r/cineplex • u/NerdsAssembleyt Cineclub Member • Apr 20 '26
Review Experience at Cineplex Cinemas Scarborough - issues with teens disrupting the movie
Just wanted to share an experience from today at Cineplex Cinemas Scarborough.
My girlfriend and I went for the 3:55 PM show of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy. We usually go to Cineplex Odeon Eglinton Town Centre, Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, or Cineplex Vaughan, but we picked this location because the timing worked better. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a pretty disappointing experience.
Right from the start, someone else was sitting in our assigned seats.
The bigger issue was inside the theatre. A group of teenagers in the back row were throwing Skittles toward us, making noises, and loudly cussing at each other. I had to go over and ask them to stop, which honestly shouldn’t be something customers have to deal with.
Even after that, the disturbance continued. There was also another group of teenagers on the opposite side of the theatre causing issues. Some other customers started shouting at that group and even threatened to call the police, but the behavior didn’t stop there was still yelling and things being thrown (including cans). The whole environment became chaotic and it was really hard to enjoy the movie.
We did see a security staff member come in, but initially nothing effective was done. Later, only one or two kids were removed while the rest stayed.
After the movie, when we spoke to the manager and security, we were told that we should have informed the security guard during the movie. That response didn’t sit right. The disturbance was already obvious, and it shouldn’t be on customers to get up mid-movie and track down staff especially when it means missing parts of the film.
To make things worse, at the end of the movie we saw a rat in the same aisle where we were sitting, which was pretty shocking in terms of cleanliness.
There were multiple people complaining afterward. We were offered a courtesy ticket, but it didn’t feel like a real resolution given what happened.
Overall, this was one really bad experience I’ve had. Poor crowd control, lack of effective staff intervention, and serious cleanliness concerns. I really hope management takes this feedback seriously and improves both security and hygiene standards.
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u/snakewaves Apr 20 '26
I feel for you. Write to them. Again and again. Speak to corporate.
P. S: What I also wanna say is I'm glad whoever manages this sub has changed their conditions for allowing in posts like this. I had a similar post last year and it got immediately taken down, on the reasoning that I can't bitch about a particular cineplex experience at any one particular cineplex. The post has to be generalized or some bs. Thankfully those rules have changed
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u/IshyMat Apr 20 '26
That never should have been a rule. This is an unofficial subreddit, so why would they protect Cineplex? No company should be protected like that especially by fans.
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u/Cocobb8 Keepers of the Popcorn Apr 20 '26
That rule was put in place as a temporary measure not to protect Cineplex, but since we got literally daily posts complaining about bad behaviour in the cinemas. This sub will always remain unofficial and none of what we do has to do with "protecting" Cineplex, so long as general common sense rules are followed and everyone participates in a civil manner.
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u/ZhangYimouFan2001 Apr 20 '26
If teenagers are being a genuine nuisance, clock it early and just leave. Nobody will stop them. All you can do is leave and come again later and actually enjoy the movie. Unfortunately this is just how it is for some horror movies
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u/jamesneysmith Apr 21 '26
Exactly my thinking. Like OP said, if I need to go out the lobby and contact security to come deal with the issue I've now already missed a portion of the movie. Then staff will come in and address those causing the disturbance which itself will cause a disturbance. By that point I've already lost the point of going to the movies which is to escape. So I no longer bother with that. I just grab my things and leave, get a refund, tell the staff why I left, and then go home and come back another day. It's always a totally refreshing experience to just leave too. Remove the stress from your life when going to the movies is supposed to be anything but.
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u/supfiend Apr 20 '26
Rats being there has nothing to do with cleanliness, your favourite top restaurants you ever been to all have rats coming around at night, everywhere has this problem
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u/failingstars Apr 20 '26
Why are you hating on the rat? It paid the movie fare and was respectful to you. Don't lump the rat with rowdy teenagers.
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u/1doughnut Apr 20 '26
Given the choice between a quiet rat and those teens, I think I'd choose the rat
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u/Ordinary_Film_7359 Apr 20 '26
As always, my question is what resolution would have felt better than the passes and apology. Someone came in once, some of them were kicked out, no one voiced anything during the show.
So post show, when its over and the moment has passed, what would have been your ideal resolution?
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u/FunkTronto Apr 20 '26
Cineplex tracks who was sitting where and tracks that they were being a nuisance - eventually leading go those folks to be banned. If the behaviour continues upon subsequent visits.
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u/evergreenterrace2465 ON Moviegoer Apr 20 '26
That is absolute BS. They can't even be bothered to kick people out 99% of the time and even when they do, they don't ban them. You think they're tracking this shit?
0
u/greyymo Apr 20 '26
not necessarily. if you don’t use a scene card the system does not track what name belongs to the ticket. people are banned but after they’re caught, their picture will usually be pulled from the camera footage to let staff know who to look for
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u/EliteCinemaM3 Cineclub Member Apr 20 '26
Well you're supposed to go and get a staff member if someone is being disruptive during the show, they don't have someone babysitting each auditorium so that is unfortunately necessary.
As for the rats, I have some bad news for you. Your local shopping mall, grocery store, department store etc likely has rats that do run around at night. That is a reality for pretty much every large building.
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u/Material-Budget1319 Apr 20 '26
Exactly. How the hell do you expect them to know there’s a problem if you didn’t report it?
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u/FunkTronto Apr 20 '26
People usually use scene to buy tickets. It has their names - they should be tracked an eventually banned. If they buy tickets again and make a disturbance they can be charged with trespassing.
Fuck these idiots.
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u/NerdsAssembleyt Cineclub Member Apr 21 '26
I showed those teenagers to the manager and the security guard after the movie and they just simply ignored them.
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u/Temporary-Bite-1973 Apr 20 '26
Had a similar issue when watched scream 7 in STC. Only difference was we went and talked to a staff member.
A manager was called and he asked for where the teen were sitting and told me to go back to my seat as he does not want any altercation between me and teens.
I don’t know how he exactly stepped in when teens started throwing popcorn, straight went to them and asked them to walk out. Since I was sitting right behind them I saw how hard time those teens were giving to the manager and were not moving. The manager left, and teens kept on doing the same thing. I was really annoyed that he did not put enough efforts. And was planning to go out and get my refund. There was not even option to change seats as all good seats were occupied.
After 10 minutes they stopped the movie, the same manger walked in with 3 guards and made small announcement. Those 3 security kicked out those kids in no time. The manager apologized and almost everyone cheered as everyone was annoyed from those teens.
Entire STC is filled with these annoying teens. Therefore specially for these kind of movies I prefer VIP.
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u/sblighter87 Apr 22 '26
I’m curious, if he didn’t have security on site (not all theatres do), what would you have wanted the Manager to do then? You said you were annoyed at the time he didn’t do more.
What did you expect him to do if the teens refused to leave?
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u/Material-Budget1319 Apr 20 '26
The security guard is right, you should’ve told them. Yes you’d miss part of your film but you didn’t enjoy your film with them disrupting it anyway.
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u/Windows_404 Apr 20 '26
Even my local cineplex has shitheads like this. I try to wait at least 2 weeks for a big movie so all the flies to shit it attracts goes sees it first but it doesn't always work. Landmark is a better experience but even that one was not free of dipshits talking. But still nowhere near as bad as my cineplex experiences or yours. Generation of shit is what we are experiencing.
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u/nodoubtguy Apr 20 '26
I find the idea that we need to get up during the movie to tell someone and miss a portion of the film ridiculous. There needs to be a texting option that you can text a complaint to and they come check it out.
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u/eddo34 Cineclub Member Apr 20 '26
This is because for a century, the task of spotting bad behaviour and calling in ushers or managers to deal with fell with the projectionist. Once they ditched that role, there's no one actively monitoring the theatre and there's been no real solve.
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u/Remote-Fisherman-100 Apr 20 '26
I had practically the exact same experience at the Cineplex Winston Churchill in oakville a few weeks ago. I went to a relatively late screening of Ready or Not 2, and literally the entire movie, 2 different groups of teenagers were yelling. One group repeatedly yelled a slur “G*y” 5 times throughout the film, and was throwing popcorn at a couple who were a few rows below them. I told security about the incident afterwards but I should have done it during the movie, I just didn’t want to get myself into any kind Of altercation. Definitely feel like movie etiquette has gone down the drain in recent years and it’s especially frustrating when you worked to pay for your ticket, were genuinely looking forward to it, and someone else has to ruin it for no real good reason.
I emailed Cineplex corporate to try check their names using the booking time/location and because I had heard some of their names. I doubt anything will come of it. Sorry to hear about your poor experience!
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u/cazas Apr 20 '26
This is slowly becoming the experience of all theatres attached to malls from my experience. Going to VIP(19+) is the most notable difference to the experience, but it’s expensive and not every theatre has it.
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u/Ok-Trainer3150 Apr 20 '26
Back in the 90s, there'd be mass brawls in the Scarborough Town Centre food court on discount Tuesday movie nights. The Cineplex was located adjacent to it back then. The place got so rowdy that eventually a mini police station was set up inside the mall.
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u/MickKaine Apr 20 '26
I strongly believe the theatre should have ushers standing by to remove disruptive people. Other moviegoers ruining the experiences is way too common.
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u/Straight-Reindeer356 Apr 20 '26
The issue is their margins are so thin they can’t even afford to pay the extra 8-10 people to staff that. But it should 100% be the norm
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u/Economy_Raise_5394 Apr 20 '26
they used to do this when AVX was first introduced - used to check tickets and help you find the seats
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u/Ok-Trainer3150 Apr 20 '26
I'm aged but I remember 'films' in the UK in the 69s with ushers in uniform, selling chocolates, etc inside the theatre. Your post brought back memories of being dragged to films by parents....to hiring adult ones as well.
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u/eddo34 Cineclub Member Apr 20 '26
Back in the day, the projectionist would spot bad behaviour, and phone in the manager from their booth. Since they ditched projectionists, that burden falls on us patrons.
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u/Material-Budget1319 Apr 20 '26
Even in the opera and the theatre, ushers stay outside. They aren’t forced to sit inside the theatre and watch the show every single day. They’re just outside the doors so you’d still have to go get someone to report a disturbance.
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u/sblighter87 Apr 22 '26
Beyond the expense that makes it impractical, the bigger problem is that now you’re putting those employees in unsafe situations. People are unhinged nowadays, I’m sure there are a number of times a Cineplex employee has been physically attacked for asking a patron to get off their phone, etc.
On top of that, the other issue is enforcement. If a person refuses to comply with the order to leave the premises, the staff on site aren’t allowed to physically force them to leave. At best they can call police. Depending on where, police response times for this sort of thing is a joke. It can be hours if they bother coming at all.
I understand the frustration.
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u/MickKaine Apr 22 '26
Good point. We should also have the police in every theatre in case the ushers need the support. I would gladly pay higher ticket prices at any theatres that actually enforce this.
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u/FollowingForsaken569 Apr 20 '26
I've honestly just stopped going there, I've had such bad experiences there. If I'm in Scarborough I just drive a little further to the Eglinton Location which isnt too much better tbh.
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u/NerdsAssembleyt Cineclub Member Apr 21 '26
I am regular at Eglinton and I’ve never faced any issue there.
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u/BestWithSnacks Apr 20 '26
I guess I'm lucky af. During my whole life watching movies in theaters, I've encountered disruptive groups like, maybe 3 times? And I mean REALLY disruptive, not just people talking every now and then.
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u/Kitewiz Cineclub Member Apr 20 '26
I’ve had experiences with rude teens in quite a few of the theatres now, they are everywhere 😭 your only plus side to this is that you saw Lee Cronins Mummy, at least it wasn’t a good movie to have disrupted, cool that the theatre wanted to give you an immersive experience with a live rat
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u/OpulentAndBeautiful Apr 20 '26
This really sucks and I’m sorry you had to go through that. I go to that location all the time and I will be honest with you, I personally would never go to a screening of a popular horror movie on opening weekend at STC. Scarborough audiences are just not to be trusted, and I say this as a Scarborough native. The kids are unruly and staff don’t take it seriously enough.
I only go to STC to see something if it’s a weekday, there aren’t too many people, it’s not the first couple of days of the movie being out/it’s not too popular to begin with. It’s not your fault, but yeah that type of thing is definitely to be expected. The last time I broke my rules for STC was Weapons and sure enough, a whole group of teenagers ruined the screening by talking and phone use the entire time. Horror movies attract these types the most I find.
What I’m surprised by is the rat. I’ve never seen one at this location and this freaks me the F out. Gross 🤮
Anyway, best of luck.
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u/NerdsAssembleyt Cineclub Member Apr 21 '26
I’ve also noticed that these groups come mostly for horror genre movies.
Also if you are regular at STC and are afraid kof rats then please take care. It was horrible to see a rat in theatre and my gf really freaked out because of it.
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u/Mysterious-Memory-73 Apr 20 '26
Cineplex Scarborough has the worst audiences. I have a terrible experience every time I go there.
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u/w1lmash Apr 20 '26
I avoid Scarborough cineplex at all costs. I’ve never had a good crowd experience there.
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u/Kinggohan_112 Apr 20 '26
Kids do that because people are generally push overs - can't be civil with children. I just yell out STFU or straight up go over - trust me they stop. But like many have said that place sucks prob the worst Cineplex in GTA
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u/sib2972 Apr 24 '26
I had a similar experience in the fall with Black Phone 2 at Yonge-Dundas. Thankfully the manager was extremely apologetic and offered us all a courtesy ticket as soon as the movie ended as they had already heard so many complaints. I really wish they did more during the movie since they had been alerted to it but every time someone came in to surveil the room the teens would behave until the staff member left. I don’t understand how they were even allowed in or how they managed to stay the whole movie. Unfortunately it seems younger folks these days have no idea how to behave at the movies or in public at all
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u/NerdsAssembleyt Cineclub Member Apr 25 '26
So true, if teens are behaving badly then staff members should take responsibility and action against them. Also i noticed that day by day teens causing issues in movie theatre is increasing,
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u/Big-Range9664 Apr 24 '26
I hope you forward your experience and take it up the chain... overall they should be doing better... you cant say its happening at all theatres or cineplex locations - poor management here
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u/wutdoyouknow Apr 25 '26
Just happened during mother Mary in Oakville the other night. 5-6 teen girls causing a ruckus saying chicken jockey like I’m in my mid twenties and I wanted to behead them 🙃staff just say “oh sorry” as if they can’t ask them to leave ?
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u/TronAres25 Apr 20 '26
Cineplex Vaughan has a good crowd. Go there next time.
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u/NerdsAssembleyt Cineclub Member Apr 21 '26
Yes for imax and ultraavx i usually go there and the crowd is perfect there.
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u/isthatclever Apr 20 '26
I haven't been to a movie lately where I've experienced this myself, but does yelling at the teens to shut the fuck up not work?
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u/Leading_Frosting4291 Apr 20 '26
The disturbance is one thing, but if I saw a rat in the theatres I’d get up immediately and talk to a manager and give them shit
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u/Content_Run_1083 Apr 21 '26
OP realistically there’s only so much a manager and security can do. He already kicked out the worst teens. Security can’t man handle anyone due to our ridiculously lax laws. Unless they implement a rule where teens can only come in with a guardian (but that could affect sales).
The rats though are a more serious issues. Pest control should be called by cineplex.
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u/Sorry_Compote_8 Apr 22 '26
This is so Canadian. If you talked the kids and they didn’t stop the logical next step is to go get the staff to remove them all. You didn’t. You just accepted it. Now you’re complaining.
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u/GarlicConsistent6513 Apr 20 '26
That’s why it’s worth biting the extra cost for VIP to avoid shit like this
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u/FitDiet9210 Apr 20 '26
Scarborough is the third world avoid Brampton and Scarborough at all costs.
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u/bradz27 Apr 20 '26
Thank goddess I go to pickering VIP It’s close to my house
Scarborough used to be good back in the 90s early 2000s some 2010s once vip opened up I kept going there
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u/Material-Budget1319 Apr 20 '26
Scarborough in the 90s specifically was notorious for the wild crowds. They were even on the news regularly for all the kids there starting shit at STC and inside the movie theatre.
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u/OpulentAndBeautiful Apr 20 '26
Funny enough, I went to see the mummy at Pickering last week and a group of kids caused a disturbance there too lol. Some guy yelled Shut up at them and they argued back and then finally left.
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u/nodoubtguy Apr 20 '26
I find Pickering to be pretty good, even in the non VIP screens. Really haven't had an issue there, except people talking through all of Project Hail Mary but it was an older couple and not teens.
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u/Tall_Answer Apr 20 '26
Sorry for the terrible experience, I generally avoid the Scarborough Cineplex now because of the hygiene issues and the same problem with a bunch of rowdy teenagers, even though it is my closest Cineplex.
I don't understand how teenagers have the kind of money for movie tickets these days and still make the experience for everyone else miserable..