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Despite concerns that streaming is killing the in-person experience, reports suggest Gen Z are gathering in front of the silver screen regularly.
Cinema attendance across the UK hasn’t exactly spiked. In fact, some of the year’s biggest films – by critical standards – saw dismal box office numbers.
Streaming has continued to shape our watching habits and dominate the entertainment industry. Netflix looks set to acquire Warner Bros, and our favourite TV shows are often born from platforms we can access on our phones.
Never have films been more immediately available. We can watch on demand from almost anywhere. We don’t even have to wait between episodes of a series. This instant gratification has made the act of going to the cinema something of a bygone pastime. At least, that’s what you may assume.
While overall numbers are still low for in-person film viewing, a new generation of film lovers are holding up the silver screen, according to reports. Young people are heading to cinemas years after being holed up during the pandemic, as the experience promises time away from their phones in a shared social setting.
Figures from the Cinema Advertising Association suggest that under-35s make up 50% of cinemagoers across the board. To back up those statistics, the Strength of Theatrical Exhibition report found in December that there’s been a 25% increase in US cinemagoing amongst Gen Z over the past year.
Across the pond, this uptick has been explained by the films themselves – with new releases like A Minecraft Movie and Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 proving popular with younger viewers. But is there more to it?
There’s no doubt ‘going to the movies’ isn’t what it used to be. But the industry hasn’t completely fallen off a cliff despite the rise of streaming and the devastation of the pandemic. Certain films might be drawing in younger audiences, but that’s surely not enough to keep these ostensibly unprofitable spaces from shuttering. So what gives?
The Lord of the Rings Extended Editions are officially in cinemas TODAY! pic.twitter.com/ZcN9IKhaAL
— Tolkien World (@TolkienWorldG) January 16, 2026
According to Vox, it seems Gen Z are craving the ‘issues’ that streaming purports to solve. The casual experience of going to the cinema has become so unusual in our digital era that it now holds cultural gravity.
‘Young people like going to the movies. As we’re subjected to more streaming slop, people realise that ‘Oh, it’s actually nice to go out and be part of the world,’ writes film critic Will Talvin.
It’s not just the social aspect of in-person viewing that has us buying tickets. As with many extra curricular activities, apps like Letterboxd and TikTok have made film viewing something of an intellectual hobby. And through these online spaces, more and more of us are being encouraged to go to the cinema not as casual observers, but critical thinkers.
Active engagement with a film is something we might struggle with in our consumption-driven world. Streaming content has arguably taken a nosedive where quality is concerned – a shift many suspect has something to do with our addiction to swiping.
Streaming insiders have claimed that TV and film is being purposefully ‘dumbed down’ to allow viewers to watch passively while spending time on their phones. The cinema, by contrast, provides a space where phones – at least for a few hours – remain untouched.
It’s bleak that one of the only ways to draw us away from a screen is to swap it with another, but in this day and age, we’ve got to pick our battles. Gen Z seems to be doing just that.
‘This is the first generation that’s always had a smartphone, says Alex DelVeecchio, manager at Rutgers Cinemas on Rutgers University’s campus. ‘So these things that are big conveniences for us or things that we like to do – they’ve had it forever, so it’s not really all that special to be able to stream everything at home.’
