Is Netflix Right? Does the Cinema Experience Fade Away? Can They Compete?

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It seems like this question is asked every month, until the question itself fades away and another flop appears, giving it life once more, and so on in this vicious cycle. But yesterday, when I stumbled through the doors of one of the cinemas in the area to watch Predator: Badlands—a movie I had already seen—I had to ask myself: does the cinema experience really fade away? Is Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos right about how “outdated” the movie theater model is? Given how small the amount of people who actually go to the cinema is compared to the 300 million regularly paying Netflix subscribers, Sarandos may be onto something.

I really enjoyed Predator: Badlands the first time I saw it, when I went to a small movie theater where people behaved and prices were still bearable. The second time, I didn’t have that luck. Movie tickets—for a film that had been out for more than a month—were 10€ each, and a 1L Pepsi with popcorn was 15€, which made the whole experience cost 50€ for a movie I had already seen and that didn’t have the great rewatchability effect I was hoping for. After I shook off the shock of paying 30€ for two drinks, one medium popcorn, and one medium nachos, I began to realize how much I missed the comfort of my home. Fifty euros went down that night for a movie I had already seen—money that nowadays can buy you a plane ticket to somewhere and back if you’re clever, not to mention food for at least three meals, which I could turn into a whole Monday-to-Friday menu.

The shock didn’t leave completely, though, until another familiar feeling took its place: anger. Three girls sat in front of me, on their phones during the commercials. Keep in mind, during commercials I think it’s fine to chat and check your stuff—but once the movie starts, I don’t want to see your TikTok account. For some reason, the theater kept the lights on during what felt like 150 ads plus trailers, so even when I wanted to watch the Avatar trailer—which I’ve seen at least 23 times by now—I was staring at a extremely lit screen that I had no control over. I thought about what James Cameron said about the movie theater experience while promoting his new movie the other day: that once you buy a ticket, you give control to someone else, and that’s what makes it great. You either get on the train or we are leaving you behind. I’m no longer sure about wanting to be on that train, because yesterday, when the movie started, I had to become the person who tells others what isn’t allowed—and that alone is a joy killer for everyone. The girls listened, but the thought of my home kept growing.

During the whole movie, the woman next to me repeated every line of dialogue. Either her boyfriend was blind, or she was very into it. It pains me to be the person who constantly has a problem with the theater etiquette, so I completely blocked out her voice and started thinking about what else I could buy for 50€ while the Disneyfied Predator fought some bad bitches on screen.

I went to see Avatar: The Way of Water nine times in the cinema. I’ve never done anything like that in my life, but that movie was a technological marvel—a full three-hour immersive experience that was absolutely worth it. I’ve already bought tickets for opening night and two more for the day after, when I’ll go with a friend. Each ticket was 17€, which is absolutely insane, but if any movie deserves to be seen on the big screen, it’s Avatar.

But what about the others? From now on, I’ll go to the cinema mainly for horror movies and event films like Marvel and DC—where I’m invested in the story and there’s some payoff. Rewatching movies in theaters is reserved for Avatar-level artistry and technology, maybe some Avengers films if the upcoming ones have excellent action scenes.

It pains me that movie theaters, in order to survive, have to sell a fucking cola and popcorn for 15€, or that a movie ticket that cost 6.99€ last year now starts at 10-15€, while my streaming services—far too many of them—sit at home and wait for me. 

No more control for the movie theaters. “I take charge,” if I may quote a member of the Handforth Parish Council. 

I’ll watch movies in the comfort of my home, which I’ve built to look like a fucking movie theater—where the people I like are invited, and where the power to control the lights is only mine. 

Maybe Netflix isn’t killing cinema. Maybe cinema is slowly pushing people away.

Iliya Badev

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