Why I have been to the cinema 59 times this year

It is true, I had been. And I probably went the week before as well. It’s not abnormal behaviour for me. I’ve been to the cinema 59 times this year.

I’m very lucky to have been able to do this. I live in London and work in Leicester Square, which gives me about as much access to films I want to see as I could wish for. And, for part of this year, I had a job which gave me Tuesdays and Wednesdays off in exchange for working weekends - and if there are better things to do on days off when your friends are not around then go to the cinema, I didn’t find them.

How have I managed it? I have a cinema subscription that allows me to see as many as I like for £20 a month. But it wasn’t hard. I’ve not challenged myself to see a certain number - and nor should anyone… I don’t see going to the cinema as a hobby. I’m not one to think I didn’t really see a film if I didn’t record it on Letterboxd. I don’t insist anybody follows my lead, and I often go to see films alone.

But until the friend seemed to think that it was strange that I might go to the cinema twice in a fortnight, I never really questioned why I go so often. The short answer is, that there is always a lot I want to see - and I could easily have gone more than 100 times if time allowed (I guess I need something to look forward to if I ever retire).

For a deeper reason, however, I think my addiction might lie in the escapism of being transported to another life for a while, or maybe the local arthouse is beginning to feel like a second home. But more than that, I feel revitalised and inspired. I don’t always remember the endings of the films I see, but I often hold on to an idea, a bit of dialogue that made me think, or a moving scene that might even shift my perspectives on the world.

I try and watch as broadly as possible across genres and languages. Often I’ll end up enjoying something that I chanced upon more than one I had lined up for weeks. Occasionally, I’ll even go and see a film that I know is going to be a bit naff. I saw Megalopolis because I felt bad that Francis Ford Coppola had needed to sell his land to self-finance it. I’m not much of a super-hero franchise fan, but I’ll be happy if they are box office successes as it means that cinemas can stay open and show the films that I do want to see.

Of course, I have been made aware that this is not the norm. Cinema dedication has come at the cost for me of never watching television series. But I think the trade off is worth it, when I can lay claim to having had an insight from films made in India, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany, all this year, and all enjoyed in less time than it would have taken me to watch one season of a show.

And once in a while, I’ll have a chat with someone else who might also not be quite able to put into words why they see as many films as they do. A fellow film fan told me she had been with a friend who’d told her in the cinema foyer, “Oh let’s get popcorn, it’s not like we come here every week, right?”

Not everybody needs to go every week. Going to the cinema is not a hobby, but it does have the power to help you make sense of the world and feel less alone, even when you are by yourself.

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William Mata is SEO editor for LBC.

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