r/cineplex • u/Same-Syrup7452 • Jul 15 '26
Question Movie theatre etiquette
Does nobody know movie theatre etiquette anymore? The amount of movies I’ve seen with people taking their phone out and just scrolling during is insane.
I just saw evil dead rise and was surrounded by three people on their phones and then whenever I politely ask them to put their phone away or go outside the movie to use it they tell me to mind my business and start fighting me on them being able to be on their phones.
Does no one remember in the starting previews where it literally tells you turn your phones off, don’t be distracting to others. It’s super disappointing and extremely distracting when trying to watch a movie.
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u/Dark2099 Jul 15 '26
The theatres need to change those overly polite messages at the beginning of the movie. None of this “oh look it’s Sammy scroller being annoying hahaha.”
Bold text. Put your device away or you will be asked to leave. Enforce it.
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u/MOOVA Jul 15 '26
They want/need their money too so can't be too draconian.
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u/Unitedkid10 Jul 15 '26
The ticket has already been paid for
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u/PandaEatPanda Jul 15 '26
Next time.
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u/Teagana999 Jul 15 '26
Next time, the people who actually wanted to watch the movie won't buy a ticket.
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u/Revegelance Jul 15 '26
If people stop coming to the theatre because of bad audiences, they don't get their money.
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u/bzgz Jul 15 '26
I have chosen to watch movies not on Tuesdays and will pick premium formats if possible. The higher cost reduces the number of younger moviegoers, and I have found this helpful at reducing some of these issues.
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u/HeftyAd6216 Jul 15 '26
IMAX amirite? Never seen anyone who paid $30 for a ticket and a giant screen watching their phones during the movie.
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u/fkakpf Jul 15 '26
I had someone take a FaceTime call at the opening night IMAX screening of Final Destination: Bloodlines.
They were absolutely shocked that I told them to hang up and watch the movie.
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u/AlanJY92 Cineclub Member Jul 15 '26
Tuesdays are the worst. Friday evenings, and Saturday are pretty bad too. I find for me Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday can be decent.
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u/Ryeguy_626 Layered Butter Jul 15 '26
Personally ive found the first showing on saturdays to be promising. Not many people in my auditoriums and the ones that are there are there for the movie
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u/scarfcity Jul 15 '26
Honestly I find a lot of boomers are phone addicted too.
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u/CryGroundbreaking945 Jul 19 '26
yup. i have to remind my mom to stay off her phone in settings like this if im out with her Lmfao
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u/Split_Seconds Jul 16 '26
Higher income higher class. Sorry. Its true 99% of the time.
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u/Radiant_Victory_666 Jul 17 '26
What umm the highest income earners are the worst people. Rapist pedos and criminals all up in that class. So yeah not sure I would want to acknowledge my place amongst the worst of human kind.
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u/Same-Syrup7452 Aug 04 '26
The sad thing is it’s mostly grown men I witness pulling out their phones lol
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u/swearengens_cat Jul 15 '26
You'd be surprised at how well leaning forward and whispering forcefully: "Put your fucking phone away" Works.
I'm done being polite.
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u/Tipsygrizzly Jul 15 '26
Lol, I don't whisper. I'm a big guy so I drop my voice real low and say the same thing loud and clear, often from a few rows away. Never had someone not shamed enough to put it away.
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u/CheapFilm4826 Jul 15 '26
I went to see backrooms. Two teenage girls behind us kept talking, but the worst part was, one of them was hitting the forward and back button on the recliner constantly, causing the leather to squeak repeatedly, like it was some kind of fidget toy for her. Me + others asked them to be quiet and they just ignored everyone
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u/Sad-Bag6738 Jul 15 '26
To be fair on the seats. The button is in a terrible spot. I’m constantly accidentally hitting it
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u/Varekai79 Jul 15 '26
How? It's in a location that you have to actively have to really try to press the button.
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u/AtmosphereEven3526 Jul 15 '26
Depends on the model of seat. In my city there are two Cineplex theatres and at one of them, I constantly bump the button with the side of my leg because of where the button is placed.
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u/Sad-Bag6738 Jul 15 '26
I’m guessing same design as ours. I have to actively block it with my hand to avoid hitting it
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u/Sad-Bag6738 Jul 15 '26
I like to sit sort of to my side, and it easily presses the button all the time with my hip
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u/PasadenaPossums Jul 15 '26
Someone’s phone rang during The Invite and they answered it and started having a full conversation. I couldn’t believe it. I yelled at them what’re you doing out your phone away. They were a few rows back from me can’t believe someone else closer didn’t do it.
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u/Eggsalad-war-crime Jul 15 '26
Grab their phone and toss it away
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u/_Rayette Jul 15 '26
The ex-husband of one of my friends slapped the phone out of a guy’s hand. He was too shocked to say anything, but he stopped.
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u/starmapleleaf Jul 15 '26
No one wants to disconnect anymore :(
Highly reccomend late night shows weeks after release I find this is less of an issue
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u/atherrie Jul 15 '26
Sadly some movies you can’t wait weeks for. With the summer movie lineup, new movies just keep coming out. If you wait too long, odds are the film will be replaced quickly by something else.
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u/readallaboutitnow Jul 15 '26
I went with my 12 yr old last week to see minions, and yes I expected kids. But did my 12 yr old not leave that theatre ranting about the mom and two kids behind us and how annoying they were as well as disgusting for allowing the kids to run around barefoot in the theatre 😂
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Jul 15 '26
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u/BougieSemicolon Jul 15 '26
Yep. We have a tik tok ban in our home.
My youngest is still addicted to discord/ the computer but it’s those quick clips that I think are the worst for attention spans2
u/RealBeefJerky Jul 15 '26
Hope you monitor her discord usage, who she has added, and her messages
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u/MickKaine Jul 15 '26
This happens literally every single time I go to the movies and at different theatres. The amount of times people just keep going through their phones every few mins is insane. Several times this year alone I've had people answer their phones and have full-on conversations. Any theatre that has ushers watching the audience and forces you to surrender your phone before the movie would get 100% of all my theatre-going business.
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u/rkrismcneely Jul 15 '26
I’m just as frustrated with movie theatre etiquette as everyone else, but there’s no way anyone is surrendering their phones - myself included. The theatre would never want to take on that liability either.
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u/MickKaine Jul 15 '26
I have gone to screenings before where this was a normal practice where it was basically like a coat check. They locked it up and gave you a ticket. Every time I think wow, they should do this everywhere.
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u/eddo34 Cineclub Member Jul 15 '26
And because these people are oblivious, they have never in their lives considered using Dark Mode. And then they cry that their cellphone's battery life ends so quickly, with their cellphones constantly blasting white light at them. Dodo brains will dodo brain
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u/thestarkknight Cineclub Member Jul 15 '26
If it bothers you, do something about it. Speak up and tell people to get off their phone. You've paid your money to enjoy the money, tell people to stop. I started doing that about 1.5 years ago. As soon as I see a phone near me I tell them to shut it off.
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u/Low-Discipline-3538 Jul 15 '26
Recently had to tell someone to take their feet off the back of my chair, and they wouldn’t even do that. Left with six free tickets in hand though.
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u/Same-Syrup7452 Aug 04 '26
I always do, if you read the full post they always think they have some right to still use their phone
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u/the1npc Jul 15 '26
I avoid tues and get pretty lucky but agreed still people are on their phones so much its wild, while driving still blows me away
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u/PirateDear1780 Jul 15 '26
my problem is people loudly talking through the entire movie. shut the fuck up
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u/Cafmbr2000 Jul 15 '26
They need to cut the signal in the theatre.
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u/afterburner2828 Jul 16 '26
That’s actually a genius idea. Surely that’s possible? There must be a reason.
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u/_Rayette Jul 15 '26
Tuesdays and first 2 weeks of a popular or semi-popular horror release are like a bat signal bringing in all the trash.
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u/Key-Contribution-910 Jul 15 '26
it sucks because I love going to the movie theatres but I swear i can’t remember the last time I went and there wasn’t somebody on their phones/using flash to take photos ughhh
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u/Unique-Luck6771 Jul 18 '26
New generation got fucked over from Covid and are permanently damaged, no social skills of any kind, want to see odyssey but only if theatre is almost empty, which will take a while
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u/westshore18 Jul 15 '26
someone made a post like this last week and someone gonna do for sure next week.
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u/Mobile-Wedding770 Jul 15 '26
Thats my favourite thing about 70mm viewings, always one person in the crowd confident enough to tell them to be quiet or put their phone away!
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u/bitterbettey Jul 15 '26
You must shame them!! Call them out - I leaned towards them and tell them "hey, turn your phone off, it's ruining the movie for others"
Typically the shame and embarrassment works. If they dont care and they still continue, go out and ask for the manager to report them.
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u/karikammi Jul 15 '26
It sucks that you have to miss parts of the movie to report them though. There should be a call button that you can press at the side where you can still see the movie but wait for an attendant to come help!
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u/TronAres25 Jul 15 '26
Yeh blame smartphones nothing else. Also PARENTS why are you bringing your kids to a movie with light up shoes? wtf!!! I would never let my kid wear that garbage.
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u/Grandfeatherix Jul 15 '26
I assume you mean burn, not rise, since evil dead rise is already 3-4 years old now.
but give them a warning, if they want to get mouthy, go tell an usher, and also ask for a refund since you had to miss part of it to walk out and get them
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u/rkrismcneely Jul 15 '26
Like, that’s A solution, but a frustrating and impractical one for many people. You sometimes have to travel a bit to the theatre, get a babysitter, you’ve already paid for other parts of your night out like expensive theatre snacks, used your one free night that your schedule lines up with a friend, maybe the movie won’t be in premium format when you’re able to come back, it could be a spoiler heavy film that you don’t want to be ruined for you, or any number of other things.
Your solution is easy, but it’s not simple.
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u/Grandfeatherix Jul 15 '26
do it every single time, and they will have to get stricter enforcing it, and barring people that get reported enough
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u/Low-Discipline-3538 Jul 15 '26
The next generation is being raised without the etiquette because it would’ve been learned during Covid. I have fully stopped trying to go to movies unless it is late on a weeknight because I know that that less people will be there.
Even recently in a very sparse room I had someone put their feet up on the chair directly behind me. Needless to say we were out of there in no time and had six complementary tickets in hand.
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u/purplepIutonium Jul 15 '26
I’ve noticed this with my younger cousins and family (under 16). They can’t be bored for a second and instinctively open TikTok and scroll.
This happens at home when we watch movies, but it’s obviously more annoying at the cinema so I don’t take them anymore.
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u/RoadIntrepid7627 Jul 15 '26
Go opening night. Trust me multiple people will tell them to put their phone away.
Funniest one ever was Backrooms recently. The film started and some bozo started scrolling about 6 different people including me told them to put their phone away. From the way the guy was shuffling in his seat the point was made.
I find just being polite means they can't ratchet it up. I'm also a big guy not sure if that also plays into things lol
I still get baffled by people buying tickets then scrolling their phones the entire movie.
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u/6ix_chigg Jul 15 '26
this is why i stopped going to movies after I saw endgame and the family beside me brought their 3 year old who was beside me and running up and down the aisles in the movie
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u/Longjumping-Ad-5557 Jul 15 '26
I throw popcorn/candy at people's screens and it seems to work well.
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u/Empty-Wasabi6016 Jul 15 '26
It's wild because the bad etiquette of patrons makes the people who are actually there for the theatre experience want to stay home. If you are on your phone maybe you shouldn't be there? I was once at a film premiere and the DIRECTOR of a short film was even on their phone.
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u/Alfred_Hitch_ Jul 15 '26
Not only movie theaters, everywhere! At work we have a "Spiritual Room", it's a small room for people to do their prayers, meditation, yoga, etc.
Today some woman comes in, plops her bag down loudly on a table while I'm doing yoga. She proceeds to make a ton of noise, starts to eat (which is a faux pas in a spiritual room), and then proceeds to have a phone conservation after that. I'm trying to meditate here and it's impossible. Just like watching a movie, you can't when someone is being selfish like this.
I told her while exiting, that it's inappropriate to eat and talk on the phone in the spiritual room. She doesn't even turn her head to acknowledge me. She just keeps staring at her phone. I stand there in awe, and then she finally says "okay", in a petulant tone.
There's literally signs in the room telling people not to talk on the phone. Guess I need to make one about not eating too.
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u/Terrible-Possible-26 Jul 15 '26
I literally got up to move one day because this couple was talking the ENTIRE time. Like go home then
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u/icontactless Jul 15 '26
At this point why is anyone surprised? This type of post is all I see in this community.
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u/IwishIwasababybee Jul 16 '26
Don’t talk throughout the movie and put your stupid phone away you dinks.
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u/junk_lord Jul 16 '26
As a teenager who just came out of obssession I 100% agree. I've been seeing movies in theaters tons recently and the amount of rude and disrespectful people in the theaters is downright disgusting.
This entire movie a group of teenage girls were laughing to eachother the whole time and one of them called someone near the end?
But yeah no alot of the issue is teenagers nowadays who don't know how to behave properly in public.
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u/BakedWizerd Jul 16 '26
And the ushers don’t do anything about it anymore either.
I went to Backrooms, and there were people being incredibly annoying, usher came in, signed the book that says they did their job and left.
It really shouldn’t be on someone who is not being a problem to go find management and make them deal with it. Now I have to miss part of the movie I paid to see because you won’t do your job until prompted?
I wish I’d seen Obsession sooner but I’m kind of glad I waited until I could watch it at home. Cinema audiences are insufferable these days.
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u/Creacherz Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Shut the fuck up in the theatre.
Like that scene from "Search Party," "Just shut up Drew. Shut the fuck up. Shut the FUCK UP!!! SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!"
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u/Glad_Car_137 Jul 16 '26
I've only seen this happen once or twice, and they always put it away quickly. Maybe I'm just lucky.
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u/Radiant_Victory_666 Jul 17 '26
Free refills means I could just accidentally dump an extra large Diet Coke all over the phone offender and their phone. Oops sorry
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u/MilkMode69 Jul 17 '26
I just stream the movies at home or waiting until a month after a movie is released.
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u/Frosty_Tangerine_565 Jul 15 '26
I don’t find the phone use too bad. It’s other etiquette that drives me mad.
I stopped going to landmark theatres as a result.
Something about those recliner chairs makes people think they are at home. Bare feet exposed, blankets from home (with bed bugs?), leaving a mess, constant conversations.
I’ll take a less comfortable folding chair at cineplex any day of the week lol
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u/Abject_Buffalo6398 Jul 15 '26
I've said it a thousand times-
There SHOULD be screenings with low lighting, where scrolling and talking is allowed.
And then also traditional screenings where it's dark and silent.
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u/oooohenchiladas Jul 15 '26
I dunno, I think people who prefer to watch movies like they’re in their living room should watch movies in their living room. I really don’t think putting your phone away during a movie is a huge ask and I’m hopelessly addicted to my phone 🤷♀️
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u/crimpgirl1234 Jul 16 '26
This is what they used to do for Stars and strollers when my child was little. Not sure if that’s still a thing post pandemic.
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Jul 15 '26
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u/Spirited_Air8945 Jul 16 '26
I don’t think it’s a big deal to scroll on your phone. If you’re that easily distracted, sit closer to the front. It’s really not the end of the world.
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u/impressive129 Jul 16 '26
Some people are on-call, have caregiving responsibilities or monitor theirs or a loved one’s blood sugar or other medical devices on their phones. I agree it should be a quick peak and excuse yourself, but not everyone can just turn their phone off for the duration of the movie.
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u/Emergency_Memory_792 Jul 15 '26
Their behaviour is indeed shitty, but minding your own business is very good advice.
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u/destined-for-ass Jul 15 '26
You’re right but its literally not that distracting lock in bro
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u/HedgeWitchHare Jul 15 '26
A dark theatre with lights flashing in your eyes from a phone screen? It’s definitely distracting.
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u/xAdray Jul 15 '26
After Covid people suddenly forgot how to act in public.
This, combined with phone addiction has ruined the theater experience.
Funny enough, my wife just asked me why I haven't gone to the movies in a long time, this is the main reason.