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The Prince Charles Cinema

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ShowingTuesday 14th July
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The Ascent
1977 111mins Soviet Union (12A) War

The crowning triumph of a career cut tragically short, the final film from Larisa Shepitko won the Golden Bear at the 1977 Berlin Film Festival and went on to be hailed as one of the finest works of late Soviet cinema. In the darkest days of World War II, two partisans set out for supplies to sustain their beleaguered outfit, braving the blizzard-swept landscape of Nazi-occupied Belorussia. When they fall into the hands of German forces and come face-to-face with death, each must choose between martyrdom and betrayal, in a spiritual ordeal that lifts the film's earthy drama to the plane of religious allegory. With stark, visceral cinematography that pits blinding white snow against pitch-black despair, THE ASCENT finds poetry and transcendence in the harrowing trials of war.

Past Lives
2023 106mins USA (12A) Romance/Drama

Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance.

Sorry, Baby
2025 103mins USA (15) Comedy / Drama

The confident and remarkable debut from writer and comedian Eva Victor made waves at Sundance, heralding a new voice of exceptional talent. Told in nonlinear chapters, it follows five years in the life of Agnes (expertly embodied by Victor), who’s introduced to us as a wry and intelligent young English professor. The film traces her transition from grad student to tenure, but also the before and after of a sexual assault. As she navigates the healing process, Agnes is supported by her sprightly best friend, Lydie (Naomi Ackie, Mickey 17), along with an endearingly awkward neighbour (Lucas Hedges, Ladybird, Boy Erased) and a sweet stray kitten.

“The film’s tone is a real balancing act,” says Victor, “one that hopefully feels true to life – funny, with pain. Painful, with funny parts.” Their sharp-eyed script creatively circumvents representing the unspeakable while applying a darkly comic wit to difficult subject matter, deftly revealing the absurdity of systems that neglect their victims.

Produced by Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Sorry, Baby portrays grief with sensitivity and wry, offbeat humour, exploring the aftermath of trauma and the process of healing.

The Handmaiden [Theatrical Cut]
2016 145mins (18) Thriller / Romance

In 1930s Korea, a swindler and a young woman pose as a Japanese count and a handmaiden to seduce a Japanese heiress and steal her fortune.

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
2025 100mins Canada (15) Comedy / Fantasy

When their plan to book a show at the Rivoli goes horribly wrong, Matt and Jay accidentally travel back to the year 2008.