I Love You, Cinema – The Film Magazine Team Write Love Letters to the Movies
A Love Letter to Solo Cinema Trips
It goes without saying that I love going to the cinema. But, the thing I like most is going alone.
Actually, not only do I like going to the cinema alone, I prefer it.
I am so used to going alone that I don’t like going with other people. “Why are you talking to me mum? Olivia Colman is on the screen.”
I go the cinema in the middle of the day or the middle of the night. I like to be alone not only because I don’t have pals but also, I like it to be a quiet screening. Mainly because I don’t have to share my sweets.
The first film I ever went to see a film alone, I saw Richard Ayoade’s The Double. I remember this because not only is it a great film, but it was one of my favourite cinema experiences. I sat where I wanted, I left with space to curate my own thoughts and (I can not stress this enough) I didn’t have to share my sweets.
Now 99% of my cinema trips are solo. It may be a sad fact of our modern world but there is very little time and space where we are totally alone, where no one can interrupt you, where you can actually sit for 2 hours and not speak, (please don’t speak). When you go alone there is no one demanding your opinion the second the credits appear. You can stay for as long and as little as you want when the film ends. Sometimes, when you really love, or better when you really hate something you wish that you had someone there to voice this to. So, make sure you have a film friend that you can annoy in that moment. But really there is no better sense of calm than leaving a cinema alone and letting your thoughts mature. You feel inspired, like you can do anything. You are independent.
Maybe this makes me a loner, another favourite past time of mine is reading alone in a cafe, but I’ll never really be alone in the cinema. After all, I’m here to get lost in the world of the movie as well as the characters and don’t forget… I don’t have to share my sweets.
I love you solo cinema.
Annice
