Moviegoers Tune Out Election By Going to ‘Venom: The Last Dance,’ ‘Juror #2’ and More: ‘We Need a Break Before the Storm’
It’s 3 p.m. on Election Day, and New Yorker Hana Slevin is spending her afternoon at AMC Lincoln Square, where she can keep her phone out of sight and the fate of the free world out of mind.
“I’m going to treat myself and not look at the news or social media,” says Slevin, 34, before a screening of “A Real Pain,” a comedic drama starring Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg. “I keep going back and forth of wanting to put hopeful energy out there and not wanting to get crushed like I did in 2016. That’s why I’m trying to distract myself all day.”
More from Variety
Slevin isn’t alone. Plenty of people around the country are turning to the movies — their choices range from superhero sequels (“Venom: The Last Dance”) to courtroom dramas (“Juror #2”) — to escape the relentless media chyrons and take a break from following Steve Kornacki as he obsesses over the election board. Cinemas have long provided a welcome respite from a painful reality, and this presidential race, one of the most vitriolic in the country’s nearly 250-year history, has reopened wounds that can only be soothed by popcorn and soda.
And Kamala vs. Trump? For a few hours, that will have to wait.
“I wanted to get my mind off the election,” says Chris Griggs, a 58-year-old New York comedian, while exiting a screening of “Juror #2.” He said the Clint Eastwood film legal thriller “seemed fitting since it’s about the justice system.” Griggs looks to art to “transport to another time and place.” Yet in this case, the movie was only a temporary reprieve.
“It took my mind off it when I was watching the film,” he says. “And then when I got through it, the anxiety was back again.”
Michael Larson of Los Angeles plans to be glued to his TV as polls start to close, so he chose a matinee screening to kill some time after voting.
“We need a break before the storm,” he says. “Results shouldn’t be rolling in until later tonight at the earliest, so it’s nice to disconnect from everything that’s been on our minds for years and to escape into a movie.”
His brother, James, felt their choice of film — they also saw “Juror #2” — was symbolic. “It’s presumably about important issues like justice and things that still stir up the voter inside of us to care about how the system works or fails to work.”
On both coasts, cinemas appeared busier than usual for a Tuesday afternoon, though theaters in Los Angeles and New York weren’t exactly packed. Some moviegoers were admittedly at their local multiplex because they got the day off of work to vote.
“We watch all the Oscar movies every year with our friends, so we try to see a bunch before nominations come out,” says Brandon, 31, of Manhattan. He and his friend Melissa, 31, were seeing “A Real Pain” with “I Voted” stickers proudly displayed on their shirts. She adds, “Going to the movies is our hobby. We had time to do something fun, so it’s what we do.”
John Grant, 70, went to see “A Real Pain” at AMC at the Grove in Los Angeles because he didn’t have the opportunity to leave the couch during the 2020 election at the height of the pandemic.
“I wanted to see a film in a theater rather than watching it at home like when we were in lockdown,” he said. “I just want to see a good movie and forget what’s going on in the real world.”
“Venom: The Last Dance” is hopefully the antidote to election day blues for 58-year-old Angeleno Danny Casillas. He’s at the movies because he assumes the count won’t be finalized on Tuesday.
“As much as I’m worried for our future as a country, I’m going to go disappear for two hours,” he says. “Then, I’ll look at the polls on the east coast.”
Until then, Tom Hardy as a symbiote with razor-sharp fangs might be the perfect palate cleanser before the political contest to come.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.