In 2014, my whole family went on an outing to see Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. I remember this particular visit vividly, sitting next to my brothers. Brushing their hands away from my popcorn because they had foolishly eaten all of theirs during the trailers, looking up at the wide screen with a large smile on my face. That was my first ‘adult’ film, and a core memory of mine. In fact, when I really think about it, many of my ‘core’ memories are surrounded by cinema outings.

Going into the wrong showing with my Grandma (we were supposed to see Rio but ended up seeing Sucker Punch instead), watching Alice and Wonderland, seeing the last Harry Potter film. All of these memories engrained in my head, something that DvDs or streaming services could never replicate.

Within the last few days a $108 billion deal has been cut for Netflix to buy Warner Bros. A sad and depressing day for the future of Cinema, and the end of ‘iconic golden aged studios.’

While Netflix has promised to continue theatrical releases for Warner Bros studio projects (that are already due to release!), Netflix, to its core, prioritises streaming. Which means, that although, there still will be a theatrical release of upcoming films, the release time will be shorter. For example, the upcoming Superman film, ‘Man Of Tomorrow’ will be in cinemas 9th of July 2027, but it is rumoured to be in cinemas on the 15th of July! Six days!! Six whole days in Cinema!!!?? How can this possibly be? I am truly outraged by this, as if the window to see a film in cinemas isn’t already small enough!

The reason why this is so infuriating to me is not only because there is a smaller period of time for me to see these films in cinemas. It is also the social aspect of the cinema, the ‘occasion’, arranging a time with friends or family. The complete focus on the screen, the complete immersion. Streaming not only kills this, it is also killing businesses! Small cinemas, such as The Lighthouse, The Empire etc.. Will be killed off, due to this deal! Third party spaces are already going extinct, there is an ongoing pandemic of isolation within society and streaming services are complicit in that!

I am upset because the idea that my children could potentially never experience the joy of a cinema excursion deeply troubles me, not only because of my love for film. But because of how enchanting it is. You forget yourself, all of your worries are left in the corridor and one is sent on a journey. But one is not alone on this journey, a sea of people around you are going through it together! Why would anyone want to replace that feeling?

I am, of course, guilty of using streaming services, especially because it is such a simple, and easy thing to do. It’s at your fingertips, your phone, laptop, tablet, television, all of these devices have access to a multitude of films or TV shows. But the experience of the cinema cannot (and hopefully will not) be replaced by this. My fear, is that people will ignore these theatrical releases and merely wait for them to be on streaming services. I’m sorry, that’s just not good enough for me.

I expressed my concern to my dad in the car the other day, about how deeply worried I am about the future of cinema, and he told me that everyone had that same fear when DvDs came out. But, unfortunately, there is a difference here, streaming is simply easier than DvDs, than any sort of video. I still have hope that the cinema going experience will survive, but that hope is thin.

I’ll leave it here with a few words, support your local cinemas, go out with your friends, make a day of it! Don’t wait for it to be available to stream, go out! Enjoy it, because nothing else can compare to the satisfaction of watching a good (or bad movie) in cinemas!

The iconic director Martin Scorcese, on restoring cinema heritage and lost film.