Family Cinema: Finally, a movie theater where kids can be noisy and play

MANILA, Philippines — When Oscars 2025 Best Picture winner Sean Baker for “Anora” made his “battle cry” at his Best Director speech that “Movie theaters, especially independently-owned theaters, are struggling…” and that “During the pandemic, we lost nearly 1,000 screens in the U.S. And we continue to lose them regularly. If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture,” many could relate – including movie-loving parents of young children who could not go to regular theaters because crying babies and rowdy kids are usually asked to be escorted outside, if not banned.

A mall in Quezon City, however, has come up with a solution to that.

Family Cinema, a special theater at the cinema level (fifth floor) of Robinsons Opus Mall in Quezon City, welcomes families and kids of all ages.

Right from the entrance, the theater signals that it is a movie house with a playroom twist. A colorful, inflatable balloon-inspired entrance welcomes guests, inviting kids and kids-at-heart to sit down for a while and take pictures with character statues.

A colorful, inflatable balloon-inspired entrance welcomes guests, inviting kids and kids-at-heart to sit down for a while and take pictures with character statues.

Philstar.com/Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo

The gap between and the screen is used as a play area, ideal for birthday parties and other celebrations.

Philstar.com/Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo

A rainbow-lit hallway leads to the main theater, where differently-colored bean bags are scattered right in front of the giant screen, inviting anyone to lie down and relax.

The two front rows have been fashioned like couches, while the succeeding rows offer more seating for those more comfortable to watch the movie the traditional way, with cup holders in armrests.

There is, however, no comfort room inside the theater, and the restroom, while very neat and beautifully curated, does not have speakers so you would not miss scenes as you take a bathroom break. There were also no individual bidets and tissues inside the cubicles.

But overall, it had been a unique experience watching a movie like “A Minecraft Movie” inside the Family Cinema. Children are welcome to play and be noisy inside the theater, while parents can still enjoy the movie while lying on a bean bag or a couch and eating popcorn and sipping drinks — an experience that brings the comfort of home into a public domain.

And at this point in time when streaming services have been pulling away audiences from theaters because streaming is what viewers can do at their own couches, an innovative effort like the Family Cinema offers a solution to merge the grandeur of theater with the comforts of streaming.

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