LUKE MARSDEN: A joyful return to the cinema

One of the worst-hit sectors is hospitality and the cinema industry in general, it has been sad to watch what would’ve been big blockbusters become relegated to premiering on streaming platforms (and some for a ridiculous additional fee, I’m looking at you Mulan!)

I’ll admit I’ve been nervous to return to the cinema; I haven’t really fancied sitting in a room with people coughing from all angles. This week, I decided it was time to take the plunge.

At the start of the year seeing hand sanitiser dispensers and mandatory face mask signs in a cinema would’ve probably made us think we’d actually walked onto a film set instead. Seeing these items this week was a total reassurance, on the whole most fellow cinemagoers abided by the social distance rules. Staff were helpful (and probably very glad to be back at work) and informative on what I had to do to get a large salted popcorn and a Tango Ice Blast.

As I sat reclining in the leather seat, chomping on my popcorn and watching trailers that didn’t confirm when any film was actually coming out. I glanced around. Other film fans sat (distanced away from me) removing masks to slurp a drink and get comfortable. I didn’t realise just how much I had missed the experience of enjoying a film on the big screen.

For nearly three hours (Tenet was a long one and worth a watch by the way) I almost forgot that the outside world is way more dramatic and tense than anything Christopher Nolan could ever dream of.