Acclaimed director Christian Petzold (Phoenix, Transit) is back to spin a modern gothic fairytale with his latest release Miroirs No. 3!
During a weekend trip to the countryside, Laura, a young piano student from Berlin, miraculously survives a shocking car crash. Awakening in a nearby house, Laura finds herself in the care of a local woman, who tends to her with motherly devotion. As she recuperates, Laura begins to integrate herself into the lives of the woman and her initially reluctant husband and son. By turns haunted and hopeful, Laura and her adopted family reawakens to the world and comes to find a strange harmony together.
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He has nowhere to go. They have nowhere to hide.
The RZA is back with a vengeance to bring us his latest action-thriller One Spoon of Chocolate, presented by Quentin Tarantino!
After serving his country in the Army, Unique is falsely accused of assault and sent to prison. Once released, Unique sets up shop in Ohio to restart his life, linking up with his only surviving relative, Ramsey. There’s something insidious happening in this town, though, as its racist sheriff and his crew of similarly bigoted acolytes all have a knack for violence and share a gruesome secret pertaining to a recent string of missing young Black men. When they set their sights on Unique and turn his life upside down, the former soldier has no choice but to bring the ruckus down on the sheriff and his goons.
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She’s having the baby. Whether she wants to or not.
Our friends at See It On 16mm are back to unspool a very special IB Technicolor print of the 1968 horror masterpiece Rosemary’s Baby!
One of the most elegant and deeply unsettling horror films ever made, Rosemary’s Baby is the definitive domestic nightmare. Based on Ira Levin’s bestselling novel, the film follows Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), a young wife who moves into a storied New York apartment building with her ambitious husband Guy (John Cassavetes). But as strange neighbors grow intrusive and Rosemary’s pregnancy becomes increasingly terrifying, paranoia gives way to a far more sinister truth.
The unbearable slow-burn dread and suffocating portrait of gaslighting and control that Rosemary’s Baby presents keeps it as a landmark of psychological horror and must be seen on the big screen with an unsuspecting crowd. Now…say your prayers. Rosemary is expecting.
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Our Classic Movie Nights series is headed out West as we present the trailblazing Gary Cooper film High Noon!
Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico, learns a notorious outlaw he put in jail has been freed, and will be arriving on the noon train. Knowing the outlaw and his gang are coming to kill him, Kane is determined to stand his ground, so he attempts to gather a posse from among the local townspeople.
High Noon holds a massive legacy as an Oscar-winning revisionist Western that redefined the genre by emphasizing tension over shoot-em-up tropes. It is famously interpreted as an allegory for McCarthy-era blacklisting, symbolizing moral courage against cowardice. The film also introduced the now-iconic cinematic trope of a real-time, high-noon showdown, which has been oft-imitated but never replicated.
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Join us for a special one-off screening of the new indie addiction drama Withdrawal. And stick around after the screening as we present an in-person Q&A with Director Aaron Strand and Cinematographer Emily Marquet, moderated by Francesca Rivera! Also, prior to the film they will be debuting a brand new teaser trailer for an upcoming film called Finding Jose, directed by local OC filmmaker Lisset Mendoza!
Artistic lovers Viv and Jay are trapped in a vicious cycle of codependent heroin addiction. When Viv’s wealthy parents hire an interventionist to take her to rehab, the couple decides to go it alone with nothing but a suboxone prescription and each other. All they have to do is survive one harrowing night of withdrawal. As the hours tick by, physical, mental, and emotional torments send them searching through fractured memories, trying to figure out where it all went wrong.
Raw, unflinching, and shockingly funny, Withdrawal was shot primarily on miniDV in Athens, Georgia. Winner of 12 awards on the festival circuit including Best Feature/Best Director at the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival and Best Actress at the Kanazawa Film Festival. Film Threat calls it “the best film about addiction since Requiem for a Dream.”
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Get ready to lock, pop, and break your way down memory lane! On May 11, 2026, The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana will host a highly anticipated theatrical anniversary screening of the 1984 summer blockbuster smash hit, Breakin’!
This unforgettable evening will double as a profound tribute to the film’s legendary star, the late Adolfo “Shabba-Doo” Quiñones, taking place on what would have been his 71st birthday. The exclusive anniversary event will be hosted by Vashawn Quiñones, Adolfo’s son. Following the screening of the film, Vashawn will conduct an intimate and exclusive Q&A session. He will share personal stories, explore his father’s groundbreaking contributions to hip-hop culture, and discuss how the man who famously brought the character Orlando “Ozone” to life earned the undisputed title of “The Godfather of Street Dance.”
Released in the summer of 1984, Breakin’ was a cultural phenomenon that took the world by storm. Grossing over $38 million domestically, it catapulted breakdancing and hip-hop culture from the underground club scenes of Los Angeles into the global mainstream. At the heart of this movement was Adolfo “Shabba-Doo” Quiñones. Before lighting up the silver screen, Quiñones was a founding member of the pioneering dance group The Original Lockers, where he helped innovate and popularize the “locking” style of street dance. His unparalleled talent eventually led him to choreograph and perform for some of the biggest names in music history, including Madonna, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and Chaka Khan. Through his explosive footwork, natural charisma, and visionary choreography, Shabba-Doo forever changed the landscape of modern dance.
“My father’s legacy is etched into every spin, pop, and lock you see in street dance today,” says Vashawn Quiñones, “Celebrating the 42nd anniversary of Breakin’ on his birthday is the perfect way to honor his memory, his artistry, and the lasting impact he left on dancers and fans all over the world.” Fans of the film, dance enthusiasts, and lovers of 80s pop culture are invited to experience the electric boogaloo magic on the big screen once again and pay homage to a true cultural icon.
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Who wants to cook Aloo Gobi when you can bend a ball like Beckham?
We’re celebrating the World Cup and Pride Month with two ultra-rare screenings of Bend It Like Beckham, presented by our friends over at the Orange County Soccer Club!
Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.
Endlessly quotable and packed with charm, this early-2000s nostalgic classic hits the sweet spot by blending sports movie thrills with a fresh and funny look at identity. Chase your goals!
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We’ve added encores of the deliciously catty 1930s gem The Women, a glammed-up showcase of all-out social warfare!
Society wife Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) seems to have it all, until whispers start circulating that her husband is having an affair with a predatory perfume clerk. What follows is a cluster-mess through high society circles as Mary navigates the uniquely cutthroat support system of her all-female friend group, including the sharp-tongued Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell) and the endlessly naive Peggy (Joan Fontaine).
Directed by George Cukor, The Women is famous for its entirely female cast—no men appear on screen—and its dazzling blend of biting dialogue and high-fashion spectacle, including a legendary Technicolor fashion show sequence. Adapted from Clare Boothe Luce’s hit play, the film remains a masterclass in ensemble performance and unapologetic melodrama, where every line lands like a perfectly aimed dart.
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Frida Cinema Film Club members are being treated to free 30th anniversary screenings of Mike Leigh’s Secrets & Lies!
An expert observer of unembellished humanity, writer-director Mike Leigh reached new levels of expressive power and intricacy with this exploration of the deceptions, small and large, that shape our relationships. When Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a Black optometrist who was adopted as a child, begins the search for her birth mother, she doesn’t expect that it will lead her to Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn, winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s best actress award), a lonely white factory worker whose tentative embrace of her long-lost daughter sends shock waves through the rest of her already fragile family.
Born from a painstaking process of rehearsal and improvisation with a powerhouse ensemble cast, Secrets & Lies is a Palme d’Or–winning tour de force of sustained tension and catharsis that lays bare the emotional fault lines running beneath everyday lives.
Not a Film Club Member yet? Click here to join our growing family of fellow film-lovers and Frida Cinema supporters!
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The greatest adventure a man ever lived…with a woman!
The penultimate film on our Bogie Fest series sees everybody’s favorite Hollywood tough guy taking on his greatest opponent ever…Katharine Hepburn! It’s John Huston’s The African Queen, the movie that finally landed Mr. Bogart his first and only Oscar!
Set against the chaos of World War I in East Africa, the film pairs two people who, on paper, should never work. Humphrey Bogart is Charlie Allnut, a scruffy, gin-soaked riverboat captain whose loyalties extend about as far as his next drink. Katharine Hepburn is Rose Sayer, a prim, devout missionary whose world has been defined by order, restraint, and moral certainty. Then…their world collapses. What begins as survival quickly becomes something else: a borderline absurd plan to take the boat downriver and attack a German warship.
Huston leans into the physicality of it all: the mud, the insects, the heat, the relentless push of the river. It’s not the ideal romantic backdrop, but with talent like Bogart and Hepburn on screen, they somehow make it all work.
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