Young people have always loved the cinema: back in 1943, the Wartime Social Survey found that 79 per cent of teenagers and 43 per cent of young adults reported that they went to the cinema at least once a week. Decades on, Gen Z are no different: recent figures from Digital Cinema Media found that 78 per cent of 16-34 year-olds identify as regular cinemagoers.

That said, cinema’s popularity has waxed and waned. UK cinema attendance plummeted from 1.6 billion in 1946 to an all time low of 54 million in 1984, as the rise of television – and later the mass adoption of VHS and DVDs - ushered in a new age of at-home entertainment. Fast forward to today, and it’s never been easier to keep yourself occupied from the comfort of your own home, thanks to the rise of social media ‘content’ and streaming services – and as atomisation has become the norm, it’s become more and more socially acceptable to do so too. On top of this, cinema ticket prices have skyrocketed since the mid-20th century: the average cost of a ticket in 1960 was around 13p – today, adjusted for inflation, this would work out at £2.67 (and if anyone knows of a cinema selling tickets this cheap in 2026, please let me know).

It seems like a perfect storm for cinema’s extinction, but the stats don’t lie: there were 124 million cinema admissions in 2025, with the industry slowly but surely bouncing back after the Covid-19 pandemic saw audience numbers nosedive. Clearly, in spite of the rise of at-home entertainment, rampant inflation, and the normalisation of social insularity, young people are still turning out in droves to watch new films in the cinema. Why?

For some cinephiles, it’s as simple as wanting to see a film in the way a director meant for it to be watched. “[I try] to see a film in the most faithful manner, closest to the way it was intended to be viewed, so that I can have a fair reaction to it,” says 28-year-old Jemima, who tries to go to the cinema at least once a month. She used to have memberships to Picturehouse and ArtHouse Crouch End – having recently moved away from the area, she’s weighing up which cinema to sign up to next. “There’s been a lot of times when I’ve watched a film that is supposed to be amazing on my TV or on other devices and I’ve just not enjoyed it as much.”

Similarly, 26-year-old Alex enjoys the “immersive” aspect of going to the cinema – “there’s only one thing you’re focusing on,” he says. “It feels like an occasion,” he continues. “I think you could watch a good film at home, but if you watch that same film in the cinema, it can be an amazing film.”

There’s the community element, too. “I went to see Django Unchained when I was a teenager and I remember listening to people have really visceral reactions to the on-screen violence,” Jemima recalls. “It was so intoxicating to me as a teenager – it remains one of my more formative cinema experiences.” She adds that she resonated with Stellen Skarsgård’s 2026 Golden Globes speech, where he sung cinema’s praises: “In a cinema, where the lights go down and eventually you share the pulse with some other people, that’s magic.” Given that a recent survey by the loneliness charity Marmalade Trust found that 67 per cent of young people in the UK feel lonely at least once a week, it’s little wonder others like Jemima are turning to the cinema for some much-needed low-stakes social connection.

I have always turned to film as a kind of escapism and a needed break from the high tempo reality outside

The cinema is also one of the few remaining spaces where using a phone is a serious faux pas, offering young people the chance to ‘detox’ from social media without having to fork out for an ‘unplugged’ wellness retreat or tickets to a phone-free club night. 27-year-old Steff says she goes to the cinema a couple of times a month, adding that she has memberships at the Everyman and the Watershed in Bristol. “I love sitting in the dark for a few hours and properly switching off.” Similarly, 26-year-old Kyrlo, based in Paris, goes to the cinema once or twice a week. “It’s a non-negotiable,” he says, adding that he has a CinéPass membership which grants him access to a number of cinemas across the city. “I have always turned to film as a kind of escapism and a needed break from the high tempo reality outside. It really keeps my mind focused on something else and the [small] screen detox that comes with it is a plus.”

We’re at a time where virtually everyone has a burning desire to log off, slow down, and touch grass – or, in other words, be more mindful and intentional with the ways they spend their time. In recent years a number of new trends and fads have emerged which reflect this widespread urge to wrestle back control over our fried attention spans, from ‘analogue baskets’ to productivity apps. It’s admirable to witness such determination to break free of Big Tech’s monopoly on our attention, but I sometimes wonder if we’re overcomplicating things. Perhaps we need to go back to basics, and remember that art is one of the most powerful forms of escapism; watching a two-hour-long film is one of the most effective ways of silencing the incessant background noise most of us carry in our heads. So if going to a phone-free wellness retreat in the middle of nowhere or a pricey app-blocking device doesn’t feel accessible, don’t fret. Try buying a cinema ticket instead.