The Electric is definitely one of Birmingham’s finer points. Bizarrely, despite its subtle class and retro appeal, it is never overcrowded and always has that uniquely personal feel of somewhere you’ve accidentally stumbled upon that happens to be amazing. It’s decadent and glamourous without being over the top. The food on offer is high quality without being pretentious, and they manage to show both unusual independent and blockbuster films without losing that blissfully alternative feel. Definitely not one too miss.

The Electric Cinema is great if you are not a fan of squeezing in between strangers and listening to people laughing and giggling at the most inopportune times.

The great thing about the Electric Cinema is the movies are hand picked by the owners and they only show one movie at a time. This means that it only attracts a certain type of people, and they certainly are the people you want to sit in a dark room with watching a movie.

The bar has a great selection of drinks and snacks and they even change the cocktails to theme with the movie showing at the time.

They also have a VIP service. There are leather (comfy) sofas at the top of the screen for only a little extra money and you also get a waitress service to bring your drinks to you. They have thought of everything, as they serve so many delicious cocktails and beers they have an interval in the middle of every film for toilet stops lol.

Highly recommended!! ***

The Electric Cinema is the oldest cinema in the UK. The cinema is a sumptuous, luxury building with sofa seating and a full bar. You can enjoy the visual impulse using electric technology. I think the cinema is a good place to see a movie.

This is the oldest working cinema in the UK. It's worth visiting for the place itself, but sadly the quality of the films is generally lacking. I like my independent cinemas to show cool independent films, but that only happens 50% of the time here, and even then they don't generally choose the coolest.

Oh well, there's not many cinemas that serve wine and olives :)

What can I say about the electric cinema? Fantastic place in the heart of Birmingham where the cinema takes on a different meaning than the usual popcorn on the back of the head and annoying people talking and kicking the back of your chair. Don’t get me wrong I love the cinema but this is a little bit special, this is why. You can sit on big black sofas, 2 people per sofa, it’s very small and intimate, perfect for dates, and you can text the bar for drinks, alcoholic ones! they serve home made ice cream and snacks and they now have a great surround sound system, I could go on , just check the website out and you'll see what I mean. Oldest working cinema in England and it rocks trust me.

If you're after something other than mindless, Hollywood blockbusters then The Electric Cinema is a good place to look. Opened on December 30th 1909, it is the oldest working cinema in the UK. As well as a theatre, the building also houses a recording studio and production house.

If you can bare to pay £12 a ticket you get luxury leather sofa seats to sit on. These are great, and the novelty value is undeniable however they are positioned furthest away from the screen so the £6 standard seating is the better option if your eyes aren't so good.

The best feature of this arthouse cinema is the waiter service. All you do is text the bar your order, "two 'San-Miguels' please" and moments later they come and kneel beside you with whatever you've asked for. The bill is settled at the end.

I really enjoyed my visit yet at £12 each ticket, I don't think the luxury sofa seats are fairly priced considering how far away from the screen they are. The menu is also pretty expensive but if you want to see independant, cult cinema classics on the big screen there aren't many other places to go in Birmingham.