# The best cinemas in London

Independent picture houses, repertory screens and the capital's grandest auditoriums, as picked by Time Out, Far Out and London film fans.

- 77 votes · 16 items
- Jun 18, 2025 · jetsetter96
- https://even.best/en/l/71/the-best-cinemas-in-london

## Top 15

1. **Prince Charles Cinema** (11 · ▲11 ▼0) — Cult repertory cinema off Leicester Square known for sing-alongs, all-nighters and 70mm screenings. <https://princecharlescinema.com/>
2. **BFI Southbank** (8 · ▲8 ▼0) — The British Film Institute's home under Waterloo Bridge, with seasons, archive prints and the Mediatheque. <https://www.bfi.org.uk/bfi-southbank>
3. **Genesis Cinema** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — Independent cinema in Mile End with cheap tickets on a site used for entertainment since 1848. <https://genesiscinema.co.uk/>
4. **Curzon Soho** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Arthouse cinema on Shaftesbury Avenue with a popular bar, a hub for world cinema. <https://www.curzon.com/>
5. **Barbican Cinema** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Three screens inside the Brutalist Barbican Centre with themed seasons and Q&As. <https://www.barbican.org.uk/>
6. **The Lexi Cinema** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Volunteer-run cinema in Kensal Rise that donates its profits to charity. <https://thelexicinema.co.uk/>
7. **ArtHouse Crouch End** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Community arthouse cinema in north London with affordable tickets and local shorts. <https://www.arthousecrouchend.co.uk/>
8. **Electric Cinema Portobello** (3 · ▲5 ▼2) — One of Britain's oldest working cinemas (1910) on Portobello Road, with leather armchairs and front-row beds. <https://www.electriccinema.co.uk/>
9. **Everyman Hampstead** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Sofa-seated boutique cinema in a former 1919 drill hall in Hampstead. <https://www.everymancinema.com/>
10. **The Rio Cinema** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Grade II-listed Art Deco community cinema on Kingsland High Street in Dalston. <https://riocinema.org.uk/>
11. **Regent Street Cinema** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Known as the birthplace of British cinema: the Lumière brothers screened films here in 1896. <https://www.regentstreetcinema.com/>
12. **The Castle Cinema** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Crowdfunded neighbourhood cinema in Homerton, Hackney, in a 1913 picture house. <https://thecastlecinema.com/>
13. **Picturehouse Central** (1 · ▲3 ▼2) — Seven-screen cinema opened in 2015 at Piccadilly Circus, with its lightbulb-lit staircase and members' bar. <https://www.picturehouses.com/>
14. **The Garden Cinema** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Independent cinema opened in 2022 in Covent Garden, devoted to classics and new arthouse films. <https://www.thegardencinema.co.uk/>
15. **Phoenix Cinema** (-1 · ▲1 ▼2) — East Finchley cinema open since 1912, one of the oldest continuously operating in the UK. <https://www.phoenixcinema.co.uk/>
16. **Ritzy Picturehouse** (-2 · ▲0 ▼2) — Brixton's 1911 cinema with a café-bar and live music upstairs. <https://www.picturehouses.com/>

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.