National Cinema Day: the perfect excuse to visit your local theatre
Movie fans across the UK heard the glorious news that National Cinema Day would be coming to town across the oft ill-fated isle, giving them the chance to kick back in a big chair with a hotdog and be whisked away into fictional worlds of joy, terror, sorrow, love and bewilderment for the meagre sum of just £3.
There’s no denying that cinema tickets have become ludicrously expensive, meaning that quite often, the cinema experience itself has slowly become a pastime that only the rich can afford. But this simply shouldn’t be the case; cinema should be everyone. It’s an experience that’s essential to the very nature of living.
Films can inspire; they show us how we can better live our lives through the experience of others. When watching a movie in union with our fellow human beings, we connect with them more closely through sharing our emotions in the same theatre. There’s magic that happens in cinema; we cry together, laugh together, and examine the social conventions that impact and dominate our shared lives.
With expensive cinema tickets, the everyday person simply cannot afford to participate in the wonder of the film medium, which means that their lives are starkly missing the vitality it provides. That’s why National Cinema Day is an essential time in the year, and the opportunity it provides should be taken on in full force by movie lovers and curious minds alike.
Now, there are a few cinemas that are still affordable to those with purse strings tightening ever more by the day. In London, the Peckham Plex still offers £5 tickets for every film, and down the way, the Catford Mews also gives cinema fans the opportunity to catch the latest releases for a generous £6.50.
While such cinemas are greatly appreciated, National Cinema Day shows that it’s possible for cinemas across the country to engage in schemes that promote that extraordinary moment of queuing up for your ticket in anticipation for the next couple of hours. There’s enough stress in the world without being able to ease the pain for just a moment, living in someone else’s world, and then coming out with a new and better understanding of our own.
So take advantage of Nation Cinema Day this year. There are plenty of excellent films available to watch, including one of the best comedies in recent times Theater Camp, the slasher The Blackening, the gorgeous British drama Scrapper starring Harrison Dickinson and Lola Campbell, Neil Maskell’s directorial debut Klokkenluider, the horror Cobweb and queer romantic drama Passages.
Quite simply, a £3 cinema ticket is an opportunity that one cannot afford to miss out on. Cinemas are struggling as it is, and the generosity expressed by the theatres and the organisers of the day is an act of true altruism designed to keep the spirit of the cinema alive, the popcorn and snacks flowing, the tears pouring, the sides splitting and the eternal communion of human beings living forever.
Check out participating cinemas here.
