beyond “Creed III”, these films which transformed the rooms into a rat race

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Fights broke out in movie theaters showing the movie “Creed III”. The National Federation of French Cinema speaks of an “epiphenomenon”. Yet similar scenes have already occurred for other films.

Disrupting sessions unfortunately seems to have become a sport for some. Fights broke out in recent days in several cinemas in France on the occasion of the screening of the boxing film Creed III, released in theaters on March 1. A giant fight in Thionville, cans and sodas thrown in Saint-Étienne, incidents reported in Charleville-Mézières, in Marseille, brawls in Paris… Videos were broadcast on social networks, thus becoming “challenges” to raise.

However, the film itself does not seem to be the cause of the violence. It is rather about altercations linked to incivility, like a young woman in Val-de-Marne who telephoned throughout the film, provoking the anger of the other spectators.

Another atmosphere but just as degenerate at the beginning of January in a cinema in Épinay-sur-Seine, in Seine-Saint-Denis, during the screening of Thunivu by H. Vinoth, an Indian action blockbuster. Popcorn thrown into the air, firecrackers, red smoke, spectators shouting and dancing in front of the screen… Nothing to do with the courtesy necessary for a collective projection.

“In these kinds of films from South India, there are always celebrations before and during the first screenings.explained to Marianne a spectator. There, as often, it exploded when the face of the main actor appeared on the screen…”

Uncontrolled joy?

In Marseille, out-of-control fans disrupted the film’s premiere One Piece last summer, screaming, running in front of the screen, throwing popcorn, stripping, spoiling the fun for other viewers who shared their disbelief on social media.

Problems also occurred in Bordeaux where spectators activated the fire alarm 10 minutes from the end of the film. A trend ? Last March, the Grand Rex in Paris also had to deal with disrespectful, unleashed fans, spoiling the viewing of Jujutsu Kaisen, by putting on a show shouting, whistling, dancing or even undressing.

Ditto in previous sessions of Demon Slayer Or My Hero Academia. To the point that many fans fear that this minority of agitators will discredit the community of Japanese culture lovers. A tiktokeur thus shared his concern that distributors, put off by such behavior, no longer offer animated previews.

@thevivizama The problem of avp in cinema #onepiecered #pourtoi #cinema #onepiece ♬ Paris – 斌杨Remix

The horror film remains one of the genres most affected by the phenomenon. In 2016, UGC flatly refused to program The Conjuring 2: The Enfied Case, scalded by previous experiences. And indeed, the other networks having distributed it had to quickly withdraw it from the rooms following incidents which occurred during projection, shouts, telephones, insults, fights…

In 2014, it is annabelle, the killer porcelain doll, which defied the chronicle. UGC had clearly announced that it would no longer offer it due to “fights in the room”. Two years earlier, same phenomenon with Sinister And Paranormal Activity 4. Looted confectionery counters, insulted cashiers, urine on the armchairs… The Wild Bunch distributor had thrown in the towel.

Young people, but not only

The common point of these films, in addition to the horror genre, is that they are all prohibited for at least 12 years. And it is clear that the outbursts come from an essentially young audience, between 12 and 17 years old, “not mature enough”analyzed in 2012 at the microphone of RTL the psychologist-clinician and psychotherapist Anne Floret: “They do not have the maturity to integrate horror in the second degree, it will affect them without restraint, so they express their impulses in collective hysteria”. This public meets en masse “not to not see the film, but to really ‘fuck the mess’summed up his UGC side.

That said, the horror itself can be deeply unsettling. The first spectators of The Exorcist by William Friedkin in 1973 are still traumatized by it. There was talk at the time of fainting in theaters, vomiting (with paper bags distributed to spectators), and even heart attacks!

Festival-goers may well be in tuxedos and evening dresses, but Cannes is also a place of often exacerbated reactions in theaters. Boos, cries, discomfort are not absent, far from it. Already in 1960, giggles and whistles had punctuated the projection of Adventure, by Michelangelo Antonioni. In 1973, screams echoed throughout Feast by Marco Ferreri, described by some at the exit as “repugnant” And “emetic”. Many films have caused a scandal in Cannes. We can still cite Irreversible by Gaspard Noé in 2002. Many spectators left the room during the screening, when they were not victims of discomfort in their seats. Or even more recently in 2021, Titanium by Julia Ducournau. “We don’t have the right to go that far, to show so many horrors”, reacted, for example, one of the spectators questioned by Allociné at the exit. Vomiting, malaise… The firefighters had to intervene several times during the screening due to the ultra-violence of the film, which some have described as gore.


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