August is a genuinely busy month for cinema in Bahrain. There’s a slasher throwback, an anime adaptation with a cult following, a couple of family-friendly animated adventures, and a new instalment in one of horror’s biggest franchises. Here’s what’s landing on local screens, week by week.
Language: English
A sun-soaked town turns dark when the local ice cream van starts handing out more than sweet treats. What begins as a classic summer setting quickly spirals into full-blown horror once the deliveries turn sinister.
Language: Japanese
Based on the hit manga and anime series, this follows 300 teenage footballers thrown into a brutal training programme with one goal: find Japan’s next great striker. Only one player makes it through. Everyone else is cut from the national team picture for good.
Language: English
Jackie Chan and his panda co-star Hu Hu wander into the territory of a hidden ancient tribe, and chaos follows almost immediately. Expect the usual mix of slapstick action and family-friendly comedy Chan’s known for.
Language: English
The pups get swept off course by a storm and end up on an island crawling with dinosaurs. They team up with Rex, a pup who’s been living there long enough to know his way around, just as Mayor Humdinger’s mining operation wakes up a volcano that’s been dormant for a very long time. Big rescues follow.
Language: English
Starring Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway, this one imagines an entire suburban street getting torn away from its normal surroundings by a strange cosmic event. The Platt family has to figure out how to survive in a place that no longer makes sense, and staying together becomes the only option.
Language: Arabic
An Arabic-language social comedy following media activist Dina El-Kurdi as she launches a campaign against violence towards women. Her cause weaves through a handful of other women’s stories along the way, with plenty of comedic friction as some of the men around her push back.
Language: English
Jason Statham stars as Cole Reed, a man framed for his billionaire boss’s murder right after witnessing it. He goes on the run to clear his name, uncovering a conspiracy that reaches far beyond the original crime.
Language: English
The Insidious franchise, which has pulled in over $740 million worldwide, adds a new chapter. Amelia Eve plays Gemma, a mother who discovers she can enter The Further, the realm where lost souls linger. The twist here is that she can also bring things back with her, which is exactly as bad an idea as it sounds once the demons figure it out.
Language: English
A quieter, more emotional entry on this list. Ten-year-old Tom loses his father and retreats into an imaginative world where ordinary household objects come to life, each one carrying pieces of the relationship he’s lost.
Language: English
Set after a virus wipes out most of humanity, this follows Hig, a pilot who survived the outbreak but lost his wife, as he navigates a world now shared with dangerous scavengers known as Reapers.
Language: English, Spanish
Tad’s toddler daughter has turned him into an anxious, overprotective dad, and his wife isn’t thrilled about being sidelined either. A magic lamp found in Buckingham Palace sends the family back to Peru in 1502, then on to Greece and the Middle East, chasing history before it changes for good.
Cineco has five branches across Juffair, Seef, Al Hamra, Wadi Al Sail and Al Liwan, and has been running since 1968, making it the most accessible option no matter where you’re based on the island.
VOX Cinemas, at City Centre Bahrain and The Avenues, is the pick for a more premium experience, with THEATRE, GOLD and MAX screens, Dolby Atmos sound, and the region’s first IMAX with Laser and Sapphire setup. The 4DX screens add motion effects for anyone who wants the full sensory version of a film.
Cinépolis has two locations, one at Atrium Mall in Saar and one on Amwaj Islands, useful if crossing town isn’t appealing.
EPIX at Dana Mall in Sanabis is one of the bigger setups on the island, running ten screens and over 1,100 seats across smaller rooms and a multi-level balcony.
Mukta at Juffair Mall is the go-to for Bollywood and Indian cinema, and it’s the only Indian cinema chain with an international presence.
Showtimes change often, so it’s worth checking each cinema’s app or website before heading out.
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