The old Rex Cinema, a single-screen 1947 movie hall just east of Chinatown, has been reborn as a multi-storey creative space: a labyrinthine BookXcess bookstore on the upper floors, a food hall on the ground level featuring some of KL's better-known small operators, and an event space in the former auditorium that hosts gigs, film screenings, and small exhibitions.
The cinema was twice nearly demolished — once after a 1972 fire, again in the 2000s — and the restoration deliberately leaves much of the bare concrete, painted-over signage, and old projection-booth machinery visible. Worth half an hour even if you do not eat or shop. Open 10 am to 10 pm.