MoviePass Boasts ‘Affordable’ Alternative For Students

Movie tickets are getting more expensive each year. As a result of this there are fewer people going to the theaters to catch the latest film. Not many people want to see movies that are no good, this summer’s blockbuster hits flopped and the audience has become a ghost town. Moviegoers seem intimidated by prices as Consolidated Theaters has tickets at the door for $13 and other tickets that cost up to $20 for recliner seats and a 3D ultra deluxe experience. However, for those who just want to enjoy a good film and save money, MoviePass is here for you.

MoviePass is a monthly subscription that gives a member access to unlimited movies at most theaters for $9.95 a month. It is limited to one movie per day and only for 2D movies. There are no blackout dates, so feel free to buy a ticket on opening night. It is essentially Netflix, but people just have to get up off the couch and find a movie near them.

MoviePass started up in 2011 when it first launched its program for $35- $45 subscriptions. The program started up in Boston and Denver where 20,000 members subscribed with the original price. However, when MoviePass decided to drop its price from $45 to $9.95 a month, members increased to 400,000 in a few days. Due to the high demand MoviePass cards are slowly making its way for consumers to enjoy their movies. The cards usually take up to a week to arrive, but with such high demand cards are arriving in about a month’s time.  

Students can save money if they regularly go watch the latest film. Money and finding a good film are problems when it goes to actually going to the theater. It depends if the viewers will enjoy the movie or not. For an avid movie lover like Emily Palmer, a 22 year-old Biochemistry major, prices have been affecting her from going to the movies.  

“I would rather spend money on a $10 subscription for something like Netflix,” Palmer said, “than spend $15 for a movie I may or may not like.”

For students like Palmer who enjoy going to the movies, they would take advantage of this program. Right now she goes to the movies once or twice a month to catch a good film, but with MoviePass she would be motivated to go to the theater whenever she finds the time without any hesitation.

“MoviePass would encourage me to go to the movies because it is an affordable option,” she said. “It is just a monthly payment, all I have to do is go to the theater itself and see what movies are playing. I can go to the movies as much as I want.”

What MoviePass can do is let viewers watch unlimited movies for a month and let them decide whether they are good or bad. The biggest problem for students today, which came to the mind of Mitch Lowe the creator of MoviePass, is that the younger audience is very conscious when it comes to watching movies.

In an interview with Vulture this past September, Lowe said that millennials would rather wait for a movie to come out on TV or find it online than get out and watch a new film in theaters.

But MoviePass may not motivate students enough to get up and go to the theaters. As 21-year-old Criminal Justice major Sean Martinez simply said, “I will only go see a movie if I know it is going to be good.”