‘I know,’ I said to my friend recently. ‘Let’s see a film!’ We booked the Everyman Kings Cross, the only cinema that happened to be showing what we wanted to watch at a convenient time and location.
You might already be familiar with the Everyman concept. According to the chain, it’s ‘redefining cinema’ with an ‘innovative lifestyle approach to our venues, where you swap your soft drink for a nice glass of red wine and a slice of freshly made pizza served to your seat’. And apparently it’s popular – an Everyman opened in September in Egham, Surrey, bringing the total to 38, and another one is announced for Durham early next year.
But after my latest visit, I found myself marvelling at the success of what might be the most annoying cinema concept on earth. Even its name seems a bit of a misnomer as we endure a cost-of-living crisis, with a single ticket costing almost £20 – more than the cheap seats to see Simon Russell Beale in Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman or to watch a film at many branches of Vue.
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