Okay, so I’ve gotta confess: I’m that person who used to sneak into movies at the theater. But I didn’t just do it once, I did it twice in a row, and got caught both times.
I was a dumb teen at the time, I wanna say around 2016. One Saturday, me and my friend went to a theater with the plan to see one movie but ended up deciding we wanted to watch something else (Finding Dory). We figured, “Why not just sneak into another theater?” It’s not like they have guards right? And even then, the idea was fresh in my head, because another friend of ours said he did it with his dad all the time, and they never got caught. So, how would we get caught?
So, we walk into theater #1, watch the first 30 minutes of Finding Dory, then sneak out and walk into theater #2 where I think some movie with the Rock was playing. We didn’t even care about which movie was playing, or the fact we didn’t finish Dory, we were just doing this for the thrill. We were feeling pretty proud of ourselves until about 10 minutes into the trailers for the second movie, when a theater employee comes in and calls us out. Apparently, he saw us. They give us a choice: leave quietly or get banned.
We decide to leave, heads down, but we’re not done yet. We think, “Screw it, let’s go to one more theater!” We head into theater #3 and sit down for another movie, which I remember being some horror movie that was already halfway through. We were trying not to laugh and everyone in the audience was looking at us as we went up the aisle. About 5 minutes later, though, we’re caught again. This time, the manager’s not even messing around, he pops up and does the “come here” gesture… we follow him out of the theater where he tells us we’re banned… for the day.
I swear, I’ve never been so embarrassed. I never tried sneaking into a movie again after that, but to this day, I still cringe when I think about how we got caught twice in one day. I still don’t know what I was thinking, even if I was a stupid teen. Lets just say I need to go to another theater these days to watch my flicks, and I’m an adult now…
Comments
That must’ve been really embarrassing
Wow. That’s so, so embarrassing! Props to you for living after this, kind stranger. I’d have left off for the woods imme-fucking-diately! 😂
Yea so cameras exist. And most things are visible. Unfortunately.
that’s crazy you guys only got banned for a day though. I’d say it’s worth it.
Has this become the children’s confession sub?
I did this once in my early 20s with a friend when we were drinking. We went into the 4dx with the moving chairs lol.
More recently I did it with my ex and his mom. It was her idea and I really didn’t want to do it. I was so scared of getting caught. But there was no saying no to them. Apparently it was their thing and they did it literally every time. They didn’t even seem to realize it was illegal lmao.
That’s crazy
i guess it depends where you live? i did the same thing as you around the same year (but several years older, i had recently graduated college) but we finished the first film and then watched a second without paying.
it’s probably easier to do it then when everyone’s leaving and the staff is distracted than doing it in the middle of the movie when the halls are likely deserted, if anyone on here was looking for tips on how to do this, lol.
Way back in the day would go to the drive in. Sometimes with other guys and sometimes with a girl. There were two drive-ins close by both had double/two screens. Usually there was some B rated movie with nudity and you had to be 18. We would go through the line/gate to the G rated movie. Once out of sight from the booth circle around and go see some nude girls. Not sure why they never blocked off the road to the second screen. Probably wanted/needed the business
I’ve snuck into god knows how many movies in my day, and I promise you that you’ll get over it. Sneaking into a movie hovers around jaywalking on the crime-o-meter.
lol that’s pretty funny. I got outside food confiscated from me once. But only once… also put my brother in the trunk to save on a ticket at the drive in lol.
I did this alone once as a grown adult, pretty much just to have the experience. Walked in toward the end of some action film, didn’t know what was going on. It felt pretty pointless.
Did your theater not have the names of the movies over the doors? Mine just had numbers and you had to match them to what was on your ticket so you had to guess what you were getting if you snuck in.
ETA from what I’ve heard most places don’t really give a shit and actually prefer you stay longer because they make most of their actual money at the concessions.
Did you happen to do this in Texas? I may have been the one to kick you out
I worked at a theater in the late 1980s as an usher. I’d let anyone in for free. I was 16 years old making minimum wage being managed by nobody. This was a UA theater at a crowded mall..
As an adult (20?) I told my friend ,”we can just go see a movie for free, I’m sure of it.” We walked past the usher and said hello and walked to the theater of our choice. We watched the entire film with zero issues.
Now I’m 50 years old. I went to a movie theater 3 weeks ago, bought the ticket onlie, showed up and watched the movie. Nobody checked my ticket at all. Nobody was even there to check it. I bought a cocktail and a popcorn from the counter.
Amateurs, in the 80’s I once saw 4 movies in one day.
I worked at a movie theater when I was young. The only time I said shit about any of the customers is when two teens snuck into the bathroom together. I knew a kids movie was letting out in a couple of minutes, so I had the manager get the teenagers out of the bathroom.
Holy shit were their cheeks red!
I’ve been sneaking into other movies for over 40 years. Never been caught. I think one time I saw 4 movies in a day. On many occasions, I’d pay to get in and then let friends in at a side door. I probably should feel bad but don’t 🙂
If you’d interrupted my movie with your bullshit, I’d have done more than banned you for a day. It’s bad enough people eat like animals and talk on or view their phones during movies that cost way too much. I’m glad you’ve outgrown this behavior.
I used to do it a long time ago. I got caught once and the usher confronted me in the theater. I claimed I bought a ticket. This was when they gave you an actual little ticket (like the prize tickets at an arcade). Different colors for different movies. The usher asked to see my ticket. I told him I lost it so he asked me what color it was. Off the top of my head I say “mauve” just to be funny. Usher goes “oh ok” and walks away. I don’t know if I guessed right or just said a color he didn’t know so he couldn’t argue.
In 1991 a few of us went to see Home Alone, because we were 12, but after 20 minutes we snuck into New Jack City. What a time to be alive.
Good. They also have cameras in each movie room… you would’ve been caught eventually