By Rahma Rifkhan
Think of your most noteworthy cinema experience: Loud and exciting with just a hint of trauma?
Yup, that’s how Lankan Cinemas roll.
Cinema experiences are a whole other thing and it’s almost never completely about the movie itself but rather, all the types of people watching it with you.
We’ve compiled a list of people that you are sure to meet at the movies and rest assured that if you do, you are guaranteed to have a memorable cinema experience.
1.The Gurus
These are the die-hard fans who are not to be messed with under any circumstance. They have watched the trailer the moment it was released and over-analysed every second of it. From the second they walk into that theatre, they are in the zone. They will watch the entire movie religiously: advertisements, post credits and end credits included. Nothing deters them, not the whispering in the aisle behind nor the baby crying in the aisle in front.
2.The Cringey Couple
It’s truly not a complete Lankan cinema experience if you do not run into at least one couple. Yeah, you know what I am talking about. Do yourself a favour and just steer clear of the corner seats: This way, they get to enjoy their date, you get to enjoy the movie you paid good money for. Everybody wins.
3.The Life of the Party
Every laugh, every boo and every round of applause starts here, initiated by this bunch of hyper extroverts who absolutely cannot and will not handle sitting quietly for over 2 hours. Typically, the life of the theatre, they make the whole cinema experience all the more fun. Their energy is wildly contagious and before you know it, the entire crowd is vibing along with them.
Remember the theatrical gasps every time Thanos snapped his fingers and the deafening cheers when Arya stabbed the Night King? Yeah, that was all them.
4.The “It’s all for the gram” Group
This group exists to do one thing and one thing alone: Spoil the movie for everyone who hasn’t watched it yet. You can expect every death, plot twist and reunion to appear on their Instagram. Add a couple of mirror selfies, popcorn snaps followed by a few boomerangs and it’s basically a virtual cinema experience for anyone viewing their stories.
For those of you kind souls who just upload a random snap of the end-credits on your socials and call it a day: Thank you, we appreciate you.
5.The Food-Fiend
I think we can all agree that theatre snacks hit different (taste and prices alike) but there is always that one person who takes this love for cinema snacks the extra mile.
They buy everything the snack-bar offers and will most definitely find a way to smuggle in outside food as well. Basically, a full blown three course meal. Somehow, this person is almost always a noisy eater. So, every movie scene is punctuated by the loud crunch of popcorn or a long slurp of coke.
Once the movie is done, it’s easy to spot this type: just look for the seat with a popcorn trail scattered all around it.
6.The Questionnaire
This person has not bothered to watch any of the prequels, has absolutely no idea what to expect but randomly turns up to watch the 4th movie in the franchise. If you, by any chance, have the rotten luck of being seated next to them, God help you. For the whole duration of the movie, they will unapologetically annoy the life out of you with question after question. Be prepared to give a detailed breakdown of every scene, joke and plot twist. A guaranteed way to ruin cinemas for you for a very long time.
7.The Call-Centre
This person is yet to discover the magical silent option on his phone. He will receive a phone call every 5 minutes and yes, he will answer every single one of them. Get ready to listen to a super loud, extra-animated and never-ending saga of conversations. Every single time you think it’s over, trust me, it’s not. Just pace yourself for the next call. You might miss most of the movie but you will most definitely leave with a detailed understanding of some random stranger’s midlife crisis.
And that’s a wrap but before we are done, let’s throw in a few honourable mentions: the baby who won’t stop crying, that one guy who will keep standing up to refill his popcorn and that stranger who keeps kicking your seat from the back row.
Oh, and also, if you wanna go watch “Bullet Train”, we highly recommend Scope Cinemas. With their delicious snack bar, cosy seats and insane surround sound, it is guaranteed to be a top-notch cinematic experience.
Book your tickets here.
Go, grab some popcorn and enjoy the movie while counting how many on this list you meet!
Happy movie-going!
