Serpent’s Path (2025 Restoration)

Straight off CURE (1997), his international breakthrough, Kiyoshi Kurosawa directed two low-budget films using the same basic premise and the same lead actor (Sho Aikawa) to completely different ends. The experiment first resulted in SERPENT’S PATH (1998, later remade in 2024), a dark gangland thriller with philosophical overtones. Obsessed with avenging his young daughter’s murder, … Read more

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (15th Anniversary Screening)

“We are Sex Bob-Omb and we are here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff.” Produced, directed, and co-written by Edgar Wright (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, HOT FUZZ, THE WORLD’S END) and based on the cult graphic novel series ‘Scott Pilgrim’ by Bryan Lee O’Malley, SCOTT PILGRIM vs. THE WORLD is … Read more

Scarlet

From visionary Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda (MIRAI, SUMMER WARS, WOLF CHILDREN) comes a powerful, time-bending animated adventure about SCARLET, a medieval-era, sword-fighting princess on a dangerous quest to avenge the death of her father. After failing at her mission and finding herself gravely injured in the “Otherworld,” she encounters an idealistic young man from … Read more

Sadako vs. Kayako

The Rio Theatre‘s Rio Grind Film Festival is kicking things off on Friday, November 4 with the BC Premiere of director Kōji Shiraishi‘s supernatural thriller – a match made in horror movie franchise heaven – SADAKO VS. KAYAKO. It’s THE RING vs. THE GRUDGE in the ultimate showdown (the 12th of each series!). SADAKO VS. … Read more

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

The cult classic Hong Kong martial arts slaughter-thon – a frequently requested title – finally splatters across the Rio’s screen as a Friday Late Night Movie on December 7. This offbeat cult-classic stars Bin Shimada as the eponymous Riki, a new prisoner at a high-tech penal institution of the future who finds himself challenged by … Read more

Ride Your Wave

From visionary director Masaaki Yuasa (The Night is Short, Walk on Girl, Devilman Crybaby) comes a deeply emotional new film that applies his trademark visual ingenuity to a tale of romance, grief and self-discovery. The film follows the story of Hinako, a surf-loving college student who has just moved to a small seaside town. When … Read more

Rashomon

Long before Quentin Tarantino was filing away endless VHS tapes as a video store clerk while dreaming up his signature approach to unconventional cinematic story logic that twists narrative structure and messes with an audience’s response to time – there was Akira Kurosawa‘s indelibly awesome (not to mention monumentally influential) RASHOMON. Brimming with action while … Read more

Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama

Newly restored and re-discovered for its 30th Anniversary, this legendary Japanese-Indian animated adaptation of the religious epic RAMAYANA: THE LEGEND OF PRINCE RAMA is currently making the rounds at theatres and festivals (including this year’s Fantasia Film Festival!), and is headed to the Rio Theatre for screenings on Saturday, August 12 and Monday, August 21. … Read more

Psycho-Pass Movie

PSYCHO-PASS: THE MOVIE (“Gekijō-ban Psycho-Pass”) is the 2015 Japanese anime science fiction crime film that effectively caps off the wildly successful series of the same name. (Please note: This film screens in Japaense with English subtitles.) PSYCHO-PASS: THE MOVIE Monday, March 28 Doors 6:00 | Movie 6:30pm Single Tickets = $10 advance / $12 door … Read more

Promare

The first feature-length film from the acclaimed studio TRIGGER, creators of the hit series “KILL la KILL” and “Little Witch Academia,” and director Hiroyuki Imaishi (GURREN LAGANN), PROMARE uses a bold cel-shaded visual style to tell a blistering action-adventure story, and is the spiritual successor to many of director Imaishi’s former works. Thirty years has … Read more