I walked out of a showing of Barbie at the Odeon last week due to the behaviour of other people in the cinema – they were scrolling through phones, chatting as if they were in their own front room, waving their arms in the air during the musical number and whooping every time Ryan Gosling’s face appeared on screen.
I enjoyed the opening 15min but was getting so stressed I had to go. Will try again in a few weeks time when the hype has died down. ali3240
Being at a loose end whilst visiting my Mum a few years ago, we decided to go and see the previous Mission Impossible. Enjoyment somewhat spoiled by the lady behind us putting her feet up on the back of Mum’s seat and flat out refusing to put them down when asked. Being fairly tall, I went for the simple expedient of swapping seats. Hope her ladyship enjoyed the view of the back of my big shiny head for the rest of the film. flyinggraham
Bright phones, people mindlessly scrolling during a film, drinking so much you have to get up and go to the loo every five seconds, talking throughout. The cinema is so expensive, I genuinely don’t understand why people are on their phones and chatting through the experience! Kind of like people who talk through an entire gig. Just wait and see it at home if you can’t be quiet and respectful to others. Starbop
For the sake of context, I was born in 1964 and so I’ve seen it all. The best and worst types of behavior while watching a movie; including drive-ins. If there’s a common denominator I think it boils down to this:
Self-centered thinking on the part of the mentally restless, adolescent minded and more extroverted. It’s gotten worse as a byproduct of the speed of change.
By contrast, see a movie with introverts, people more self-aware and able to sit still, and you’ll have a different experience. JaneMarple
My worst audience policing experience was an excited birthday girl who was dragged out by security during the screening of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in the British Film Institute a couple of years ago. The girl was sitting a few rows behind me and was just laughing frequently and thoroughly enjoying the film. Those who got up several times to report her to staff and those shouting at her were far more disruptive than the girl herself. Afie23
I do wish people would stop using Covid as the reason why some people behave badly in the public space that is the cinema. People behaved badly before Covid, it’s why we were told to turn our phones off before the movie started. I rarely go to the cinema these days as it’s either hit or miss as to whether someone will ruin the movie for me by talking all the way through. I used to love going to the cinema but now it’s filled with anxiety. Brigitte
Only in the western world, or, perhaps, only in the English-speaking west. Over here, in South-east Asia, crowds are polite, well mannered and well-dressed at the cinema, much like it used to be, the world over, half a century ago. mscommerce
I think people have become too used to multi-tasking while watching visuals. They’re used to being able to eat, talk, scroll and get up for a pee break while watching the film.
There was a young guy watching Oppenheimer straight up pontificating loudly to his mate during the film, not whispering over a salient point now and then. When I (not that politely) asked him to keep it down he looked mortified, like he had no idea that most, if not everybody, in the cinema were not interested in his opinion right now. VonDoom
Ironically, that sort of disruptive behaviour was the main reason I stopped going to the cinema in the first place. And that was when fleapits were grungy, stank of stale humans, stale popcorn and sometimes beer. WordChazer
I think it’s the TikTok effect, where short bursts of video entertainment have become normalised and are impacting a viewer’s ability to sit still, concentrate, follow the story and shut the fuck up. Pherber69
People are inadequately socialised today due to inadequate teaching and parenting – and of course, scolding another person’s child is a no-no now, when that simply wasn’t the case even 30 years ago. Also, cinemas used to have staff who could request that people behave or get thrown out. Also unthinkable now – you’d get punched or knifed. The political right bears responsibility for its aggressive individualism and also the left, for its moral relativism. Simple good manners are an affront to personhood. leedsnil
Used to love going to the cinema. Not now. Too loud, both film and audiences, too little pleasure involved with too much stress. So instead I trawl through the DVDs at my local Oxfam and subscribe to BFI. Not really very sociable, which is a shame, but certainly now far more pleasurable and rewarding. Tibouchina56
Really need to pick your moment at the cinema these days. I always try to go to a cinema for a less busy day/time to avoid the worst of the ‘no idea how to behave in public brigade’. When booking, I look at the seating chart to avoid group bookings. Even with all that, there always seems to be at least one of these types (crisp/sweet bag rustlers, people chatting during the film, people who ‘can’t’ switch their phone off for a couple of hours). mich77
My 18-year-old daughter has started working at our local Odeon and reports that never mind the bad behavior, the majority of customers are pigs, leaving vast quantities of leftover food and drinks to be cleared out, popcorn all over the floor, with a mountain of un-recyclable rubbish hauled out every day. They are also rude and generally unpleasant to all the staff. She is becoming thick skinned very fast. MizzHyde
The worst ones are the eaters. I myself may have a sweet or two and possibly a drink during a film. But some people bring almost a picnic, hot dogs, popcorn, sweets, drinks and crisps. They are the ones that totally piss me off. And they leave the place a tip too. blubbermouth
People show themselves up in every popular screening. It is almost a competition to show how little you care about the happiness of strangers. Chubbypandas
Took my mom to see Barbie, she was really looking forward to it. Crowded screen, all goes quiet as the film starts. Then a group of people walk in, talking loudly and clearly drunk. Of course they sit right behind us and start chatting.
They settled but then picked up later on. It got to the stage where we couldn’t hear the dialogue. Nobody else intervened and I had to say something.
I was obsequiously polite but still expected an escalation. Fortunately they did stop talking but both my mom and I were worried about a confrontation. carter101
Me and two friends decided that, post-pandemic, we would actively go to the cinema once a week, to support cinemas etc. When we were sitting watching The Northman there were two girls sitting chatting at full volume, on their phones etc. When my friend asked them to stop, they said, if he wanted to watch a film in silence, he should have watched it at home! He tried to point out that it should work the other way in cinemas, he was met with the usual verbal abuse. In a wider point; don’t you think that people have become even more angry and entitled after the pandemic? I naïvely hoped that people might have been nicer, since we all learned the harsh lesson that we all rely on each other more than we think. CalumGilhooly
I saw Creed III in a fairly empty cinema bar the row in front of me which was made up of a bunch of teenage boys. The way they whooped and cheered during the film – at one point all standing up and clapping – kind of made the experience for me. Kemster
I always confront this sort of behaviour, because most people just sit there and moan afterwards and the cinema staff aren’t going to do anything. Realise it’s not an option for everyone though to do this. RedRedCheese
I recently walked out of MI7 due to audience intrusion and cancelled my tickets for Oppenheimer even though the opportunity to see an Imax 70mm film of any type is now few and far between. Why can’t cinemas have a presentation where phones, food and the adverts and any other adjuncts to ‘enjoying’ the experience are not permitted? I’d pay extra to sit in peace just watching the film but it seems that that is no longer an option, and killjoy that I clearly am, the multiplexes are just not interested in curmudgeonly purists like me anymore. Kurwenal
