Secret cinema

[StillRunningWithScissors]

Has anyone been to this?
A few if us are toying with the idea of going to a London one, but the site doesn't have a huge amount of detail.

Obviously the key word is "secret", so not expecting to know everything that happens, but have some questions

It's pricey, so what is included in the price? Is it just entry fee?

Listed to run 6-11pm. Is food available? Do you need to buy it in addition to entry? Drinks?

If anyone has done this and can give some insight, that would be great.

Thank you

It depends on the film, but basically they do a kind of immersive experience around the film. I did Romeo + Juliet last summer, and when we bought tickets we were assigned to a Capulet clan, given family "colours" to wear, Capulet names, and a chant. At the venue there were multiple parties both Capulet and Montague - you could go to a posh Capulet ball or an open air Montague beach party. There were actors embedded in the crowds who acted out Capulet/Montague fights and then were dragged away by the Verona Beach police. There was also a gospel choir and priest performing and lots of stalls selling R+J-themed food and other stuff.

It's basically like a huge, themed costume party/festival. It's a ton of fun. The actors stay in character all night. The film is then shown on the big screen after a few hours.

@SoHotADragonRetired oh, sounds great.

Thanks for replying.

How was the pricing for the food? Reasonable, or more 'we've got you captive, so you'll pay through the nose'?

Well. It's London, so the food and drink ain't cheap. I haven't really done a proper festival for a while but I'd say the equivalent prices to any street food/festival thing. I think we paid about £4-5 each for a calzone. I'm pretty sure you can't bring in any booze, and you are searched (for R+J they make it part of the storyline, can't have the feuding clans sneaking weapons in). I'm not sure about bringing in food or water, you'd have to check their T's and C's.

Oh. And DH has done a Star Wars themed one and they actually had a quest of sorts - it was a bit like a laser tag game - they had to get from A to B without being caught and shot by stormtroopers.

That should give you the general idea anyway.

@SoHotADragonRetired fantastic, thanks again!

I went years ago and it was £2 for a Styrofoam miniscule cup of tea. I've been to the Moulin rouge one since and the food prices were far more reasonable, along the lines of a street food festival in London - so not cheap but no longer a huge rip off.

We went to the Back to the Future one. One of the best family days out we've ever had.

@teebee @dreaming thanks, good to hear more reviews. I appreciate it :-)

I’ve done three and love them! It is pretty expensive, especially by the time you have bought food, drink and possibly costume / accessories for the theme but totally worth it for me.

If you go, try to talk to the actors and other guests as much as you can as they’ll involve you in the story that way. And explore everywhere, there will always be random things happening all over the site so every attendee will have a slightly different experience.

I’m not sure about Stranger Things so not planning to go to the next one but the next time they do a film I love, I’ll be there!

Oh and the VIP tickets often include food and drinks but I have never bothered with them, just bought from stalls on the day.

I've done three, Back to the Future, Star Wars and Dirty Dancing and they were all amazing! However, these were the big summer productions. I've never done a smaller one, (which are supposed to be proper secret) although I'd love to, being outside London, I don't think it's practical.
Food prices were reasonable I though, fairly typical festival food and prices, so around £7-£12 for a decent burger/ curry/ burrito/pizza etc. Deffo give it a go if you get chance though!

Definitely do it - the ones I've attended were better than any immersive theatre that I've been to, with the exception of the amazing You Me Bum Bum Train. But you do have to throw yourself into it to get the most out of it.

I didn't think the food and drinks were that expensive for an event in London, just average. Cheaper than the Odeon and nicer! But a word of warning, last time I went, they ran out of food towards the end so don't leave it too late to eat.

The next one is Stranger Things I think. The BTTF one sounded amazing