May / June Highlights
Summer 2026 is going to be an exciting time at Light House with hugely anticipated blockbusters, restored re-releases, events, seasons double bills and 35mm prints all on the horizon.
You'll be hearing plenty over the next few months about exciting big releases such as The Devil Wears Prada 2, Supergirl, Toy Story and The Mandalorian and Grogu all of which we can wait to share with you. Alongside these, it's an exciting time for Irish cinema as we welcome Hokum, Once Upon Time in the Cinema, Trad and Power Ballad to our screens.
It has been such a joy to take the opportunity over the next few months to honour some of my favourite filmmakers. John Cassavettes' electrifying The Killing of a Chinese Bookie screens on May 24, David Cronenberg's adaptation of JG Ballard's Crash is 30 this year and screens on May 30, Hal Ashby's weird and wonderful Harold & Maude screens on May 10. Alongside these, I'm excited to present a double bill of A Clockwork Orange and Tron to celebrate the genius
of synth pioneer Wendy Carlos.
Ahead of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, we'll be taking the opportunity to screen 35mm prints of The Dark Knight and Interstellar in June. In the same month we're overjoyed to welcome Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (4K Restoration) back to the big screen.
May and June also kick off a strong Summer of horror and none moreso than Kane Parson's Backrooms, which is a brilliant analogue nightmare spawned from the depths of the internet. It's one of the Summer's unmissable indie features, alongside Sophy Romvari's Blue Heron, which is another stunning debut from a filmmaker who'll we hearing lots about over the next few years.
Outside of the aforementioned, I'm currently finalising a very exciting summer season that I can't wait to share with you. All will be revealed in due time, don't go changing that channel (there's a hint for you).
David Kelly, Light House Programmer
The Devil Wears Prada 2 Dir. David Frankel
Gird your loins, Andy returns to Runway at a time when Miranda and Nigel are trying to navigate the new media landscape and Runway’s place in it. Emily, now the head of a luxury brand with the capital to secure the magazine’s future, rounds out the original cast for what is sure to be another endlessly quotable, groundbreaking take on the industry.
Once Upon A Time In A Cinema Dir. David Gleeson
In a small-town cinema in 1984, harassed owner and manager battles an escalating series of personal and professional disasters over the course of the Friday 8pm show from hell, while mulling over the sale of the cinema to a shady politician. Can he really walk away from his life’s passion?
Hokum Dir. Damian McCarthy
American novelist Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) visits Ireland to scatter his parents’ ashes, only to find himself consumed by the locals’ tale of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite of the hotel he is staying in. Damian McCarthy, the Irish director behind Oddity, takes his craft to new heights with this perfectly pitched hotel haunt.
Trad Dir. Lance Daly
Lance Daly's (Black 47) joyous film follows gifted fiddle player Shóna McAnally (Megan Nic Fhionnghaile) and her young brother Mickey as they leave their home in the Donegal Gaeltacht and take to the road with a troupe of wandering musicians, on a cross-country journey of adventure, romance and musical exploration.
The Christophers Dir. Steven Soderbergh
The great Ian McKellen and the mesmerising Michaela Coel make a electric pairing in Steven Soderbergh’s incisively witty chamber comedy about art, commerce, and avarice. Written by Men in Black screenwriter Ed Solomon and featuring an acerbic turn from the great Ian McKellen, The Christophers is one of Soderbergh’s most delicious entertainments in years.
Obsession Dir. Curry Barker
Curry Barker's Obsession is one of the most anticipated horror films of year. Rightly so, as it's a wonder and is original, wild, terrifying and funny. Bear makes a wish that his friend Nikki would think of him as more than a platonic friend, that's when things go wrong.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu Dir. Jon Favreau
John Favreau helms the latest installment from one of our favourite franchises. The evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu.
Backrooms
Director Kane Parsons was just 19 when offered the chance to make this film, based on his viral horror shorts, with A24. With a cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve - and the ominous synopsis, “A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom” - this horror of liminal spaces is a phenomenon in the making.
Power Ballad
John Carney, the director of Once and Sing Street, knows how to do a musical crowdpleaser! Power Ballad stands alongside these classics of Irish cinema and also delivers a song that will be stuck in your head for days, maybe even weeks after. Destined to be one of the Summer's big hits, Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas and a brilliant supporting cast of Irish talent all shine in this heartfelt and hilarious romp.
Erupcja
Charli XCX is having a cinematic moment in 2026 and that continues with Pete Ohs' Erupcja, which was received very warmly at its Irish premiere at this year's DIFF. Set in Warsaw, two friends with a complicated past reunite against the backdrop of a volcanic eruption.
The Birdcage 30th Anniversary
Just in time for Pride Month celebrations, Mike Nichols’ The Birdcage celebrates its 30th anniversary on the big screen. Robin Williams and Nathan Lane star as a gay couple, one a cabaret owner and the other a drag queen, who agree to fake being a hetrosexual couple to appease their son’s future in-laws played by Gene Hackman and Dianne Weist.
Disclosure Day
Steven Spielberg returns to two of the things he does best: extraterrestrials and Summer blockbusters. Plot details are being kept under wraps but with a cast including Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Eve Hewson, and Colin Firth, it’s sure to be another gem from Spielberg and Jurassic Park writer David Koepp.
Toy Story 5
The Toy Story series has always adapted itself to the times, dealing with obsolescence from the very first film. This time around Woody, Buzz and the gang are faced with their greatest challenge yet when Bonnie receives a tablet, which poses a threat not just to one toy or one child’s group of toys, but to the very nature of toys.
Blue Heron
Blue Heron walks a difficult tightrope between autofiction and documentary, art and therapy, past and present. Canadian filmmaker Sophy Romvari interrogates her own past, particularly the questions that surround her eldest brother’s struggle with mental illness, to create the most beautiful, poetic, portrait of her family.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
House of the Dragon star Milly Alcock is the next Kryptonian set for the big screen after James Gunn's wildly enjoyable Superman flew onto our screens last year. Directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya), Supergirl promises another fun, chaotic entry in the rejuvinated DC universe.
The Invite
Olivia Wilde directs and stars alongside Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton in this film written by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones. Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela’s (Olivia Wilde) marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places.
Upcoming Events
HIGHLANDER May 4
BILLIE EILISH HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: THE TOUR May 8
HAROLD AND MAUDE May 10
THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE May 24
CINEMA BOOK CLUB:
THE GRADUATE MAY 25
KES JUNE 29
CRASH (1996) May 30
STOP MAKING SENSE June 6
THE DARK KNIGHT 35MM June 6
BOOGIE NIGHTS (4K RESTORATION) June 12
WENDY CARLOS: TRON / A CLOCKWORK ORANGE June 21
INTERSTELLAR 35MM June 25
A BETTER TOMORROW June 26