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The UK’s best independent cinemas
These unique venues have something for every cinephile
Most of us have access to “thousands of films” at home but there is something special about the “big-screen communal experience”, said Tim Robey in The Telegraph.
“Shockwaves from the pandemic” saw 150 operating cinemas close permanently but there are still many “British movie palaces” to explore. Here are our favourite independent cinemas worth paying a visit to.
The Odyssey, St Albans, Hertfordshire
In 2014, this “single-screen, 500-seat arthouse” became the town’s first cinema to open in years, said Robey in The Telegraph. The historic building has been used as a picture palace since 1908 and has been renovated to highlight its “1930s Art Deco glory”. It is now called The Odyssey to honour Stanley Kubrick; the famed director was known to be a “St Albans habitué” in his later years. odysseypictures.co.uk
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Constructed in 1913, this charming cinema is one of the first “purpose-built” venues in Scotland and is known locally as The Wee Pictures, said Madeleine Silver in Country Life. Architect Albert Gardner designed the “Art Nouveau spectacle”. In 1935, the cinema was revamped by Gardner, who gave it the “ambiance of a Mediterranean courtyard” by projecting a blue sky “complete with moving white clouds” onto the ceiling of the auditorium. campbeltownpicturehouse.co.uk
Aldeburgh Cinema, Suffolk
The history of this cinema dates back to 1919, when it was opened by local draper Walter Hill. Back then, it was up against the “silent films and magic lantern shows” at nearby Jubilee Hall but it managed to survive the competition, said Silver in Country Life. Today, Aldeburgh Cinema offers a vibrant programme that balances “offbeat films with blockbusters”. aldeburghcinema.co.uk
The Magic Lantern, Tywyn, Gwynedd
As a community cinema, this venue is flourishing, said Shaurya Thapa in Time Out. The Magic Lantern was crowned winner of Cinema of the Year Award at last year’s British Independent Film Awards. The cinema was built in 1893 to be used as the Town Assembly Room but it has embraced today’s technology and some of its screens are “equipped with state-of-the-art 4K projection and Dolby Atmos sound”. tywyncinema.co.uk
Barbican, London
This “fiercely independent” venue is “unrivalled”, said Mike Daw in The Standard. With a line-up of films that is “impossible to overlook”, the Barbican makes the most of its “power” as a bigger arts establishment to help keep “even the most niche tickets relatively affordable”. It also manages to book “fabulous enriching names for Q&A sessions and talks”. This is “independent cinema at its finest”. barbican.org.uk
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Deeya Sonalkar joined The Week as audience editor in 2025. She is in charge of The Week's social media platforms as well as providing audience insight and researching online trends.
Deeya started her career as a digital intern at Elle India in Mumbai, where she oversaw the title's social media and employed SEO tools to maximise its visibility, before moving to the UK to pursue a master's in marketing at Brunel University. She took up a role as social media assistant at MailOnline while doing her degree. After graduating, she jumped into the role of social media editor at London's The Standard, where she spent more than a year bringing news stories from the capital to audiences online. She is passionate about sociocultural issues and very enthusiastic about film and culinary arts.
