You will see in my recent reviews a review for the Sonic The Hedgehog 2 movie which I went to see at the cinema. What was unusual for me though is that though I am 27 years old I have always gone to the cinema with someone, either family or friends and going to see this movie was actually my first time going on my own, as it was a last minute decision for me to go the day before.
I have seen a few posts on Quora of people asking whether it is weird to go on their own so I thought I would share some of how I felt, the good and the bad in order to give people confidence if they want to see a movie but feel they can’t as they don’t have anyone to go with.
Booking My Seat
I booked my seat online and to be honest this was my first major plus point of going on my own. The showing I chose was a saver ticket so I decided to treat myself to the “Premier” seats at my local Odeon which are the leather backed seats with extra legroom. When I have been with people before I have usually gone for the standard seating but this was definitely an improvement.
Also as Sonic is nearing the end of its run in the cinema the screening was half empty. Not only that the stairs in this screening are weirdly not in the middle and there are 3 rows of two seats on the right so I took one of those which meant it would be unlikely someone would sit next to me. I would imagine it being more awkward being in a row where you see people with their friends and you are on your own but being able to sit out of the way did help me not feel totally out of place.
Cinema Snacks
Up there with the booking was being able to choose my own snacks and food. Though obviously I have always chosen my own snacks usually I have taken a bag of sweets in with me to share with someone whereas this time I could choose what I wanted to go with the seat.
Definitely having that extra choice was a significant improvement.
Queueing
Unfortunately this part is unavoidable as I didn’t order my food online and also I thought the food queue was actually where you went with your ticket to go in (on previous times I had gone to this cinema that used to be the case but this time you didn’t have to do that as the lady was waiting to just scan you in).
Anyway this part I won’t lie was a tad awkward as people were there with friends and family and so on and there was just me though I found just messing about on my phone a bit helped, also having to decide what I wanted helped too.
Before the lights went down
The awkwardness I would also say continued when I went into the screening as I was the first one in there and the lights were still up. I went to sit down in my sit and found myself on the phone again waiting for the lights to go down and watching people come in. It also did feel once or twice like I was the elephant in the room as people came in and I was on my own, especially as it became clearer I wasn’t waiting for anyone.
However one the lights went down I figured no one could really see me anyway so I started to relax and enjoyed the movie.
During The Movie
I think everyone has been to a movie where someone starts asking questions, noisily opening snacks or even falling asleep – won’t name any names, just the movie was actually Harry Potter and the family I went with weren’t fans of it at all (why?). Anyway obviously as I was in a cinema with other people that was still going on by as it wasn’t next to me I could relax and enjoy the movie.
I did find towards the end I felt a bit of anxiety as the lights came back on so I did leave quite quickly when the credits started (hopefully was no post credits scene).
In Conclusion
Though it was a tad awkward at times, especially in the public areas queueing to go in and also waiting for the lights to go down, overall being able to choose where to sit, what snacks to eat, what showing to go to and being able to enjoy the movie was very fun experience.
Though I do like going with someone and I definitely still will do that I have started looking at upcoming movie releases to plan my next visit there (with Premier Seats and all the snacks I could eat, obviously).
Let me know down below if you regularly go to the cinema alone? Do you enjoy it and what was your experience like?
What a fun post! I have gone a few times by myself, and it felt awkward at first, but of course after the movie starts it’s fine. One time I was in the snacks line before the movie started, and the person in front of me turned around and started chatting with me. He said that he often went to movies by himself. We ended up sitting together and making funny comments to each other during the movie and said farewell when it was done! Glad you posted this!
That’s great that you found someone to talk to – I haven’t been back yet but I think it is one of those things more people do than you realise. I’ve also noticed when I have looked at possible movies to go and watch since I have started to notice where just one seat is booked in a row.