I worked concessions all through college, and the number one complaint at the podium was never ticket prices. It was the glow from someone's screen three rows down. Locking pouches already work at scale: comedians like Dave Chappelle and musicians like Jack White have toured with Yondr pouches, and audiences adapted within a single show. The pouch takes ten seconds at the door and unlocks at stations on the way out, so nobody is truly unreachable in a real emergency. If comedy clubs running two-drink minimums can pull this off night after night, a multiplex can manage it for matinees.
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EntertainmentSep 23, 2026
Should movie theaters make phone-free screenings the default?
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Worked at a theater in college too, and honestly the glow complaints were real but so were the fights. Half the confrontations I saw started because a customer tried to enforce the rule themselves.
That is an argument for staff enforcing a clear rule, not for having no rule. Ushers improvising every night is what causes the fights.