Overview
We download movies onto tiny laptop screens and watch them hunched over in our beds, spilling Red Bull on the keyboard when Ryan Gosling says sexy things like 'Hey' and switching over to check Gmail when he's not onscreen. It's sad, it's solitary, and the suspension of disbelief is, at most, fleeting. What happened to the glory days of yore, when moviegoing was an event? When you were truly transported?
Sensing the aching pit in your soul, on December 11-14, World Movies is bringing its Secret Cinema event to a mystery location in Brisbane, in association with the inaugural Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival. You don't know what film you'll be seeing, and the location is revealed by text the day of the screening.
Secret Cinema pushes a traditional medium into a new level of experiential entertainment. Live performance as well as themed food and drinks tie in with the world of the film. Examples of performative screenings from overseas have included London's 2010 version which re-created LA's Chinatown in 2019 for Bladerunner (two actors dangled from the ceiling during the climactic 'tears in rain' scene) and a 1950s Algerian casbah for The Battle of Algiers.
In Sydney, Secret Cinema moviegoers were conveyed by ferry to Goat Island and subjected to a series of 'survival games' before seeing Japan's cult classic Battle Royale, forerunner of The Hunger Games. That event sold out in 15 minutes and drew a crowd of hundreds. Even bigger things were planned for Sydney's most recent event, though it ultimately had to be cancelled after issues with the venue, meaning this Brisbane incarnation marks a bit of a comeback for the WMSC team.
What type of venue theming will be going on in Brisbane? This one's a classic: Roaring Twenties. Go back to the decadent and dramatic days of the pre-stock market crash 1920s.
Tickets to World Movies Secret Cinema are $55 from qtix, but thanks to World Movies, we have one double pass to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address at win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au.