The Plot Thickens

Obituary

I finally did it. I cancelled my Moviepass subscription. Is everyone happy now?

I decided to cancel for quite a few reasons, but the main one being that the fairly recent and continual changes in what was available to see through the app had finally become too hard to ignore.

The final nail in the coffin for me occurred this weekend when I went to see Hell Fest.

To be clear, Hell Fest isn’t a good movie. It has two good scenes in it and a couple of other good-ish moments, including one that actually made me think “oh, that was clever,” but overall, the movie sucks. It’s not scary or all that original, and there are more than a few holes in its logic.

None of this surprised me either. The movie was pretty close to what I expected it to be, minus the two good scenes that gave me false hope. The only reason I even went to see the film is that a friend of mine wanted to watch it.

I only agreed to go along because I checked the app, and it was listed as available. When I got there, the entire theater was taken off the app, not even just the movie. I cancelled my subscription later that night.

The weird thing about all this is I feel guilty. It makes logical sense I would stop paying for a service that I can no longer utilize, but I feel like I’m letting the theater industry down. Yes, I’m always going to see movies in theaters, especially if I’m excited about their release, but Moviepass is a dying company, and I am not helping keep them alive any longer. I’m basically a murderer.

Oh well. At least some good did come out of the two-thirds-of-the-way-into-the-grave Moviepass. It has fundamentally changed how the public consumes the media of film, which is good since the theater industry is dying. It has pushed people to see more small, independent films, which is something I always promote. It has also spawned several other similar subscription services.

On a more personal note, it allowed me to see (among over 30 other films) Love, Simon in theaters three times. That’s a personal best for me.

It’s impossible to call Moviepass a failure, and I’m sad to see it go. So, Dear Moviepass, thanks for everything. Sincerely, Xander.