The COVID-19 pandemic forever altered many aspects of our daily lives; one thing that may never be the same is the way we watch movies. 

Since 2020, audiences have become accustomed to watching the newest releases in the comfort of their own homes. This shift began, in part, when Warner Bros. decided to simultaneously debut their slate of 2021 films on HBO Max and in theaters. Leaving your couch to watch “Dune” was no longer necessary, so why would anyone do so?  

While this distribution model has been left behind in the days of face masks and hand sanitizers, a dangerous precedent has been set. No one is happier about this shift than Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, who, according to Variety, has called the communal experience of movie theaters an “outmoded idea.”  

“They’d like to watch movies at home, thank you,” Sarandos was quoted saying in Variety. “The studios and the theaters are duking it out over trying to preserve this 45-day window that is completely out of step with the consumer experience of just loving a movie.” 

Sarandos isn’t wrong. Some people don’t care about the theatrical window (i.e., the period during which a movie is shown exclusively in theaters before becoming available for home viewing), or the moviegoing experience in general. Our viewing habits are changing, putting the future of the movies at risk. 

Worcester, with an estimated population of over 211,000, is the largest city in the United States without a movie theater. Many smaller cities across the country have at least one, whether it’s a multiplex or an art house, but not Worcester. Residents who want to watch a theatrical film have no choice but to drive outside the city limits to the Blackstone Valley 14 in Millbury to catch a show. 

Showcase North, an 18-screen theater, was the last one standing in the city. It closed in March 2020 because of the pandemic, and in June 2021, it was announced that its doors would remain permanently shut. The building has since been demolished, leaving nothing but memories of flickering projectors, hangouts with friends, and shared laughter. 

“I went on my first and second dates with my wife at Showcase North in the 2000s,” recalls Daniel Rees (’09). “We were both broke college students, so we took the bus downtown and then another bus to the theater. Showcase hadn’t been renovated since they built it in the ’90s, and it was like going on a date in high school. The theater was mostly empty, so it was almost like a private screening too.” Stories like these are a dime a dozen.  

Worcester was once home to smaller independent cinemas as well. Before shutting down, one of the final films shown at The Bijou, a three-screen art house that once stood in the now-demolished Worcester Common Outlets, was Peter Bogdanovich’s “The Last Picture Show,” a coming-of-age film about a group of teenagers in a dying Texas town. A fitting end to a place that had brought so much to the Worcester community. 

Movie theaters are not just about the movies themselves; they’re important cultural hubs, vital shared spaces, and the lifeblood of a local community. A city without one has a massive hole that needs to be filled. 

But there is hope. Right down the street from Clark, bold and award-winning cinema is being screened every week in WCUW Radio’s FrontRoom, a small venue that can seat up to 50 people. Last month, they showed one of the best films from last year’s Cannes Film Festival; the Colombian film “A Poet” by Simón Mesa Soto. It tells the story of a man grappling with artistic failure as he makes an attempt at redemption in order to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Not exactly the kind of movie you would find at Blackstone, or the kind that brings in millions at the box office and sells popcorn and soda at concession stands. 

All of this is the work of Cinema Worcester, an organization bringing a diverse programming of independent films to the Worcester community. According to their website, their goal is to create an independent, full-time, community cinema for Worcester. 

“Until that objective is within reach, the focus of Cinema Worcester will be to build notoriety and support for the concept,” the website says. 

 In order for a project like this to happen — in order to one day see a theater in Worcester again — enough people must be interested in paying for the moviegoing experience for it to be financially viable. So if you too dream of a communal place where family and friends can spend a few hours cut off from the world, in the dark, watching shadows dance on a big screen, you know what to do. Go catch a show at the FrontRoom!