The Ultimate Picture Palace (UPP)

The Ultimate Picture Palace (UPP) Oxford's very own independent cinema. A single screen in a cosy auditorium showing an eclectic mix of We are open every day of the week. Themed seasons.
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The Ultimate Picture Palace is an independent community-owned cinema showing a mix of indie, international, art-house, mainstream, documentary, and classic films. Our single-screen auditorium has 105 seats with a small bar serving drinks and snacks. However, with social distance restrictions in place, our maximum capacity is now around 30. We don’t show adverts, so the advertised time is the actua

l start time for the film. Other regular special screenings:

Classic Films (Sunday afternoons and Monday evenings). Baby Club (Every other Thursday, 12:00) - screenings exclusively for parents with babies under one-year-old. Wheelchair access
The access to the main entrance of the cinema and ticket office is level, as is the entrance to the screen and bar. The toilets are below the screen down a few steps. However, we have an arrangement in place for our customers to use the facilities of our neighbours. The cinema is just off Cowley Road, on Jeune Street and is easily accessible from the bus stop. There is space for a taxi to stop directly outside the cinema and there are a few disabled parking bays opposite the main entrance.

This week's programme. Swipe to view ➡️ ✨ Ian McKellen stars in Steven Soderbergh's darkly comic The Christophers🌊 Y'al...
03/06/2026

This week's programme. Swipe to view ➡️

✨ Ian McKellen stars in Steven Soderbergh's darkly comic The Christophers
🌊 Y'all loved it so much we've brought back Rose of Nevada
🇭🇺 Oscar-winning director László Nemes brings us Orphan
💎 Stylish spy thriller Reflection in a Dead Diamond
🌍 Special Great Big Green Week screenings: People's Emergency Briefing and Ackroyd & Harvey: The Art of Activism
🎞️ And two masterpieces in our Director's Cuts season: Stalker and The Red Shoes
🚀 Plus a special screening of Gattaca with panel discussion and Q&A

🎟️ https://buff.ly/TNUexva

Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel: a duo for the ages 🙌 Don't miss their mesmerising performances in The Christophers, show...
02/06/2026

Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel: a duo for the ages 🙌

Don't miss their mesmerising performances in The Christophers, showing at UPP from Friday.

Program notes:
A fixture of the London art world since his breakout during the creative surge of the 1960s, Julian Sklar has withdrawn into a cluttered, self-imposed seclusion. When his two estranged children set out to secure their inheritance, they recruit a young painter and occasional forger to infiltrate his household under the guise of a prospective assistant. Her task: gain access to a rumoured series of unfinished works hidden deep within Sklar’s home studio. Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, this sharply written comedy unfolds as a darkly funny chamber piece about deception, legacy and artistic value.

‘Terrifically exhilirating and funny…Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel are the double act of the year’
★★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Another solidly gripping film from the ever-prolific Soderbergh, this is a terrific two-hander, with Coel and McKellen on fine, fierce form.’
★★★★
John Nugent, Empire Magazine

🎟️ https://buff.ly/WFAQBkU

Pick up a Save the UPP badge next time you're at the cinema.And if you haven't already, please sign our petition and hel...
01/06/2026

Pick up a Save the UPP badge next time you're at the cinema.

And if you haven't already, please sign our petition and help show Oriel how much the UPP means to our community. We're fighting to stay in the home where we belong.

✍️ https://buff.ly/94J1wWS

One of our most requested new releases of the year so far, the right to roam documentary Our Land has two more screening...
01/06/2026

One of our most requested new releases of the year so far, the right to roam documentary Our Land has two more screenings this week. Catch it on Wednesday and Thursday.

Program notes:
Across England, the growing Right to Roam movement is challenging who gets access to the countryside through organised “mass trespass” events designed to reclaim public access to nature. But as campaigners push for greater freedom to explore the land, they come into direct conflict with powerful landowners who argue they are its rightful stewards. In this thoughtful and timely documentary, filmmaker Orban Wallace brings together voices from both sides of the debate, exploring the tensions between public access, private ownership and environmental responsibility. As the struggle over land and access intensifies, the film poses a provocative question: who really has the right to roam?

‘Right-to-roam campaigners offer bacchanalian antics and a heartfelt message… Wallace’s documentary avoids big clashes between landowners and campaigners in favour of wide-ranging exploration’
★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

‘A film whose narrow scope speaks to the wider issue of inequality in the UK and the wider globe… Orban Wallace offers a sharp look at the debate on access and ownership over the English countryside in this engrossing documentary.’
★★★★
David Jenkins, Little White Lies

🎟️ https://uppcinema.com/show/our-land/

😋 Fab summer...
30/05/2026

😋 Fab summer...

Everything is awesome… especially a Sunday screening of The LEGO Movie. 🎟️ https://buff.ly/LYknBxf
29/05/2026

Everything is awesome… especially a Sunday screening of The LEGO Movie.

🎟️ https://buff.ly/LYknBxf

It's going to be a fab summer at UPP 🎉As we celebrate 30 years of the UPP - and 50 years since the opening of our predec...
29/05/2026

It's going to be a fab summer at UPP 🎉

As we celebrate 30 years of the UPP - and 50 years since the opening of our predecessor the Penultimate Picture Palace - we’re bringing you a summer packed with special events, including cult classics, live scores, comedy intros, filmmaker Q&As, partner takeovers... and pizza!

From Blade Runner to Legally Blonde, The Holy Mountain to Gattaca, and The Lodger to REM, there’s something for everyone. Join us in celebrating cinema, community, and 50 years of film history in Oxford ❤️

More info via our blog 👉 https://buff.ly/ZinEkfs

Artwork by John Scarratt.

Two days til Lucile! Our next Director's Cuts season starts this Saturday with a screening of Earwig followed by an in-p...
28/05/2026

Two days til Lucile! Our next Director's Cuts season starts this Saturday with a screening of Earwig followed by an in-person Q&A with director Lucile Hadžihalilović and screenwriter Geoff Cox 🐛

🎟️ https://buff.ly/CAY5FBJ

This Week at UPP 🎂 We’re turning 30 - and we’re celebrating by going back to where it all began, as Blade Runner: The Fi...
27/05/2026

This Week at UPP 🎂 We’re turning 30 - and we’re celebrating by going back to where it all began, as Blade Runner: The Final Cut returns for our birthday screening thirty years to the day since it become the first film shown at UPP.

Elsewhere this week:
🌿 land rights & protest in Our Land
👁 folklore & grief in Hokum
🧠 memory & identity in Romería
⚽ global fan culture in Ultras
🏚 eerie control & isolation in Earwig (+ Q&A)
🩸 surreal cult classic Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
🧱 animated chaos and endless heart in The Lego Movie
🏳️‍🌈 family, secrets & solidarity in Saving Face

🎟️ https://uppcinema.com/whats-on/

Fun fact: our Lead Projectionist Kit is also one half of the critically acclaimed, absurdist sketch comedy duo The Mayor...
27/05/2026

Fun fact: our Lead Projectionist Kit is also one half of the critically acclaimed, absurdist sketch comedy duo The Mayor & His Daughter - and they've got three shows coming up at Soho Theatre(!) this week 🤩

If you’re in London over the next few days, don’t miss A Genuine Appreciation of Comedy - chaotic brilliance guaranteed.

🎟️ https://buff.ly/nsIoVYC

Address

Jeune Street
Oxford
OX41BN

Opening Hours

Monday 2:30pm - 11pm
Tuesday 2:30pm - 11pm
Wednesday 3pm - 11pm
Thursday 3pm - 11pm
Friday 3pm - 11pm
Saturday 3pm - 11pm
Sunday 2:30pm - 11pm

Telephone

+441865245288

Website

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