Some Lagos-based cinema enthusiasts said on Monday that they still seek entertainment in cinemas despite economic hardship and technological advancements that have brought entertainment to their bedrooms and phones.
They said the satisfaction from cinemas was deep and worth the trouble of spending more and moving out of their homes.
A trader, Stanley Okafor, told journalists at Ebony Life Place, a cinema on Victoria Island, that he regularly goes to the cinema to relax and distract himself from life’s challenges.
“I find it so relaxing; to me, one can just spend a little more to enjoy oneself; it is also a quiet and entertaining place to be, ‘’ he said.
A student, Fola Jaiyesimi, said the experience at the cinema was immersive.
‘’The equipment is obviously better than what you have at home; the sound quality gives you that thrill, and it is more traditional,‘’ he said.
A mother, who gave her name simply as Edwina, said she visited cinemas regularly until the COVID-19 era.
‘’I used to visit regularly before the COVID-19 era; after that, I decided to come with my children to watch children-appropriate movies occasionally,” she said.
However, a hair stylist, Tricia Moka, said she preferred online movie streaming, which enabled her to maintain privacy.
‘’ I do not see the reason I should spend some money to watch a movie that I can watch online,‘’ she said.
Austin Ihentuge, a supervisor at Ebony Life Place, said many people still visited the cinema despite the country’s harsh economic situation.
‘’I still see a good number of people here; we have other streaming services such as Netflix and Prime Video, but many people still come for cinema.
In fact, some movies do not premiere on these streaming services; some are exclusively cinema movies that cannot be viewed elsewhere but in cinemas for some time.
‘’That prompts people to visit the cinemas because, most of the time, they want to be the first to see these movies,‘’ he said.
According to Mr Ihentuge, people also prefer to visit cinemas because of the experience and satisfaction they get from them.
‘’No matter how wide your television set at home is, it may not be as big as that of the cinema; watching movies at cinemas is a great experience for a lot of people,‘’ he said.
A supervisor at IMAX, a cinema in Lekki, Muoka Chibueze, told journalists that many people had visited.
Mr Chibueze said, ‘’No matter how hard the economy gets, people will still visit the cinemas to reduce stress; they want to go somewhere they can have a different experience than watching movies online or on television.’’
Deborah Ajayi, a floor supervisor at Silverbird Cinemas, also on Victoria Island, said more people visited the facility during public holidays than other days.
Ms Ajayi added that the number of people who visited the facility generally decreased after the COVID-19 pandemic.
