Last Updated on 28 June 2023 by Colette
I took the gang to the cinema this morning which is typically a fairly standard school holiday activity for us, this was the first time we’d been ‘back’ since the cinemas reopened after Lockdown so I thought I’d share a bit about how it went and whether we felt safe or not!
What’s on at the cinema at the moment?
There’s not a huge amount of choice in terms of films at the moment. We checked both our local Odeon (as the kids had got vouchers for Easter) and our local Cineworld (which is my preferred cinema) and found that the listings were full of films we’d already seen or had no interest in – and most were only playing a couple of times a day at most. This seems to be the case across the board as many new releases were postponed back in March and whilst demand for cinema-going is clearly less than usual, it doesn’t make sense to release film that aren’t going to have the opportunity to be big box office hits does it?
The Movies for Juniors offering at Cineworld was The Adams Family – which, whilst I wasn’t that bothered about seeing it, I was happy to book as Movies for Juniors means I can take the four of us to the cinema for a pocket friendly £13.
What’s it like visiting the cinema now?
In all honesty, visiting the cinema since Coronavirus changed everything, actually feels surprisingly normal. We booked our tickets the night before – and found that the online system neatly organises the social distancing set up for you by allowing you to book seats for your bubble and then leaving gaps around those seats that are then unavailable to book. As it was our screening was quiet with just a handful of families spread around the room.
Bar a one way system, reduced capacity in the toilets and the need to wear a mask, it honestly just felt really normal. I had a quick chat with a member of staff who welcomed us when we arrived, directing us to sanitise our hands and going on to explain all about the various processes and additional cleaning that have been put in place to ensure the safety of staff & customers.
The, now familiar plexiglass screens protect the staff at the box office and concession stands and there are clear markings on the floors to help customers maintain social distancing whilst they queue for drinks and snacks – we circumnavigated all of this by booking online and taking our own snacks (standard!) so we just had to get our tickets scanned on my phone before being directed to our screening.
Do you have to wear a mask in the cinema?
The most common question I received on instagram after saying we’d been to the cinema this morning was, “Do you have to keep your mask on for the whole film?” and the answer is pretty much yes. You are legally obliged to wear a face covering in the cinema but you are allowed to remove this to eat and drink. In practice, Ben and I wore our masks until the film started and then removed them to eat and drink – rather than faffing about taking it on and off between handfuls of sweets, we just removed them completely and then replaced them once we’d finished eating. To be honest, wearing a mask to watch a film wasn’t the worst thing – we were relaxed and comfortable so didn’t have issues with breathing or feeling too hot (both things I find a problem when I’m trying to dash around the supermarket or am in and out of shops!). Looking around the room I would say most people wore their masks until they were seated and then removed them to watch the film itself. I think, from what I’ve read elsewhere, this is less of an issue as the audience is all forward facing.
And The Adams Family?
Meh. I’m glad it was Movies for Juniors – I’d have been miffed to pay full price for it. That said, it was really nice to be back in front of the big screen and we’ll definitely be happy to go back and watch more films over the coming months.
Have a look at these posts next:
Outdoor cinema events in Manchester this summer
60 films to watch with your 12 year old daughter
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