Those MoviePass Days

MoviePass Came and Went Quickly

For a glorious six months I could see as many movies as I wanted. It ended terribly, but at least I got my refund.

The FTC has filed a complaint against MoviePass that it actively prevented customers from seeing movies. The company folded in 2019, but this was well known to anyone that was a subscriber.

I don't know where I discovered MoviePass, probably on Reddit. In February 2018 I subscribed to MoviePass. The cost was $10 a month for one movie a day and you had to sign up for a year. I believe it was originally $100 a month, but they lowered the price in August 2018 to attract members. At $10, it wouldn't take long for me to earn my money back. Watching just two movies a month for a year would put me ahead at matinee prices. I ended up canceling in August as it was clear this company was going down in flames due to multiple aggressive changes to terms.

While my local theaters weren't in the program a nicer theater near where I worked was I would go on Wednesdays around 4pm. Usually the theater would only have one or two other people at that time. A few movies I was the only one in the theater. I loved it and I even kept going once a month after MoviePass (prior to the pandemic=).

To use MoviePass, you would open the app when in the vicinity of the theater. You couldn't confirm a movie unless you were at the location.

In April, the app required you to take a photo of your receipt. In July they introduced "peak pricing" which means they would charge you for movies in 'demand.'

At the end of July they started limiting access to movies. New release movies would be restricted and accessible movies would vary per day. Luckily at times I went my theater only had one employee that did tickets and concessions. I would buy whatever movie was available through the app then go see the movie I actually wanted to see.

In August they changed the plan to three movies a month instead of one a day, while still restricting access to new releases. They changed the unlimited plan I paid for to only three movies a month claiming their terms of service allowed it.

I canceled, well I tried to cancel but magically my password wouldn't work and I couldn't get a new password. I had to contact customer support, but ultimately I canceled and got $56 back. I was highly surprised. I had written that off.

I knew when I signed up this service was unsustainable. Everyone knew it. I hoped I could get my money's worth. If I watched twenty movies I'd break even. I ended up watching thirty-one movies over six months. The equivalent cost at matinee prices would be $155. I canceled and applied for a refund which was doubtful. Many people were having issues.

MoviePass was destined to fail, but it was a glorious run. It seemed their business model assumed people would use this like a gym membership by paying and never actually going. People like going to movies!
I'd never gone to a theater knowing I was goin to watch a bad movie. I would never willingly spend money on something bad, but with MoviePass it didn't matter. Each movie I watched made the cost per movie cheaper. The first movie I saw with the service was Black Panther, the last Alpha.

I love movies, and I love going to a theater to see movies. It's even better when there's no one else there. MoviePass opened up a world to me and changed my behavior. I would go once a month to a movie after I canceled the service.