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Melbourne is a city of the arts, with an overwhelming love for all things creative, and it shows in the statistics. Take the big screen, Melbourne is home to over 70 cinemas, from the literal biggest in the southern hemisphere at IMAX Melbourne, right down to the charming boutique theatres in the city and suburbs that keep cinephiles from having to go far to catch a flick.
Sure, moviegoing is expensive in this day and age, but in a time where art is under threat from corporate agendas and the cinema is more sacred a space than ever — it’s a great time to support your local indie theatre and distributors.
If you’re looking to evade the multiplex and watch a movie in a cinema with character, or catch an independent film that your local Hoyts or Event Cinemas doesn’t have on the showtimes, you’re spoilt for choice. These cinemas around the city are charming, historic and exactly the thing you need.
Palace Cinemas
The Astor
History often goes hand in hand with a cinema maintaining a boutique identity — and few are as historic as The Astor. Putting on the pictures since 1936 and preserving as one of just a small few single-screen repertory cinemas in the world. Meaning, The Astor keeps a tidy repertoire of classic films in its showtimes, carefully protected by owners Palace Cinemas.
Inside the classic stalls and stands space, films can be projected in a mix of formats, with regular screenings of 35mm, 70mm and 4k — the latter of which is pristine even for the usually crystal clear resolution, as The Astor keeps one of the highest quality digital projectors in the entire country. And you’re not limited to the snack bar for pre-movie snacks, since the Overlook Cafe and Bar (yes, like The Shining) keeps a tidy bar menu available just next door.
Thornsbury Picture House and Brunswick Picture House
As independent goes, the Picture Houses make everything else on this list look like a chain. The original Thornsbury cinema has been family-owned and operated for almost a decade by Gus and Lou Berger, described as a cinema that’s about more than just screenings, but somewhere where audiences can gather and chat about a film in an intimate 57-seat space.
They recently expanded north with the Brunswick Picture House, which opened in November 2025 with the same vision. In both spaces, you’ll find plenty of new arrivals and independently distributed films, plus regular special events, including its own festival: the Northern Lights Film Festival.
Cinema Nova
There’s no discussion about boutique theatres in Melbourne without mentioning this Lygon Street icon. Cinema Nova started as a joint operation between the Longford and Valhalla cinemas, but has since grown into a 16-screen operation with its own bar, making it one of the largest independent cinemas in the southern hemisphere.
That scale means Cinema Nova offers almost every kind of screening possible. Fresh same-day premieres and independent productions alike have regular places in the showtimes. There’s a huge range of special events, too, with major and minor film festivals setting up shop yearly, plus regular advance screenings, marathons, double features, stage recordings, exclusive retrospectives and restorations and much more.
Palace Cinemas
The Kino
The most convenient of all of Melbourne’s boutique theatres, The Kino is a premier picturehouse in the CBD, Collins Place, more specifically. An extremely stylish cinema and part of the national Palace Cinemas family, it’s a seven-screen site that puts an emphasis on premium.
The prime example of that attitude is the newly installed premium recliner seats, including tables and footrests, that sort of comfort makes every movie screening better, in our opinion. The showtimes have a wide mix of premium films too, but like all Palace Cinemas, there’s a certain emphasis on the independent and international, and regular event, advance and membership discounts.
Sun Theatre
Another of the golden oldies, the Sun has been shining since 1938, maintaining an air of Art Deco that makes these 20th century cinemas so charming. The current owners took over in 1995, after its stint as a Greek cinema in the 1960s ended with a forced closure and a prolonged period of disrepair, during which most of the original cinema fell into disrepair. But the charm survived, and now the Sun is brighter than ever.
Now boasting eight distinctly styled cinemas, the Sun has a large variety of films on daily, with a healthy mix of Hollywood, Independent and Australian films in regular rotation alongside festivals, retrospectives, previews and themed screenings.
Lido Cinemas
The site now known as Lido Cinemas has had plenty of previous identities. First it was a catholic school, then a theatre, a dance hall, a mini golf complex and then a cinema in the late 1930s. But it wasn’t done there — it had to try the whole dance thing again, then phases in dinner theatre, cabaret and then abandonment. Until Eddie and Lindy Tamir, who also own Classic and Cameo cinemas, moved in in 2013.
Now, the 114-year-old building is Lido, a beloved cinema with eight screens, a rooftop cinema and a jazz room. Screenings are a mix of arthouse and blockbuster alongside festivals, themed screenings and events like a film club hosted by Zachary Ruane of comedy trio Aunty Donna.
Classic Cinema
Classic is being used literally in this case — being Melbourne’s oldest-running theatre. Originally purchased in 1888 for a tidy sum of £5000 by owners looking to build a skating rink and clubhouse, and it would go through lifetimes of various theatres and dance halls, going through ownership changes, the great depression and fires, before entering the Classic Cinemas identity in 1971 and being acquired by its current owners in 1997.
The Tamir family has renovated the theatre three times since, with it now operating with ten screens, a rooftop and a dedicated music and comedy space. Classic positions itself as not just a cinema, but a cultural precinct to film-loving Melburnians, thanks to regular film festival programming and screenings of films big and small, old and new.
Coburg Drive In
The concept of a drive-in cinema altogether is inherently pretty retro, but this Coburg classic lives and breathes that spirit. Since 1965, this 33-metre screen has been doing it old-school. If you’re among the Gen Z who have never watched a movie in your car — drive-ins are like outdoor cinemas but with the shelter of your own automobile, and instead of Bluetooth headphones, the sound comes via a dedicated FM radio channel.
Seating…or parking in this case… is on a first-in, first-served basis, so you’re advised to arrive with plenty of time to secure a prime park for the movie. And have some decorum: big cars are asked to stay in the back to avoid interrupting the view. For snacks, a retro diner serves food and can deliver to your car if you order over text.
Palace Cinemas
Pentridge Prison Cinemas
A former prison is an unconventional place to hold, well, any sort of business, but when you’ve got a brewery, hotel, wine bar, restaurant, wedding space and more in a former prison complex — a cinema fits right in. Introducing Pentridge Prison Cinemas, part of the Australia-spanning Palace Cinemas family.
In terms of what’s on offer, Pentridge’s 15 auditoriums all boast Dolby Atmos sound, digital projection and fully reclining chairs complete with footrests. Luxurious, and licensed too, so if Pepsi Max doesn’t cut it, you can get a stronger drink to take into your screening of Palace’s mixed films and events program.
