It’s time to bring back intermissions in movies

Over the weekend, my family and I watched “The Sound of Music,” because my children inexplicably love it. I mean, the Rogers and Hammerstein production is a great movie, obviously; I’m just not sure why my children return to it over and over when we’re subscribed to 1 million different streaming platforms, each with a full catalog of content for kids.

Anyway. Right after Maria leaves the villa party, having danced with Captain Von Trapp and recognizing her feelings for him, the picture fades to a title screen that reads “Intermission,” a wholly unnecessary feature for a film we were watching from the comfort of our own home, and which we had already paused many times to accommodate snack-getting and bathroom-using.

The word “intermission” confused my middle child, who asked us to explain what an intermission was and why we were staring at the word on a black screen for a few minutes. My husband and I found ourselves explaining the history of film. Many movies used to be quite long, we told her, and an intermission in the middle gave theater patrons a chance to stretch their legs, get a drink, use the restroom or whatever other human need they might have after sitting in a theater for over two hours.

I found myself speaking in a longing tone, wishing film intermissions were not just a relic of moviegoing days gone by, but a luxury afforded theater patrons of today, as movie run times continue to creep past the three-hour mark.

Two hours into “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese's latest epic, which is rated R for its depictions of the historical and unspeakable violence committed by white settlers against members of the Osage Nation, I realized I needed to check in with the babysitter who was home with my kids.

The problem was that “Killers of the Flower Moon,” is both a quiet and contemplative film, and a film in which every minute matters. There was not an opportune time to sneak away without causing a distraction. So I had to get up and walk out mid-dialogue, send a text from the corridor, wait for a response, and then take my seat again, hoping I hadn’t ruined anyone else’s viewing experience.

I would have appreciated an intermission, as I’m sure other patrons, perhaps those who also had kids at home with a babysitter and/or were hungry, thirsty, or in possession of a full bladder would have as well.

Management at some theaters have taken it upon themselves to insert an intermission into their screenings of the film. But The Lyric Theater in Fort Collins, Colorado, had to stop its intermission after getting scolded by Paramount and Apple Original Films for violating the licensing agreement, and presenting the film in a manner different from how its creator intended.

I find that scolding a baffling choice on the part of the film’s distributor and producer, respectively, amid industry experts wringing their hands over the decline of movie theaters over the last decade and especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

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If heads of studios want movie theaters to survive, the moviegoing experience must be accessible for the normal moviegoing patron.

In an interview with Variety, Shawn Robbins, Chief Analyst at Boxoffice Pro said, “If Scorsese didn’t intend for there to be an intermission, I think that should be at least the primary way people can see it. That being said, it was a long movie. And I think if there is enough demand out there, and especially if it means a difference in helping someone make the decision to go and buy a ticket, rather than not go see the movie, then maybe there’s an economical and practical argument for at least a limited option.”

The internet is full of gatekeeping film enthusiasts who insist that the film’s three-hour and 26-minute runtime, plus the twenty minutes of previews, should be viewed without interruption to respect Scorsese and his art.

Even Thelma Schoonmaker, Scorsese’s longtime editor, condemned unauthorized intermissions, and Scorsese himself said,  “People say it’s three hours, but come on, you can sit in front of the TV and watch something for five hours. Also, there are many people who watch theater for 3.5 hours. There are real actors on stage, you can’t get up and walk around. You give it that respect. Give cinema some respect.”

Sure. But. I’ve never been to a three-hour play that didn’t include an intermission. And I’ve never sat in front of the TV for five hours straight without getting up and walking around. Asking people with human bodies to sit for four hours, with no breaks, is asking a lot, and if the movie is available to stream a few weeks later for a fraction of the cost of a movie ticket, many people will choose the latter.

I want movie theaters to survive. I enjoy the ceremony of a night out at the movies and the excitement of the big screen. But if film runtimes continue to lengthen, as they are projected to do in 2024, and the experience becomes too uncomfortable for customers, the industry will continue to decline. And at some point, even the most devoted film lovers will choose to stay home and use the pause button on extended epics. We need intermissions to keep theaters alive.