London's Best Independent Cinemas

Last Updated 03 February 2025

London's Best Independent Cinemas
Frontage of the Phoenix Cinema, lit up in neon
We have glowing reviews for many of London's independent cinemas. Image: Basil Jradeh under a Creative Commons license

Looking for alternatives to the blockbuster-toting, overpriced popcorn-slinging multiplexes? London flourishes with independent cinemas: institutions that've been going for decades, reinvigorated gems — even a ship with a 100-cinema on board! Here's our guide to the best indie cinema in London.

1. ActOne Cinema, Acton

Can you guess the location from the name? Acton's community cinema bravely opened in October 2021, while pandemic uncertainty still bubbled away. In fact, ActOne is a double triumph; it not only brought a new cinema to Acton, but also rescued the derelict library building that was under threat of redevelopment. This two-screener — beloved by locals including picture palace expert Nigel Smith, and none other than film critic Mark Kermode — has quickly established itself at the heart of the community, showing the latest films but also serving as a meetup spot, with a café/lounge run by family-owned local business Bears Ice Cream. ActOne

2. Ciné Reel, Hackney

Worthy of being the subject of a film itself, the 15-seater (you read that correctly) Ciné Reel occupies the back of a charmingly-cluttered camera shop. Here, Oscar long-listed Director Liam Saint-Pierre and projectionist Ümit Mesut set 16mm reels whirring, as classics films are projected the way they ought to be — minus the curling cigarette smoke. Ciné Reel is a singular place which has no right to exist in this over-slick age of streaming anything you want, whenever you want. Long may it fly in the face of time. Ciné Reel

BFI Southbank has four screens, blasting out films seven days a week. Photo by Martin Carey.

3. ArtHouse Crouch End

More than just a cinema, the ArtHouse in Crouch End mixes the world of film, art, live music, theatre, dance, workshops, live streaming, comedy — and anything else that takes their fancy — into one community-serving arts venue. They've even got a film-themed book club. The cosy two-screen cinema opened in Crouch End's former Salvation Army Hall in 2014 and has become a welcome addition to London's indie cinema scene, particularly since the seats were done up. The pricing is very agreeable too — tickets starting at £7. ArtHouse Crouch End

4. BFI Southbank, South Bank

If you love cinema, you'll be au fait with this place. The BFI Southbank's four screens tirelessly screen classic, independent and non-English language films, plus new and re-releases — seven days a week. As well as showing more than 2,000 films each year, the venue hosts the annual BFI London Film Festival (the UK's largest film festival) and offers punters an exciting exhibition space, plus masses of books and free films in the on-site Reuben Library and Mediatheque, and well-appointed cafes and bars for pre- or post-film sustenance. Special seasons — themed around directors, genres etc — run through the year. You'll also catch the odd red carpet do out the front. It's where Timothée Chalamet recently misused that Lime bike. BFI Southbank

London indie cinemas: people drinking wine and chatting
Cine Lumiere is a great place to hone your French while watching films — it hosts lots of events too, including Film Africa, pictured here. Image: Ivan Gonzalez via creative commons

5. Cine Lumiere, South Kensington

Cine Lumiere is part of the Institut Français, the French Cultural Institute in London — just a stone's throw from the V&A and the Natural History Museum. Located in a lavish masterpiece of a building (look out for the marble staircase, complete with Rodin statue), and named (bien sur) after the Lumière brothers, this cinema shows contemporary French, European and world cinema, as well as French classics on a Sunday. There's special programming for kids, too. A fine spot to hone your languages while putting your feet up and sipping a wine. Cine Lumiere

6. Sands Films Studio, Rotherhithe

While Sands Films Studio is an active player in the film industry — not least the magnificent costumes it crafts for the likes of Little Women, Wolf Hall and Taboo — Sands Films also actively plays films. Screenings are usually on a Tuesday evening, when its Cinema Club invites you to hunker down in one of the sofas/armchairs of its portrait-lined screening room, and watch an old doozy. Tickets are often free, though you're encouraged to donate. Sands Films Studio

Watch indie cinema London" An Electric Cinema sign
The comfiest cinema in town? Image: Garry Knight via creative commons

7. Electric Cinema, Notting Hill and White City

One of the oldest working cinemas in the country, you wouldn't know it to look at Notting Hill's Electric Cinema — given its plush interior of 65 leather armchairs with foot stalls and side tables. Whoever said cinemas aren't as cosy as watching at home haven't been here — you can even push the boat out by booking one of the six double beds in the front row, complete with snuggly cashmere blankets. A second iteration of the Electric can now be found inside the former BBC Television Centre in White City. Electric Cinema

8. Genesis Cinema, Whitechapel

This incarnation of the Genesis Cinema opened in 1999, but the Whitechapel venue has been offering real East Enders a variety of different forms of entertainment since 1848 (pub, music hall, cinema: you name it, the building's done it). Today's Genesis offers five screens of cinematic delights: choose between mainstream and accessible arthouse offerings, as well as festivals, special events, poetry slams and more. For a special treat, book seats in the luxurious Studio 4 or Studio 5, and take one of the 42 or 40 armchairs respectively, plus footstools and blankets before ordering from the in-screen bar. In the summer months, you can have a post mortem of the film you just saw over a beer in The Yard outside. Genesis Cinema

The Lexi Cinema is run almost entirely by volunteers.

9. Lexi Cinema, Kensal Rise

This boutique, independent cinema inside a renovated Edwardian theatre is also a charitable social enterprise; those friendly staff helping you to tickets, popcorn and drinks are pretty much all volunteers. The Lexi's single screen plays a mix of everything from today's blockbusters to arthouse and foreign films — plus they host special events, and Q&As. Baby screenings let you go to the cinema with a little one. Throw in comfy seating, a stunning sound-system and a nifty bar, and you realise the cinephiles of Kensal Rise are a lucky bunch. Lexi Cinema

10. Peckhamplex, Peckham

The bad news: Peckhamplex's £4.99 tickets no longer exist. The good news: they're still only £5.99. You don't choose Peckhamplex because it has a great website, plush seating or organic on-trend snack options; you go because it's cheap, cheerful and legendary. London's only independent multiplex, this place is scruffy around the edges but with a big heart. Its six screens are usually dominated by blockbusters, but you also get the occasional indie, art-house or foreign language flick. They also host Q&As and special events; it's one of the venues for the Peckham and Nunhead Free Film Festival. Peckhamplex

Indie cinema London: A bright purple cinema
You don't get better value than Peckhamplex. Image: Londonist.

11. Throwley Yard Cinema, Carshalton

We doff our (woollen) caps to this community cinema/events space which has something called Knitflix, where you can knit-along to a movie — sounds very therapeutic. Other offerings at Throwley Yard and its four screens include a Polish Cinema Club and various special seasons. That's only part of the story: if you're not in the mood for a film, there's live jazz, comedy open mics, quiz nights... Carshalton's got it all going on. Throwley Yard Cinema

12. Phoenix Cinema, East Finchley

One of the coolest cinema frontages in the country — not to mention coolest logo — this art deco institution on Finchley Road is one of the oldest continuously running cinemas in the UK, originally opening as the Picture Dome in 1912. Over a century on, it shows a combination of new releases, arthouse films, live streams from theatre, opera and old school classics. By contributing to this charitable enterprise, punters at the Phoenix are in good company; its patrons include Benedict Cumberbatch, Maureen Lipman and Michael Palin. Phoenix Cinema

The most attractive cinema frontage in London? Photo Basil Jradeh, CC  licence

13. Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square

Renowned throughout London — if not Britain — for its epic film marathons, singalongs, and an ongoing infatuation with certain films including The Muppet Christmas Carol and The Room, the Prince Charles is the last remaining independent cinema in the West End, and beloved by all. 'All' in this case includes a number of film luminaries: Quentin Tarantino, Ralph Fiennes and Edgar Wright have all publicly swooned over it. As of January 2025, support is just what the Prince Charles needs: as the usual landlord-based conniving means the cinema's future is precarious. (Oh, kudos too, to the cool use of its canopy; as well as advertising films, it also sports cult film quotes, obscure messages, other gags and taunts other local cinemas.) Prince Charles Cinema

14. David Lean Cinema, Croydon

Closed down due to funding cuts in 2011, the David Lean — named for the Croydonian who was at the helm for Brief Encounter and Lawrence of Arabia — reopened in 2014 after locals (including one Ronnie Corbett) rallied to save it. Thank god they did; this 75-seater set inside Croydon's grand Victorian clocktower is a snuggly little den for watching recent blockbusters, arty classics and the occasional film with a local link — including, naturally, some of Lean's own work. Lean himself might have hated Croydon, but Croydon loves David Lean. David Lean Cinema

A cinema lightbox reading "No, we are not changing our name"
The Prince Charles: Come the marquee, stay for a film. Image: Matt Brown/Londonist

15. Regent Street Cinema, Regent Street

The Regent Street Cinema is the birthplace of British cinema: it was here in 1896 that the Lumière brothers' Cinématographe was first shown to a paying audience in this country. Following a £6m restoration project completed in 2015, this is now one of the few places in the country you can see 16mm and 35mm film, as well as the latest in 4K digital film. Alongside exclusive premieres, retrospectives, documentaries, animation and experimental cinema, the cinema hosts a kids club and offers indulgent double-bills. There are also chances to see/hear its 1936 Compton cinema organ in action at silent film screenings. Magic. Regent Street Cinema

16. Chiswick Cinema

Independent it may be, but the Chiswick Cinema has something of a multiplex complex, with no fewer that five screens (plus a cafe-bar and lounge and terrace). As such there is ample scope for kids clubs, parent and baby screenings, National Theatre Live — as well as Hollywood's latest offerings, and a generous dissemination of classics. Chiswick Cinema

Rio Cinema, Dalston. Image: Rio Cinema via creative commons.

17. Rio Cinema, Dalston

The magnificent fluted frontage of the art deco Rio Cinema announces one of east London's most-loved picture houses. The main auditorium fits in 400 people, who can feast on blockbusters and arthouse classics — with late shows at the weekend, some double bills on Sundays and popular special screenings for children and older film lovers. There are also regular screenings followed by Q&As with directors, actors and the like. Tickets for non-member kick off at just £7 a pop, although if you're 60 or over, one of the Rio's Classic Matinee Mondays cost a piffling £2.50. Rio Cinema

18. Garden Cinema, Covent Garden

Not long on London's indie cinema scene, the Garden Cinema proudly selects "films that are worth seeing, films you'd be happy to see more than once" — and duly projects them onto one of their two screens. There are baked-in classics (The Apartment, Mulholland Drive) yes, but also new releases that've already passed critical muster. While they screen what they want, there is some method to it, with various seasons, festivals and panels. Garden Cinema

Watch independent cinema London" an old film shown in a decadent cinema
Occasionally you can still see Lumière brothers films, in the cinema where they were first screened. Image: Londonist

19. ICA Cinema, The Mall

Operating in some form since 1968, the ICA Cinema is one of the oldest cinemas on this list but concurrently one of the edgiest. Railing against the "ignominious, irreversible decline" that Susan Sontag once complained about, you will not find the latest Paddington outing here, but rather, cerebral, arty films which fall broadly under three banners: Off-Circuit (new films that 'expand the medium'), Long Takes (in-depth retrospectives of great artists) and Celluloid Sundays (rare films from the archives). ICA Cinema

20. Barbican Cinema

Despite occupying a prime slab of London real estate, Barbican Cinema offer some eye-poppingly thrifty ways to watch cinema. Its Magic Mondays provide the chance to blow off start-of-the-week blues by watching new releases for just £6. Fridays are almost as good; there's a pay-what-you-want on one selected film. Otherwise there's a family film club, and screenings of live recorded opera, ballet and theatre. An impressive cog in the cultural machine that is the Barbican Centre. Barbican Cinema

Watch independent cinema London: seat in front of a screen
Kennington's Cinema Museum is a one of a kind. Image: Londonist

21. Bertha Dochouse, Bloomsbury

Though Bertha Dochouse is housed inside the Curzon Bloomsbury, it is in fact independently owned and curated — not to mention a singular player on London's cinema scene. Nowhere else will you find a dedicated space for screening documentary films, and by dedicated, we mean seven days a week, multiple times a day. London might be a world unto itself, but this cinema invites you to open up the rest of the globe's goings-on — all from a nice squishy seat. Bertha Dochouse

22. Cinema Museum, Kennington

Like Ciné Reel (see #2) but on steroids, the incredible Cinema Museum is a reliquary of golden age picture palace gimcrack (posters, seats, projectors) housed in a former workhouse chapel where a young Charlie Chaplin no less spent time. The highlight of the collection is the cinema/bar area where regular movies nights are held by the likes of Women and Cocaine — a group trumpeting the fiercely independent woman of the pre-Hays Code era. There are also regular meet-ups from the Laurel and Hardy Society. This place is an old-fashioned riot. Cinema Museum

Independent cinema London: a couple watching a screen
Theatreship: A 100-seat cinema... on a boat!

23. Theatreship, Canary Wharf

Talk about floating new ideas... billed as "the UK's biggest independent floating theatre & cinema" Theatreship hosts regular film screenings in its 100-screen cinema, including a mystery film night, at which (you guessed it) you don't know what the film will be until you show up. It's free, so you can hardly go wrong. Just leave all your Titanic jokes at the gangplank. Theatreship

Original article by Zoe Craig. Subsequent updates by Laura Reynolds and Will Noble.