Loud eaters and phones nearly spoiled my cinema trip - and it's not just me

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The cinema lights are low and you're cocooned in your seat, ready for the film to transport you to another world. But just as you settle in, you're jolted back to reality.

Audience members around you are scrolling on their phones, talking and munching loudly.

Cinemas do clearly ask everyone not to disturb those around them - through the use of adverts, announcements and signs - but is behaviour getting worse?

I experienced disruption a few weeks ago while watching Ryan Gosling's sci-fi movie, Project Hail Mary, at a cinema in London.

Behind me, someone was translating the film's dialogue in real-time to the person next to them. Elsewhere, a couple of people scrolled on their mobiles, seemingly incapable of focusing on the big screen.

Meanwhile, a family were unwrapping an entire picnic at their seats.

And at a Valentine's Day viewing of Wuthering Heights earlier this year, a woman nearby in the auditorium was eating a huge chocolate heart, unwrapping a crinkly wrapper in the process.

The offenders were stopped in their tracks by audience members shushing - some even hissing - or having a quiet word, but in each case it still momentarily broke the spell of the film.

Shouting and throwing popcorn

TikTok/Cerys Hawkes/Finian Hackett

Film TikToker Cerys Hawkes has posted about "how to avoid annoying cinema-goers".

She thinks earlier showtimes, daytime screenings and arthouse cinemas are the least likely to be disturbed, although she adds: "I understand that not everybody has this privilege."

Her worst incident was during a screening of supernatural horror film Smile 2, in 2024.

On one side of the auditorium, throughout most of the film, "two men spent the runtime filming themselves, the screen and other audience members with the flash on, in an attempt to (what looked like) record 'reaction' content for social media".

"They were shouting the whole time, and it got louder during the film's scarier scenes," she tells the BBC.

Hawkes went to get cinema staff to intervene, but says when they returned the men had "momentarily stopped, to avoid being kicked out".

She thinks being disruptive "goes hand-in-hand" with being messy, recalling last year's "infamous Minecraft Movie screenings, which saw auditoriums full of people throwing popcorn, drinks, and some even going as far as bringing in a live chicken".

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Some cinemas then issued warnings about anti-social behaviour, saying "loud screaming, clapping and shouting will not be tolerated".

Not everyone minded some gentler audience participation though. Liverpool comedian Sam Avery told me last year that seeing the Minecraft Movie with his young sons was "honestly the most joyous cinemagoing experience I've ever had".

Another high-profile example was when fans started singing along to the Wicked film in some cinemas in 2024.

Cinema chains remind people to behave

TikToker, Finian Hackett, who posts about film and theatre, feels "the worst offender is phones".

"I don't think I've been to a single film in recent years where someone hasn't been scrolling on their phone, and that includes premiere screenings," he tells the BBC.

"As a regular cinema and theatre-goer, it is the bane of my life. Just turn it off and enjoy what you're watching. It truly baffles me."

He thinks people thinking it's OK to be disruptive could be "due to the availability of films at home".

"People are so used to being able to pop a film on, chat, eat their crisps, go up and wee, go on their phones, to their hearts' content, that when they enter a public space, they forget how to behave.

"The lack of respect for other patrons is astounding."

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The BBC asked Vue, Odeon, Cineworld and Everyman cinemas about their policies on audience disturbances. They all state customers are asked to switch off phones during screenings.

Vue also told the BBC they ask customers to "have consideration to others when watching a film", while Odeon asks customers not to "spoil the enjoyment of others".

Cineworld said it reserves the right to ask disruptive customers to "leave the cinema immediately" without a refund.

When it comes to manners, Debrett's - a leading UK authority on etiquette - lists polite behaviours for the cinema, including to:

• turn off your phone
• eat considerately
• minimise talking
• take your rubbish

'Most people follow etiquette'

James Connor, a senior manager for the UK Cinema Association, tells the BBC that for the "vast majority of audiences", seeing a film "remains a hugely enjoyable shared experience".

He says mobile phone use or people chatting during cinema screenings "are not widespread and don't reflect typical behaviour".

"Most people understand and follow simple cinema etiquette... so everyone can enjoy the film as intended."

Dr Kirsty Sedgman, a lecturer at the University of Bristol who specialises in audiences, experience and behaviour, points out we've been having debates about whether audiences are behaving worse "for a really long time" - dating back as far as Plato in ancient Greece, she says.

However, she does think "something has really shifted, particularly since Covid".

"It's really tempting to say, 'Oh, lockdown meant that we forgot how to behave'.

"But it's not that simple," she adds. She says the breaking of lockdown guidance and rules by some resulted in "a weakening of what we call the 'social contract' - the rules that bind us together".

She also highlights what she sees as "the collapse of private norms in public spaces", with people's attention "absolutely being distorted and divided" by being able to go on their phones while watching films at home.

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It comes at a time when cinemas are struggling, making it important for the financial health of the industry that people can continue to enjoy films together.

Hollywood leaders and cinema owners recently gathered in LA for trade show CinemaCon, where ABC News said "the future of movie theatres is at a critical point", with US annual domestic box-office grosses "still down about 20% from pre-pandemic levels.

But last year the UK and Irish box office had its best annual performance since the Covid pandemic.

Connor ends with an optimistic note for cinema's future.

"With a strong slate of films still to come this year, there's real confidence and excitement about what lies ahead for cinema audiences."