By Chu The Cud | October 2026
When I was younger, going to the movies was one of the things you looked forward to doing on the weekend.
Whether it was with a group of friends or a girlfriend at the time, it was a night out. A nice dinner that didn’t cost a fortune, followed by a movie. Nothing extravagant. Just a simple evening enjoying the company of others.
Somewhere along the way, we started losing that.
The decline of the traditional moviegoing experience had already begun, but COVID seemed to accelerate it. Theaters closed, streaming services flourished, and people became increasingly comfortable staying home.
First, we were glued to our televisions. Then came the phones.
Four people sitting in the same room, watching four different programs on four different screens.
Together, yet completely apart.
Sure, there were still families who made an evening out of watching something together. But the shared experience seemed to be disappearing.
And with it, another piece of our social fabric.
But lately, I’ve noticed something interesting.
People seem to be returning to the movies.
I work next to an older AMC theater in Los Angeles, and I’ve been watching the activity. It’s not the bustling crowds I remember from years ago, but there’s a steady stream of people coming and going. More activity than I recall seeing just a couple of years ago, when it seemed only a major blockbuster could bring people out.
And perhaps something else is changing.
Audiences appear increasingly willing to give smaller-budget films a chance, while some enormously expensive productions struggle to justify their costs.
Maybe people are beginning to look for something different.
Or maybe they’re simply remembering what it feels like to get out of the house.
Because going to the movies was never just about the movie.
It was about the anticipation. Making plans. Meeting friends. Taking someone on a date. Sharing a laugh with strangers or hearing an entire theater react to the same moment.
It was a social experience.
Something we seem to have sacrificed for convenience.
And convenience, as wonderful as it can be, doesn’t always make life better.
Living in Los Angeles, going to the movies can still be expensive. But there are theaters offering discounted nights for around seven dollars a ticket. Add some popcorn, and you can still enjoy an evening out for approximately twenty dollars.
That’s not unreasonable for a little escape from the isolation we’ve become so accustomed to.
I’m not suggesting movie theaters are returning to their glory days. National attendance remains well below its pre-pandemic levels, and streaming isn’t going anywhere.
But perhaps the renewed activity I’m seeing is a small indication of something worth encouraging.
People getting out of their houses.
Putting down their phones.
Sitting together, laughing together, experiencing something together.
Maybe it’s time we stopped living entirely inside our own heads and started being social again.
After all, civilization isn’t built by people sitting alone in separate rooms staring at separate screens.
It’s built through shared experiences.
And maybe, just maybe, the movie theater still has a role to play in bringing some of that back.
— Chu The Cud
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