'I work at a movie theater and this is a regular occurrence...': 10+ entitled moviegoers who ruined the experience for everyone else

Let 2025 be the year we get movie theater etiquette under control. Seriously, there is no better illustration of the decline of basic courtesy and self-awareness in public places over the years than at the movies. It used to be that the most annoying thing you might experience after the lights begin to dim was the crinkling of candy wrappers, the crunching of popcorn, and the late arrival of other moviegoers. We come to this place—as Nicole Kidman says in her iconic AMC ad—to expect that kind of behavior. We have since normalized it at the cinema and cannot be upset when it occurs.

However, we can be upset about the advent of other unnecessary behavior people seem to be exhibiting in these spaces, thereby ruining the moviegoing experience for everyone else and convincing more and more folks to just stay home and stream whatever subpar streaming movie has been released instead. This kind of behavior includes using phones and laptops (yes, laptops) during the movie—a subject of online discourse that became especially noisy during the opening weekend of Wicked. Then, there are the people who take their shoes and even socks off and put them up behind the seats of other customers. There are even moviegoers who cannot help but sing along during musical numbers or leave their trash everywhere like this is their bedroom.

Keep scrolling below for this collection of mildly infuriating moviegoing experiences. For more content like this, take a look at this list of adulting mishaps.

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It's one thing to scroll on your phone when you're watching TV at home. It's also acceptable to browse on your computer as you're watching Netflix in the background. However, to bring your laptop to the movie theater and to take it out in a crowded venue like that is about as audacious as it gets!
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Shoutout to people who have their phones on full brightness during a movie. You are the worst among us! It truly ruins everyone else's perception!
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You know, people got worse and worse when it comes to cleaning up after themselves over the last several years. If you can't pick up your snacks when you leave after a two-hour movie, you shouldn't be allowed to go to the cinema at all!
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