After the winter blues and the cold rains over the city following the first day of nice weather, Montreal’s independent cinemas (Cinéma Cinéma) and the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles are teaming up for a week of film screenings exploring all the ugliness in the world. Because, in the end, everything is okay.
In a world where the streets are dirty and dangerous in the spring, where the radio is an endless source of anxiety, and where the wind, whipping up clouds of dust, drives you vaguely mad, it’s sometimes a good thing not to numb yourself with sugar and fake happiness. Sometimes it feels good to spend two hours with thugs, weirdos, bad guys, and people so sad that they become grotesque.
From June 5 to 11, 2026, it’s Bleak Week at Montreal’s independent cinemas.
The flesh is sad, alas, and the films will be a little unsettling
Before aiming purely for entertainment, the performing arts were intended to provide audiences with catharsis —a term derived from the Ancient Greek word for “cleansing.” By watching fictional characters experience intense emotions to the very end (screams, tears, murders, rage, atrocities), audiences would purge their own emotions at the same time, and afterward would feel satisfied and able to live in society content and calm.
All the ugliness of the human soul is, in a way, the foundation of the films that will be screened during Dark Week. And to achieve a proper catharsis of our worst emotions, nothing beats the end of the world (MELANCHOLIA), senseless pain and violence (FUNNY GAMES), physical homelessness (SANS TOIT NI LOI) and emotional homelessness (LA CIÉNAGA), and parents who died far too young (AFTERSUN).
Go in with a big glass of water, a tissue, and a good friend to laugh with after the screening. And the next day, you’ll wake up feeling much lighter.
Practical Information
Where?
Cinéma du Musée, at 1379A Sherbrooke Street West
Cinéma du Parc, at 3575 Avenue du Parc
Cinéma Beaubien, at 2396 Beaubien Street East
When? Friday, June 5 through Thursday, June 11, 2026
SOMBRE by Philippe Grandrieux (1998) / Wednesday, June 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Museum Cinema
MELANCHOLIA by Lars von Trier (2011) / Saturday, June 6 at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Museum Cinema
Presented as part of the Surrealist Saturdays series
CRIES AND WHISPERS by Ingmar Bergman (STA) (1972) / Saturday, June 6 at 5:00 PM, Sunday, June 7 at 11:45 AM, Wednesday, June 10 at 5:30 PM
Museum Cinema
In collaboration with Ciné-Histoire
AFTERSUN by Charlotte Wells (STF) (2022) / Sunday, June 7 at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Museum Cinema
LE CIÉNAGA by Lucrecia Martel (STA) (2001) / Sunday, June 7 at 2:00 PM, Monday, June 8 at 6:45 PM
Museum Cinema
25th Anniversary
FUNNY GAMES by Michael Haneke (STA) (1997) / Saturday, June 6 at 7:00 PM, Tuesday, June 9 at 9:15 PM
Cinéma du Parc
GET OUT by Jordan Peele (2017) / Friday, June 5 at 9:30 p.m., Saturday, June 6 at 9:30 p.m., Sunday, June 7 at 2:30 p.m.
Cinéma du Parc
Presented as part of Minuit au Parc
RATCATCHER by Lynne Ramsay (STA) (1999) / Saturday, June 6 at 1:15 p.m., Monday, June 8 at 9:15 p.m.
Cinéma du Parc
UNDERGROUND by Emir Kusturica (STA) (1995) / Saturday, June 6 at 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 10 at 8:30 p.m.
Cinéma du Parc
PUSHER TRILOGY by Nicolas Winding Refn (STA) (1996) / Sunday, June 7 at 5:00 p.m.
Cinéma du Parc
30th anniversary, 4K restoration
LES BONS DÉBARRAS by Francis Mankiewicz (STA) (1980) / Saturday, June 6 at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, June 7 at 4:15 p.m.
Cinéma Beaubien
SANS TOIT NI LOI by Agnès Varda (STA) (1985) / Saturday, June 6 at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, June 7 at 2:00 p.m.
Cinéma Beaubien
What? Tickets are $15.75 for general admission / $30 for the PUSHER trilogy
and for more info and to book, click here!