In my last blog, I confessed that I wasn’t eager to return to a traditional theater amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, despite longing for the return of new film releases.
I wasn’t exactly sold on the idea of a drive-in movie because of what would undoubtedly be a warm and humid Houston summer evening. However, the socially distant nature of the activity and my lack of drive-in movie experience did pique my interest.
Thanks to the recent rain, the evening weather was fairly cool, so I entertained the idea of venturing out to a drive-in theater. To my delighted surprise I found two new movies, “The Rental” and “Palm Springs” playing as a double feature at the Showboat Drive-In. Located in northwest Houston, the theater offered admission for two at a weeknight screening for only $16.
It was too good to pass up, so I bought the tickets and planned my visit to the theater with my significant other. The most important part of the drive-in experience is the sound, so I made sure the battery in our car wasn’t too old to handle a few hours of powering the radio while we enjoyed the movie. This is incredibly important if you plan on attending a drive-in movie, so even if your battery is new, bring jumper cables just in case.
We arrived just past 7:30 p.m. after cruising down country roads to find the marquee, where we pulled into a line and waited to present our tickets at the admission booth. We were given simple instructions about where to go for our selected screening and what frequency to tune into for the audio. We pulled into the lot for our screening and parked in the third row, near the middle but left of the screen.
At first, I was optimistic that I could sit comfortably outside of the vehicle in some camping chairs, but as the movie started it was difficult to hear the sound, so we opted to move into the car, despite the outdoors being breezy, beautiful and comfortable. I packed bug spray and brought insect repellent coils to place in our vicinity and combat the pesky critters.
This theater experience largely matched that of a traditional one, prompting our move into the car. People in my vicinity were talking loudly, commentating and laughing during the movie. This made it difficult to hear the audio from the outdoor speakers, much less from our car and those around us with the windows rolled down. Additionally, others caused distractions with their headlights, engines and at one point alarms, which was a source of slight frustration.
Sitting in the car was a bit more comfortable, albeit with a lighter breeze. The upside was being able to hear the sound very clearly. Being in the car with the sound turned up almost brought me back to the theater experience, despite this being on a smaller and somewhat unusual scale. The backdrop of the moon hung high above the screen and partly-cloudy skies was an incredibly refreshing and romantic experience unlike any theater I’ve ever visited before. At the same time, this backlighting made dark scenes in both movies almost impossible to see.
“The Rental” was a mostly predictable suspense movie about the potential dangers of renting people’s houses and apartments for vacations. It was a good starter and lended itself well to a drive-in format with its simple plot and eerie ending.
“Palm Springs” was incredibly hilarious, self aware and sweet. I found myself especially resonating with the movie’s exploration of existentialism as it operated both consciously and comedically throughout.
Overall, I had a lot of fun at the drive-in once I had the volume up to an adequate level and distractions were minimized. I brought sour gummy worms and picked up some funnel cake fries from the concessions stand during the intermission to snack my way through the second movie. The experience of sitting under the moon, feeling the cool evening breeze and watching a new movie with quality sound made me feel very excited about the possibility of more new movies releasing at drive-in theaters.
Before my next visit, I will pick up a portable speaker with FM capability so I can turn the volume up loud enough to hear while enjoying the outdoors. This way, I don’t have to worry about the car battery. Aside from that, I may bring a folding table to hold drinks and snacks. If you miss visiting the movies like I did, going to a drive-in may be a fun, romantic and safe way to experience movies for the time being.
