Christmas Film Season at CULTPLEX

Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor

Book now

Christmas Film Season

Cultplex, Manchester
2-30 December 2023

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

CULTPLEX
Book now

CULTPLEX takes a nice wide-ranging approach to their festive screening programme this year. There’s everything from family faves Deck the Halls (Sun 2 Dec), The Muppet Christmas Carol (Fri 16 Dec) and a Gremlins Christmas Party (Sat 16 Dec), to a double bill of Ricky Gervais’ The Office Christmas Specials (Sun 10 Dec) and treasured yuletide actioner Die Hard (Thu 7 Dec).

Special events include a Q&A screening of independent Christmas creature feature Cold Wind Blowing on Sun 10 December and a special edition of CULTPLEX’s Quiz Show movie trivia night (Wed 14 Dec). Meanwhile, gamers will want to check out the festive version of Manchester Amateur Gaming League – a casual team-based game night in the cinema.

Filmmaker Shane Black has been shoehorning Christmas into his movies for decades now, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Showing on Thu 14 Dec, Black wrote the script for The Long Kiss Goodnight – a deceptively violent action film starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. While he earned a cult following as the writer-director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Sun 17 Dec), a grown-up, Christmastime action-comedy featuring the talents of Robert Downey Jr.

As mentioned, the programmers at CULTPLEX have a pleasingly broad notion of what constitutes a Christmas film. Look out for snowbound cult films such as Tim Burton’s Batman Returns (Sat 9 Dec) and Norwegian Nazi zombie flick Dead Snow (Wed 6 Dec) – plus more white stuff in the ripped-from-the-headlines Cocaine Bear (Sat 30 Dec.) There’s also a Kill Bill double bill for good measure.

Where to go near Christmas Film Season at CULTPLEX

Cheetham Hill
Restaurant
Osaka Local

Wonderful Japanese street food vendor, often found at Grub and other street food events in and around Manchester and the North.

tours and activities guide
Cheetham Hill
Manchester Three Rivers Gin Distillery

Join the Gin renaissance with Manchester Three Rivers, a gin distillery situated in the heart of the Green Quarter making some fantastic gin as well as inviting people to get up close to the distillation process.

Manchester
Restaurant
Fairfield Social Club

Fairfield Social Club is a multi-purpose site next to Angel Meadows Park in the Green Quarter, ran by the team behind the much-loved Grub,.

Popup Bikes
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Popup Bikes

Independently-run coffee shop and bike repair shop on the edge of the Green Quarter in Manchester.

Manchester
Event venue
Partisan

Partisan is a Manchester-based collective and volunteer-run space for independent, community led, DIY and cultural based projects. They have two floors for events, meetings, office space, live music, club nights, and art.

Salford
Gallery
1520 Studios

1520 Studios is bigger than a film and photography studio, also functioning as an event space and community hub.

Cheetham Hill
The Yard

New creative hub The Yard is home to a great little music venue, which tends to attract future-leaning electronic artists.

The exterior of The Pilcrow
Manchester
Bar or Pub
Sadler’s Cat

The Pilcrow is now Sadler’s Cat, a contemporary community pub at the heart of the NOMA neighbourhood. Overlooking Sadler’s Yard.

What's on: Cinema

Culture Guides

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.

Music in the North

Manchester’s closing out the year – and looking to the new one – with a run of gigs from some of the country’s best underground exports.

Hofesh Shechter - Theatre of Dreams at Lowry
Theatre in the North

This winter theatre round‑up captures the festive spirit across the North, with everything from family‑friendly musicals to modern twists on seasonal classics.

A white mattress is burning in a black rocky landscape.
Exhibitions in the North

In galleries around the North this autumn, you'll find tactile sculptures, Treasures with a capital 'T' and plant magic.

Food and Drink in the North

Hear ye, hear ye. Take some eating-out tips from our wintertime guide to food and drink in Manchester and the North.