and BONES. On Friday the 17th of July at 23:30, see two films which explore the house as a place of horror. Where strange inhabitants commit unspeakable deeds or where past inhabitants can’t quite seem to put their bad habits to rest, even from beyond the grave. BLOOD (1973)...
This fast-moving rom com set in London in 1593 follows the trials and tribulations of Will Shakespeare, a struggling young playwright, suffering from a dreadful bout of writer’s block. Inspired by new love, his creative powers are unleashed as his great love story, Romeo and Juliet is brought to life for the first time. Screening as part of SLACKER SHAKESPEARE, a season of 1990s indie cult movie ...
Poland, 1962. Anna, a novice nun preparing to take her vows, discovers a family secret that changes her understanding of her past. Together with her aunt, she embarks on a journey to uncover the fate of her family during and after the Second World War. Winner of the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Ida is shown in Polish, with English subtitles.
