The cinema might feel like a relic to some – a moment from before films were available at the press of a button at home – but those interested in cinemas never turn their back on an afternoon spent sitting in complete darkness with total strangers in front of a booming big screen.
According to METRO, London is a city that can officially boast 12 of the top 100 cinemas in the world.
Time Out recently released its ranking of the greatest cinemas on the planet, with the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles – host to more red carpet premieres for major blockbusters than anywhere outside London’s Leicester Square – taking the top spot.
Elsewhere on the list were some spectacularly unusual venues: the world’s biggest cinema screen in Leonberg, Germany, a small town with a population of just 49,000; a Hungarian cinema housed inside a former temple; a Berlin theater complete with its own nuclear bunker; and a Spanish Baroque picture house that even starred in the Oscar-winning film Milk.
But no city can claim more entries than London, whose best performer came in fourth place.
The BFI Southbank was named the capital’s top cinema, with £4 tickets for 16–25 year olds, the UK’s largest LGBTQ+ film festival, and a constant stream of panels and talks featuring some of the biggest names in film.
Other London venues that made the cut include Picturehouse Central, a seven-screen complex just off Piccadilly Circus, and Curzon Soho only a few meters down the road.
The Castle Cinema, tucked away on Chatsworth Road in the heart of east London, came in at number 82.
By afternoon, the same familiar faces are tapping away on laptops, before the evening crowd rolls in for a blockbuster, a streamed theater show they couldn’t get tickets for – even if they could afford the £100 price tag – or a niche arthouse film you’d struggle to find anywhere else.
If The Castle is backing a film, that’s usually recommendation enough.
The cinema’s distinctive charm is always enough to lure away from the temptation of anywhere else – even Time Out’s supposed best cinema in London – and rearrange the day if needed to catch a film in one of its two screens.
Screen One is the larger of the two, but what it boasts in size it matches in cosiness. Each customer sinks deep into their own armchair, perhaps with one of the best cocktails in east London in hand (often on offer) or a hot chocolate and a slice of homemade cake from the bar.
In Screen Two, however, the back two rows are made up of sofas which, if you’re lucky, you can often get one to yourself.
Independent cinemas are in desperate need of regular customers, but more often than not they struggle to compete with the low prices of soulless multiplex chains like Vue or Odeon.
At The Castle, though, a spectator rarely spends more than £3 on a ticket. Midweek, members can bring a friend for free before 5pm from Tuesday to Friday – and membership costs just £35 a year, or £17.50 for students, NHS staff and those on lower incomes.
Generosity and kindness sit at the heart of the cinema too. Anyone can leave a few pounds behind the bar so that someone else – someone who might need the comfort of a film but can’t afford a ticket – can still walk in and take a seat.
In an age of endless streaming and algorithm-driven recommendations, The Castle feels quietly radical. It’s not just a place to watch films – it’s a place to belong.
And while the world’s most famous cinemas might have bigger screens, grander foyers or red-carpet premieres, none of them have ever made the spectator feels quite as at home or impressed as much as a £3 seat on Chatsworth Road.
