During October 2025, ActOne Cinema presents the Ealing Film Festival, a BFI-backed season featuring melodrama and music, live events, and an extensive selection of films.
Showing in October:
- One Battle After Another: After years of exile, a band of former revolutionaries reunite to rescue one of their children when an old enemy resurfaces, igniting a sweeping action‑epic of politics, vengeance, and fractured loyalties. Twenty years in the making, this is Paul Thomas Anderson’s monumental achievement and statement work.
- The Smashing Machine: A raw biographical sports drama about MMA legend Mark Kerr, tracing his brutal fights, rise to fame, and battles with addiction and injury. Led by outstanding performances from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt, it is a sports film unlike any other.
- Happyend: Set in a near‑future Tokyo under looming disaster and authoritarian control, two best friends about to graduate high school pull a prank that triggers a surveillance crackdown and forces them to confront their diverging values.
- Dead of Winter: A grief‑stricken widow (Emma Thompson) stranded on a snowy back road stops at a remote cabin and gets trapped in a fight for survival when she discovers a murderous couple holding a young woman hostage.
- Brides: Two teenage girls, disillusioned and seeking belonging, embark on a risky journey toward Syria in Nadia Fall’s emotionally charged coming‑of‑age drama.
- I Swear: The unmissable true account of Tourette Syndrome campaigner John Davidson’s journey with Tourette’s through his troubled teens and early adulthood. The film is filled with touching, perceptive, and beautiful performances, led by a star-making portrayal from Robert Aramayo as John.
- A House of Dynamite: From Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow comes a nuclear political thriller, starring Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson and Gabriel Basso. When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond.
- Ghost Trail: A tense, terrifically acted thriller, about a secret group tracking Syrian regime leaders on the run. Hamid must confront his former torturer in Jonathan Millet’s deeply researched thriller inspired by true events.
- Souleymane’s Story: A Paris food delivery cyclist and asylum seeker named Souleymane has two days to prepare his story for a make-or-break interview to secure legal residency. Winner of the Cannes Un Certain Regard Award for Best Performance (Abou Sangare) and Un Certain Regard Jury Prize for director Boris Lojkine.
Special Events – Mark Your Calendar
Board Games Night – Wed 1st October, 6.00 pm
Join us for an evening of gaming fun, chat and building friendships! Whether you’re a seasoned gamer or brand new to the world of board games, this event is perfect for everyone. You can bring and host your own games, join other people’s games or play one from our newbie-friendly collection. If you don’t know how to play a game, someone will teach you, and if you come alone, we’ll help you find a group. Free entry, pets welcome.
Royal Opera Live: Tosca – Wed 1st October, 6.45 pm
Filmed live in September 2025, a star-studded cast includes soprano Anna Netrebko performing the role of Tosca, tenor Freddie De Tommaso as Cavaradossi, and bass-baritone Gerald Finley as Scarpia, with Music Director of The Royal Opera Jakub Hrůša conducting his first new production in the role. An alternative, modern-day Rome provides the backdrop for Oliver Mears’ unmissable, gripping new production of Puccini’s thriller.
Love opera and ballet? Explore our seasonal passes and see more for less. The Royal Ballet & Opera Live cinema season runs until May 2026.
Ealing Film Festival – Thu 2nd October, 7.00 pm
The much-anticipated return of the EFF and its Homegrown selection is currently sold out.
Radiohead x Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror – Fri 3 – Sun 5 October
Don’t miss out on the chance to experience this imaginative new take on an iconic horror classic. Silents Synced pairs classic silent movies with epic rock music to bring audiences a unique big-screen experience. This reimagining of the iconic Nosferatu (1922) features Radiohead’s “Kid A” (2000) and “Amnesiac” (2001) albums.
Jazz night with Trent Pieterse Quartet – Sat 4 October, 7.30 pm
Join us for an atmospheric evening of live jazz with the talented Trent Pieterse Quartet. Discover soulful melodies as local jazz musicians take the stage, captivating you with their incredible skills and improvisation. £3 entry
Power Station + director Q&A – Thu 9 October, 7.45 pm
Two artists in Walthamstow, London, set out to take their street off the grid, kickstarting a solar-powered energy revolution. Co-director Dan Edelstyn will join us after the screening for a live Q&A about the power of community, neighbourhood, and art in changing minds about what could be possible.
Untitled Comedy – Fri 10 October, 7.00 pm
Stand-up talents take the stage, MC’d by its founder, Ryan Denham. Expect laughs, surprises, a prize for one lucky audience member and a great atmosphere. Free entry.
Love, Obsession, Music: Ema – Sat 11 October, 2.30 pm
The first of a series of five events taking you on a multidisciplinary journey that explores a whirlpool of emotions, from romantic love and infatuation to longing and obsession, through films and their soundtracks. BFI FAN-backed Too Much: Melodrama on Film Season starts with Ema, accompanied by a live introduction and followed by a semi-structured discussion about the film with free tea and coffee in the lounge.
Acton Film Club Presents: Steamboat Bill, Jr Accompanied by Live Music – Mon 13 October, 6.30 pm
The first of a series of five events taking you on a multidisciplinary journey. Tickets are only £3.00 for Standard & Plus Members and £3.60 for everyone else. Together with the Acton Film Club, we are participating in The Festival of Community Cinema, a nationwide event that celebrates 100 years since the founding of the first film society. Steamboat Bill, Jr is one of Buster Keaton’s finest comedies, with brilliant gags and heart-stopping stunts, and we are proud to present it accompanied by live music from Pierre Catherine-Buffet, recreating the original experience audiences would have had when watching a silent film: when live music was a crucial part of the viewing experience and helped to create mood, provide emotional context, and enhance the narrative.
ActOne Film Quiz – Thu 16 October, 7.30 pm
Test your film knowledge in a film quiz – with a different theme every month! Moderated by fabulous Lara Loren. £3 per person entry, we welcome teams of up to six trivia enthusiasts. Win cool prizes and enjoy the evening of creativity and film.
Love, Obsession, Music: Cine-Concert Part I – Sat 18 October, 7.30 pm
Our second event of the BFI FAN UK-wide season, Too Much: Melodrama on Film. In this cine-concert, four talented musicians will perform live cinematic music from contemporary films (1990s – now) with melodramatic elements, accompanied by visuals on the big screen. In this bespoke concert, produced especially for ActOne’s Love… Obsession… Music Season, expect some of the best and emotionally resonant music themes of the last 30 years, and a newfound appreciation for melodrama as a rich, affective art form. Performers: Yaor Jacob: vocals, keyboards, melodica, small percussion, backing tracks manager – Mariia Liaskovets: violin (amplified and with effects) – Deniz Dortok: double bass, clarinet, classical guitar, small percussion – Pierre Catherine-Buffet: piano, electric guitar, steel guitar, small percussion.
Royal Opera Live: La Sonnambula – Tue 21 October, 6.45 pm
Pierre Catherine-Buffet: piano, electric guitar, steel guitar, small percussion. Broadcast LIVE from the Metropolitan Opera, for one night only. Following triumphant Met turns in Roméo et Juliette, La Traviata, and Lucia di Lammermoor, Nadine Sierra summits another peak of the soprano repertoire as Amina, who sleepwalks her way into the audience’s hearts in Bellini’s poignant tale of love lost and found. In his new production, Rolando Villazón, the tenor who has embarked on a brilliant second career as a director, retains the opera’s original setting in the Swiss Alps but uses its somnambulant plot to explore the emotional and psychological valleys of the mind.
Love opera and ballet? Explore our seasonal passes and see more for less. The Royal Ballet & Opera Live cinema season runs until May 2026.
National Theatre Live: Mrs Warren’s Profession – Thu 23 October, 7.00 pm
Five-time Olivier Award winner Imelda Staunton joins forces with her real-life daughter Bessie Carter for the very first time, playing mother and daughter in Bernard Shaw’s incendiary moral classic. Filmed live from the West End, this new production reunites Staunton with director Dominic Cooke (Follies, Good), exploring the clash between morality and independence, traditions and progress.
Frankenstein Unchained with Madeline Smith Live! – Sat 25 October, 8.00 pm
Horror queen Madeline Smith, known for her performances in numerous Hammer Productions horror films during the 1960s and 1970s, narrates this one-of-a-kind audiovisual experience live. Experience the world of the monster like never before, in an interactive trip through the world of Mary Shelley’s classic story. Smith will be accompanied by an original soundtrack by Jason Frederick, inspired by the classic era of Hammer and Universal and performed live to picture to support the story and underscore the terror throughout.
National Theatre Live: Inter Alia (Encore) – Sun 26 October, 2.30 pm
Oscar-nominated Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, Saltburn) is Jessica in the much-anticipated next play from the team behind Prima Facie. This is a recording of a live performance. Jessica Parks is a smart Crown Court Judge at the top of her career. Behind the robe, she is a karaoke fiend, a loving wife and a supportive parent. When an event threatens to throw her life completely off balance, can she hold her family upright?
Open Mic Night – Thu 30 October, sign up from 7.30 pm, performances start at 8.00 pm
We aim to cultivate an atmosphere of energy, enthusiasm and unconditional support, so whether you wish to perform or sit back and be entertained, come down. Free entry.
Venue: All events take place at ActOne Cinema, 119-121 High Street, Acton W3 6NA
Tickets & More Info: Book online at ActOneCinema.co.uk or purchase tickets at the box office within our cosy daily café bar. Open daily from 11.30 am – 10.00 pm
