The Capitol

The story of a local legend: whether through his influential bands, legendary act The Front Lawn, or compositions for film and television, the songs of Don McGlashan are well known to the Kiwi ear. Less familiar is the story of the man behind the music, but that’s about to change thanks to acclaimed cultural documentarian Shirley Horrocks (Peter Peryer: The Art of Seeing, Paul Callaghan: Dancing with Atoms). This captivating documentary celebrates the extraordinary journey of Don's career, packed with backstage stories, personal moments, and the magic behind chart-topping hits. With legendary colleagues like Neil Finn and Toa Fraser singing Don McGlashan’s praises, and touching interviews with family offering rare glimpses into his creative soul, it’s an uplifting tribute to a truly original talent.

Five Films For Freedom Join us for special screening of Five Films For Freedom, the world’s widest reaching LGBTQIA+ online celebration. This is a free screening. A partnership between the British Council and BFI Flare, London’s LGBTIQIA+ film festival, Five Films For Freedom makes five international LGBTQIA+ short films available to watch online for free anywhere in the world as well as free public screenings. Since its launch in 2015, the films featured in the programme have been watched online and in person by over 26 million people in more than 202 countries and principalities, celebrating global stories in support of LGBTQIA+ communities around the world. The Capitol Cinema is delighted to host this free public screening of the films in collaboration the British Council New Zealand and the Pacific. The films selected for this year’s programme will be announced in late February. https://film.britishcouncil.org/about/work/fivefilmsforfreedom

Elvis sings and tells his story like never before in a new cinematic experience from visionary filmmaker Baz Luhrmann. This is more than a concert film. It is EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert. A one-of-a-kind cinematic experience from Academy Award-nominated Baz Luhrmann. EPiC features long-lost footage from Presley’s legendary Vegas residency in the 1970s, woven together with rare 16mm footage from Elvis on Tour and treasured 8mm film from the Graceland archive, along with rediscovered recordings of Elvis telling 'his side of the story,.'

Becket Redfellow sets out to reclaim the $28B family fortune his mother was denied. To pull off his ambitious scheme, he must kill the seven relatives who stand in his way - while navigating love, deception, and wicked betrayals.

Vince Everett is serving a one-year jail sentence for manslaughter. While in the big house, his cellmate, a former country singer, introduces him to the record business. Everett takes to it so well that he decides to become a singer when he gets out. However, he is quickly disillusioned by the record business. But with the help of a new friend, he decides to form his own label, and soon becomes an overnight sensation. But when he becomes a superstar, will his desire for fame and money cause him to forget the people who got him there?

A rebellious young man takes a job as a nightclub singer to make ends meet, attracting the attention of a local crime boss.

The Capitol Cinema recommends Mārama. This is not heritage horror. This is Māori Gothic. Set within the shadowed corridors of a grand English manor, Mārama follows Mary, a young Māori woman drawn into a house thick with secrets as she searches for her missing parents. The walls breathe. The past presses in. Colonisation is not subtext here - it is the haunting. Director Taratoa Stappard bends Victorian restraint into something far more unsettling: a story where identity, spirituality, and inherited trauma collide beneath candlelight and creeping dread. Visions flicker. Power shifts. The spiritual realm refuses to stay politely in the background. Mārama is bold, atmospheric, and unapologetically political - a reclamation wrapped in velvet and shadow. See it in the dark. Let it speak.

After being unemployed for several years, a man devises a unique plan to secure a new job: eliminate his competition.

Wallflower Colin (Harry Melling) leads a humdrum existence until he meets the impossibly handsome Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), a mysterious biker he is soon desperately devoted to. As Colin submits to Ray and enters an exciting new world of desire, he must decide the limits of his devotion. Hilarious, subversive and sexy, PILLION is the acclaimed and surprisingly tender love story from writer-director Harry Lighton, starring Melling and Skarsgård in fearless performances as a mild young man and his leather-clad lover.

DESIRE. LEATHER. LAUGHTER. PILLION RIDES INTO THE CAPITOL FOR A ONE-NIGHT-ONLY PREVIEW FUNDRAISER An evening of seduction, subversion, and cinema - all in support of Aotearoa’s Rainbow communities. The Capitol Cinema and the Rainbow New Zealand Charitable Trust invite audiences to surrender - joyfully - to the year’s most intoxicating cinematic surprise. PILLION, the acclaimed and unexpectedly tender love story from writer-director Harry Lighton, screens in an exclusive New Zealand Preview at The Capitol. Film begins at 8:00pm. Doors open at 7:00pm. Arrive early. Arrive curious. A LOVE STORY THAT MISBEHAVES Hilarious, provocative, and disarmingly romantic, PILLION pairs Melling and Skarsgård in fearless performances as a mild young man and his leather-clad lover. What begins in kink unfolds into something startlingly human - a film that is as funny as it is raw, and far more tender than it first appears. This isn’t shock for shock’s sake. It’s desire, examined. Devotion, negotiated. Identity, unbuttoned. CINEMA WITH PURPOSE This special screening supports the Rainbow New Zealand Charitable Trust, Aotearoa’s longstanding champion of LGBTTQIA+ communities. For over 25 years, the Trust has raised and distributed nearly $80,000 in grants to more than 130 organisations and awarded over 80 scholarships to emerging Rainbow leaders. This is glamour with generosity. Pleasure with purpose. CHOOSE YOUR DEVOTION Because every romance deserves options. THE REBEL PACKAGE - $50 Ticket + Soho Mara Méthode Rosé Bubbles + Duck Island Ice Cream + Popcorn Decadence with a wink. THE RIDE TOGETHER PACKAGE - $35 Ticket + Duck Island Ice Cream + Non-alcoholic drink Sweet, steady, irresistible. THE VELVET RIDE - $25 Ticket + Popcorn Just you, the dark, and the screen. TICKETS WON’T LINGER This is a one-night-only preview. Seats are limited. Devotion is not. Secure a ticket now. Claim a package. Take the ride. Book before someone else does.

Pitchblack Playback: Fugees 'The Score' (30th Anniversary) Please arrive by event start time as latecomers will not be admitted and refunds will not be offered Immerse yourself in one of the greatest albums of the '90s at Pitchblack Playback's listening session in the dark, celebrating 30 years since its release. Hear this immense record played loud in uncompressed audio on our powerful cinema sound system. No distractions; just you and the music. "This sounds great” — Rick Rubin "A fabulous idea" — Jay Kay, Jamiroquai "The optimal way to listen to an album" — Max Richter "This might just be my favourite new thing to do" — Nihal, BBC Radio 5 Live Ticket includes Pitchblack Playback eye mask for extra darkness. As recommended by The Guardian, GQ, Time Out and BBC 6 Music. Album duration: 60 minutes

A father, accompanied by his son, goes looking for his missing daughter in North Africa.

Be one of the first to see SCREAM 7 … the new entry in everyone’s favourite scary movie franchise. Ghostface turns is attention back to one of the most iconic "final girls" in horror history, Sidney Prescott, in what promises to be the most gripping and gory showdown in franchise history! Come to the cinema early to enjoy our exclusive cocktail and custom pre-show. -- When a new Ghostface killer emerges in the quiet town where Sidney Prescott has built a new life, her darkest fears are realized as her daughter becomes the next target. Determined to protect her family, Sidney must face the horrors of her past to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all. -- Directed by Kevin Williamson, the film stars Neve Campbell, Isabel May, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Scott Foley, Mason Gooding, Mckenna Grace, and Asa Germann.

Be one of the first to see THE BRIDE! ...The stunning new take on Mary Shelley's classic Bride of Frankenstein tale. Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, the film features a monster cast including Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Jake Gyllenhaal, Annette Bening, and Penelope Cruz. There’s only one place to enjoy this gothic horror, love story, and one of the biggest genre films of 2026 ...and that's with a crowd in a dark cinema! Come early to enjoy our themed cocktail and custom pre-show. A lonely Frankenstein (Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman, and The Bride (Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance! Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, the film stars Jessie Buckley ('Hamnet', 'Men'), Christian Bale (‘The Dark Knight' trilogy), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, 'Donnie Darko’), Annette Bening (‘American Beauty’), and Penelope Cruz ('Vicky Cristina Barcelona')

From Maggie Gyllenhaal (Academy Award-nominated writer/director of The Lost Daughter) and starring Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley and Academy Award winner Christian Bale comes THE BRIDE! A bold, iconoclastic take on one of the world’s most compelling stories. A lonely Frankenstein (Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride (Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance! The film stars Buckley, Bale, Peter Sarsgaard, with Bening, Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal, and Oscar winner Penélope Cruz. Maggie Gyllenhaal directs from her own screenplay and produces alongside Oscar nominee Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Talia Kleinhendler and Osnat Handelsman Keren. The executive producers are Carla Raij, David Webb and Courtney Kivowitz. Gyllenhaal is supported behind the camera by a team of award-winning film artisans, including director of photography Lawrence Sher, production designer Karen Murphy, editor Dylan Tichenor, music supervisor Randall Poster, composer Hildur Gudnadóttir and costume designer Sandy Powell. Warner Bros. Pictures Presents A First Love Films / In The Current Company Production, A Maggie Gyllenhaal Film: THE BRIDE!. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, only in cinemas March 2026.

The Capitol Cinema recommends Wuthering Heights. Not for the faint-hearted. Not for the romantics who prefer their love polite. Emily Brontë’s fever dream of obsession and class warfare crashes onto the moors with mud on its boots and fire in its lungs. Heathcliff - feral, humiliated, unyielding - loves Catherine with a devotion that curdles into vengeance. Catherine loves him back. And still chooses comfort, status, safety. It is the wrong decision. It always was. What follows is not a romance. It’s a haunting. A generational reckoning of pride, cruelty, longing, and the terrible cost of wanting what the world says you cannot have. Storms roll in. Doors slam. Hearts calcify. This is passion without restraint, desire without compromise, and revenge that seeps into the walls. Gothic before gothic had a name. See it on the big screen. Let the wind in.