It’s been ten years since Cinéma du Parc started showing midnight movies with themed screening series, just like in the good old days when we used to go to the movies every Friday night. After an initial series of screenings of midnight movie classics to celebrate this anniversary, a second film program is focusing on “new classics.”
The films we watch at midnight screenings (unlike that French TV show that aired Pagnol at 1 a.m.) are films that vaguely keep you awake. They’re films you hardly feel like discussing afterward, that make your heart race like a shot of coffee and make you want to wander the streets afterward, or stay up until dawn.
Between May 1 and June 28, 2026, the Cinéma du Parc will screen 9 films at midnight (or thereabouts).
New Midnight Classics
Chuck Klosterman wrote about the ’90s as the last decade of a “hegemonic mainstream,” but the programming at —new cinema classics to see late at night (at the theater, not at home)—extends the “mainstream” into the 21st century.
On the program are films that have left such a mark on people’s minds and the zeitgeist that they’re considered the first of their kind (or the best). Battle Royale ( 2000), adapted from the film of the same name, is the inspiration for the Hunger Games teen series, minus the metaphor of class warfare. It’s much bloodier, incredibly thrilling, and a must-see.
In the same category, there’s also Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later ( 2002)—with the opening scene where Cillian Murphy is all alone in London—and, in a different vein, Jordan Peele’s Get Out ( 2017).
The “new classics” lineup also includes films that have had an impact on cinema and audience tastes since their release. There’s a film from the coolest independent studio of the moment, A24—and its hottest director—the terrifying Hereditary (2018). In the horror genre—often imitated but never equaled—there’s also Jennifer’s Body ( 2009) by Diablo Cody and Karyn Kusama, The Witch ( 2015) by Robert Eggers, and Climax ( 2018) by Gaspar Noé.
And just as girls all over the world quote Jennifer Check’s clever insults ad nauseam and desperately search for the Gap sweater with little hearts on resale sites, others adore Ryan Gosling’s silent and very sexy character in Nicolas Winding Refn’s neon pink and blue *Drive* ( 2011). And, for those with a very, very dry sense of humor, there’s Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster ( 2015).
We drag our boyfriends and girlfriends to come watch our favorite movies with us, we bring along our movie-novice friends or our little cousins—we’re about to become just like those slightly pushy, nerdy film buffs who introduced us to the best movies of the ’90s.
Practical Information
Where? Cinéma du Parc, at 2575 Avenue du Parc
When? Friday night screening at 11:30 PM / Saturday night screening at 9:30 PM / Sunday screening at 2:30 PM
BATTLE ROYALE (2000)
Kinji Fukasaku
Original version with English subtitles
May 1–3
28 DAYS LATER (2002)
Danny Boyle
English original version
May 8–9–10
JENNIFER’S BODY (2009)
Karyn Kusama
English original version
May 15–16–17
DRIVE (2011)
Nicolas Winding Refn
English original version
May 22–23–24
THE WITCH (2015)
Robert Eggers
English original version
May 29-30-31
GET OUT (2017)
Jordan Peele
English original version
June 5-6-7
THE LOBSTER (2015)
Yorgos Lanthimos
English original version with French subtitles
June 12–13–14
HEREDITARY (2018)
Ari Aster
English original version
June 19-20-21
CLIMAX (2018)
Gaspar Noé
French original version with English subtitles
June 26–27–28
What? Ticketsare $15.75 for general admission, andfor more info and to book, click here!
