Drive-In Cinemas: The Classic Cinematic Experience Returns

​The magic of cinema. It’s a hard thing to explain. The ripple of anticipation as the lights dim, the muffled opening of sweet packets, the collective gasps as the action unfolds. It would seem that nothing could replace this. But like most things, things are having to change. During the height of the pandemic a number of films chose to release straight to digital such as Trolls 2, Irresistible, and Scooby. In an unexpected move Disney also decided to side step the slowly opening but struggling cinemas. On September the 4th, the giant will be streaming the highly anticipated live action saga of Mulan on its own new streaming service Disney+, with an additional charge of £22.95 to members. The move has brought praise and criticism but one things for sure, cinema is changing.

​Part of Americana inheritance alongside oversized milkshakes, baseball and cheerleaders, is the iconic drive-in movie. And recently its found a new home on British soil. The sharing arm rests and overpriced popcorn of traditional cinemas are being replaced with parked cars, radios turned to the max, and mountains of blankets. Yes, the drive-in cinema has its own magic and nostalgia that has been drawing crowds of America since the 1930s, where the first drive-in theatre is credited. 

Since social distancing measures lend themselves to the format of drive-in movies and provide one of the few safe experiences outside the house, the industry is now booming. But why has it taken a pandemic for this cultural experience to see such a raise in popularity?

In this case, size matters. As The Times investigated, Dr Karina Aveyard, a professor and postgraduate researcher at University of East Anglia, explains that they are multiple factors as to why Britain has been slow on the up take. The major issue is space. With large open areas, countries such as the US and Australia have been able to accommodate swapping chairs for cars and doubling up on screen sizes – not the easiest thing to do on an island as small as Britain. 

The US and Australia also share a car-based culture where it is the norm for 17 and 18 year olds to have their own car – essentially for drive-in movies. For these countries, drive-in movies were a fun, sociable past time. Now however, it is one of only a few extracurricular activates that Britons can do safely.

By staying in your car, audiences are able to easily social distance and have the piece of mind needed as we slowly leave lock down. Many companies have also implemented systems where food can be ordered online or waiters signalled by flashing the hazard lights. Whilst not all new films will be available to watch on the now bigger screen, there is no limit to the variety of film available.

The very popular Lune Cinema is hosting several location drive-in cinemas across the UK including guest locations, having visited Harewood House and upcoming venues can be found here. Whilst times are definitely different, We hope we can all continue to find comfort and solace in the stories and adventures we experience in film. Be it in our living rooms, cinemas or cars, the magic of film will continue to unite and inspire us for a long time to come.  

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