James R | On 01, Dec 2019

This weekend sees the release of one of Netflix’s latest awards contenders, and one of the year’s most surprising films: Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes.

Directed the Academy Award nominee helmer of City of God and The Constant Gardener, it follows a frustrated Cardinal Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce) as he requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins). Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.

“This divinely unlikely bromance is a masterclass in acting from Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce,” we wrote in our review of the film.

The film is released in select UK cinemas today, before hitting Netflix worldwide on 20th December.

Netflix, however, is still surrounded by controversy within the industry, with major exhibitors refusing to screen its titles, because the streaming giant typically releases movies day-and-date worldwide or with a much shorter theatrical window than the conventional 12 weeks. The streaming giant has, though, increasingly begun releasing movies in cinemas with a brief exclusive window. In the UK, that has typically been through a partnership with Curzon Cinemas and a handful of other venues – more than a dozen other indie cinemas recently petitioned for Netflix to work with them too. (At present, Vue, Cineworld and Odeon will not show Netflix films.)

While The Irishman enjoyed a wider theatrical release than Netflix has previously given its original films, The Two Popes has a slightly less wide release, more akin to the rollout given to Marriage Story, but with dates lined up including some in January 2020, the hope of being able to catch it on the big screen even after its Netflix release is a promising step forwards for the future of the Netflix/cinema distribution debate.

So if you’re looking to see The Two Popes on the big screen, here’s the list of where you can watch it in UK cinemas, which we’ll keep updated with additional screenings as we confirm them.

All venues are screening The Two Popes from today unless otherwise stated.

Aberdeen

Belmont Filmhouse (from 6th December)

Belfast

City Side
Queen’s Film Theatre (from 13th December)

Bristol

Watershed

Canterbury

Curzon Canterbury

Cardiff

Chapter (from 13th December)

Colchester

Curzon Colchester

Derby

Quad (from 6th December)

Dublin

Light House

Edinburgh

Edinburgh Filmhouse (from 6th December)

Glasgow

Glasgow Film Theatre

Knutsford

Curzon Knutsford

London

ArtHouse Crouch End
Curzon Bloomsbury
Curzon Victoria
Curzon Mayfair
Curzon Soho
Curzon Wimbledon
Curzon Aldgate
Rio Cinema

Manchester

Home (from 20th December)

Newcastle

Tyneside Cinema

Oxford

Curzon Oxford

Ripon

Curzon Ripon

Sheffield

Curzon Sheffield
Showroom (from 6th December)

Tewkesbury

The Roses (from 20th January 2020)

Add to Watchlist