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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Walked out of cinema mid movie

285 replies

distilledwater · 13/04/2022 22:06

Took my dd to see the secrets of dumbledore. Really didn't enjoy it, wasn't our thing and the cinema was boiling on top of that, I was burning up and so uncomfortable. Daughter agreed she wasn't enjoying the film so we walked out about 45 minutes into it (discreetly I hope). Both agreed once out that we had no idea what was going on, the storyline was difficult to follow.

Obviously we were home early and my husband was outraged (no exaggeration) that we had paid money to see a film and walked out mid way. He said it's rude and a waste of money and not teaching my dd anything Confused I think he's mad and considering this particular film is 2.5 hours long, I'd rather not sit and bear it.

AIBU?

OP posts:
justasking111 · 13/04/2022 22:23

@Friedaseyebrow

I'm with you,.life's too short to sit through a movie you don't enjoy. It's already had your cash, don't let it have your time too! I've walked out of a couple of films before, left a play at the interval and ditched loads of crap books!
Me too. Films, TV, books all abandoned if I'm bored
SocksAndTheCity · 13/04/2022 22:25

@toastofthetown

The money's a sunk cost at that point, and I don't see how it's rude (unless you are walking out of a private screening being hosted by the filmmakers). My partner said that it was testament to his love for me that he didn't walk out of Cats after fifteen minutes.
My friend and I went to see La La Land for my birthday and because he'd paid for the tickets I didn't feel I could leave despite it being one of the worst films I've ever seen in a cinema. It turned out afterwards he felt exactly the same - if one of us had spoke up we could have gone for a pizza or something instead and been home by 9ish 😂
3luckystars · 13/04/2022 22:25

Some people finish books even if they hate them too.

Not me. I have walked out of two films but switched off many. Life is too short to waste watching or reading shite.

mdinbc · 13/04/2022 22:25

Ask hubby if he goes to a sports match, his team is losing 5-1, does he sit through to the very last minute, or try to beat the crowd out? I think that is rude, because the team is still there and playing.

In a movie theatre, the actors are not aware of you leaving.

Boiledbeetle · 13/04/2022 22:26

Over the years I have had the audacity to walk out of actual live theatre performances, never mind the cinema.

Whilst sometimes I would be polite and wait until the interval, some were that bad I just couldn't force myself to sit there any longer than absolutely necessary.

I earned bonus points as well as every theatre performance I have walked out of due to the dire performance on stage, I have been seated in the middle of the front row so everyone in the theatre would have been aware.

If I've paid money for something, wether that be a theatre ticket, a cinema ticket, a burger and chips, a tee-shirt, if I don't enjoy the thing I've bought I get rid of it, stop eating it, stop watching it. It's my money and my time.

No-one should force themselves to sit through two and a half hours of swill just because!

Tell your husband to get over himself!

GraceandMolly · 13/04/2022 22:27

Perfectly fine to walk out of things you don’t enjoy.

NoAprilFool · 13/04/2022 22:27

I have fallen asleep at the cinema in really bad films (Natural Born Killers and Van Helsing) but never left. Leaving would involve a conversation with whoever I was with and that is rude and inconsiderate to the other folk there.

SiliconDioxide79 · 13/04/2022 22:31

Haha I think ots an acceptable thing to do. Done it once at a kind of up itself artsy film with my step son . He was into to it. I felt like sticking pins into my eyes so went and drank coffee outside. Once went to a Disney
Film with my cousin, his boyfriend, and my uncle inCairo in a posh mall...my uncle disappeared after 15 mins...we found him after and he said it wasn't his thing..he had gone off to get a haircut!
Power to him quite frankly.

Moonlightdust · 13/04/2022 22:33

I can recall doing that one time - my in-laws were staying with us and on a rainy afternoon we decided last minute to go to the cinema. We randomly picked a film not knowing it was actually a horror film and a pretty dire one at that! My MIL looked green it was that bad Grin We left after about 20 minutes!

DontStopMeNow7 · 13/04/2022 22:34

I remember almost wanting to walk out of one of the more recent Star Wars films (don’t get me started!) What really made me more annoyed was I’d already accidentally paid for the tickets twice and then got a parking ticket.

It’s understandable if he is disappointed/frustrated ha you spent money for something you didn’t enjoy. But yanbu, it’s fine. It’s not your fault that the cinema had broken air conditioning and that Hollywood don’t know how to write stories anymore is it? It would only be rude if it was at a premier red carpet night. But presumably the paparazzi were not photographing you leaving and Dumbledore won’t put a curse on you as punishment. Your DH needs to lighten up.

theremustonlybeone · 13/04/2022 22:35

YABU as loved it Grin

Spidey66 · 13/04/2022 22:35

I've done it once, several years ago. The Hunt for Red October. No disrespect to Sean Connery, he's good at what he does, just not my kind of genre. I was with 4 others, 3 of us left and went to the pub. It was the 2 left who really wanted to see it. I've not hated a film so much since, not one I've paid to see anyway, but I'd do it again if I was that bored.

greenlynx · 13/04/2022 22:37

@CinstonWhurchill got it right, he wasn’t happy that you came back earlier.

Nothing wrong with knowing that you can leave early if you are bored/ not interested/ tired. In our cinema people come and go regularly: to the toilet, for extra popcorn, just away - no one’s bothered.

JudgeJ · 13/04/2022 22:39

Memories of my late MIL who had gone into town with her friend for a pensioner's lunch and a cheap seat at the cinema. She was blazing about the fim, Utter Filth apparently, I think it was Shampoo. We asked how long they'd stayed and were told they'd stayed til the end, they'd paid to go in so weren't leaving until they'd had their money's worth! Can't rob a Yorkshire woman!

DanielRicciardosSmile · 13/04/2022 22:39

I cant imagine how it's rude.

I just wish we'd walked out instead of sitting through Hard Rain back in 1998. DH and I still refer to it as the worst film we ever paid to watch.

Ilovethecinema · 13/04/2022 22:41

I don’t blame you, I thought it was the biggest load of shit I’ve ever watched. Oh and I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. Luckily we have unlimited passes - not to expensive if we hate something.

Loginmystery · 13/04/2022 22:42

I’m with your husband on this one. It’s the feeling that it’s not an event to be valued. I think it’s very much of our time. I’ve just been angry at my daughter because i bought her a family size bar of chocolate to eat at the cinema and she held it and it melted a bit in the packet so she tossed it in the bin on the way out. It’s the ungratefulness and the fact that we have so much and waste so much. In my day the cinema was an enormous treat and we would have enjoyed the experience no matter what.

Lalliella · 13/04/2022 22:42

I wished I’d walked out of the Phantom Menace and La La Land. Terrible films. Good fo you OP.

CaptainMerica · 13/04/2022 22:42

I walked out of How to Lose a guy in 10 Days. I sincerely regretted staying for the second half of a theatre performance of Chess. YANBU!

Northernparent68 · 13/04/2022 22:43

Did your daughter really not enjoy it or did you tell her she was n’t enjoying it ?

Lalliella · 13/04/2022 22:44

@VariationsonaTheme

Only ever walked out of one movie - it was filmed on handheld cameras and made me violently ill.
Blair Witch Project @VariationsonaTheme?
MrsMop1964 · 13/04/2022 22:44

I would have walked out of The Batman the other week...if I hadn't been fast asleep!

CaptainMerica · 13/04/2022 22:45

In my day the cinema was an enormous treat and we would have enjoyed the experience no matter what.

See, that's really not the case for me. At the time I had a cineworld unlimited card, and went to see multiple films per week.

Lalliella · 13/04/2022 22:45

@FangsForTheMemory

I've walked out of a couple of films: one was so gruesome I was near to fainting, the other was 'Clerks' and it was rubbish.

Don't see why it would be considered rude. It's not as if the actors know you are walking out.

Was it The Fly @FangsForTheMemory? My friend had to be carried out of that.
Thisismynamenow · 13/04/2022 22:45

I watched the film yesterday and found it awful (just like the first 2 but I'm a completionist so must finish the trilogy) so can't blame you. And it was SO HOT in there too!

Your not being rude or unreasonable, but it does seem like a massive waste of money, I wouldn't of left, I'd of just sat and finished the film uncomfortably, like I did 😂😂

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