Over the years, in a desperate attempt to try to understand what they’re like and what they want, there have been numerous media reports about Generation Zers.
We’ve learnt that they’re having less sex, want to see less sex on screen and, despite often working multiple remote jobs, can’t afford to buy property as easily as their parents’ generation did. They’re obsessed with doomscrolling on apps like Instagram and TikTok, where short clips are created to appeal to their short attention spans and everything they know they learnt from the internet.
But, in some surprising news from the UK, the often-mocked Gen Z demographic may be doing something other than sitting at home on their phones. When it comes to cinema audience growth, the kids are surprisingly all right and may save the theatrical experience from becoming a relic of our recent past.
Under 35s now make up 50% of cinemagoers in the UK, driven by their interest in classic film, independent cinema and music films. The Curzon chain of independent cinemas in the UK reports that the percentage of patrons from 25-34 years increased from 16% to 31% from 2019 to 2025, while audiences in the 18-25 age group went up from 17% to 24%.
These younger audiences are also, thankfully, not flocking to see only the latest Hollywood reboots and sequels, but are watching older films on the big screen. According to the programme manager at Bristol’s independent Watershed cinema: “Young people are quite adventurous with their taste, especially when it comes to older films and re-releases.”
Screenings of titles like 1994’s Chungking Express, La Haine from 1995 and the 2004 cult classic Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind have drawn audiences of mostly younger moviegoers.
Part of the reason for the growth in interest from young movie lovers can be attributed to the pandemic, when — with little else to do except watch streaming services — Gen Zers began to develop an interest in classic and niche cinema, sharing their discoveries with each other on social media and platforms like Letterboxd. Aspiring filmmakers and film lovers can interact excitedly online about the shared movie passions and newly discovered favourites that independent cinema screenings then allow them to experience on big screens.
In the UK where the average price of a cinema ticket is £7.73 (R184) going to the cinema can feel like a luxury to some young people mired in the cost-of-living crisis, though others prefer to go to see a movie for what they would pay for a drink.
Surprisingly, despite the stereotypical image of Gen Zers glued to their phones, they are actually sitting and watching the movies when they go to the cinema. As a 23-old movie lover told The Guardian: “It’s nice to switch off. I don’t touch my phone the whole time I’m in the cinema. At home I’m probably scrolling.”
These new trends may be encouraging to UK independent cinema managers, but they are not necessarily representative of broader audience tastes and habits. Ben Luxford, the director of UK audiences at the British Film Institute told The Guardian, the new data should be seen as representing only a small pocket of people. While it may drive change at independent cinemas and in UK university towns, “it’s not happening everywhere”. That makes sense, but embattled cinema owners are looking for any good news they can find.
One of the main areas in which cinemas are seeing an increase in younger audiences is concert films, led, unsurprisingly, by Taylor Swift, whose Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour film smashed records and is now the highest-grossing concert film in history. Subsequent films about K-Pop bands have also gone on to clean up at the box office and provided a new avenue for cinemas to engage with a younger audience.
As with most things in their cultural landscape, social media has fuelled the increased interest among younger viewers in going to the movies. Curzon director of marketing Susie Bould told The Guardian: “Social media has played a really big role in driving younger audiences to the cinema. Films just spark and go viral. Saltburn, a few years ago, had a huge social virality, which gave it a life that it might not otherwise have had. I think people want to be part of the conversation.”
You can blame Gen Z for many things but when it comes to the moviegoing experience you may have to thank them for getting out the house and into the cinema. Without the bump in numbers they have provided, we’d all probably still be stuck at home, doomscrolling our social media feeds.
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