THE RISE OF THE GEN Z CINEPHILE

Teens and 20-somethings are flocking to blockbusters, indies and classics alike, buoying U.S. theaters. Covid isolation and social media have a lot to do with it.

Gini Connell, 26, prepares a projector for a 70-millimeter showing of “The Master” at the Oriental Theater in Milwaukee,
which regularly draws younger viewers.Credit...Sara Stathas for The New York Times

Growing up, Gregory Santana, a Bronx resident who works in the automotive industry, sometimes went to the movies with his family — superhero franchises, the usual stuff. But at 26, he has moved beyond the multiplex to the land of cinephiles. He’s now an avid theatergoer who will spend a Friday night rewatching Francis Ford Coppola classics.

“Letterboxd pushed me in a direction to go to older movies,” he explained one evening as he caught a double feature of “The Godfather” and the 1974 thriller “The Conversation” at Film Forum, the Manhattan independent theater. The night was not over, he added. “After this, me and my friends are going to see ‘The Departed,’” which was released when he was in elementary school.

Teens and 20-somethings are flocking to blockbusters, indies and classics alike, buoying U.S. theaters. Covid isolation and social media have a lot to do with it.

Santana is part of a wave of young people who have reinvigorated moviegoing and contributed to a banner summer at the 2026 box office, propelled in part by youth-led horror hits like “Obsession” and “Backrooms.” And contrary to the Gen Z stereotypes of social media addicts with fleeting attention spans, its members are also flocking to art houses and repertory programs, selling out silent film series and obscure foreign fare, and ponying up for memberships at indie cinemas across the country.

Some in the industry call them the Letterboxd Generation, after the popular site for listing and ranking films. It has more than 30 million users, a vast majority of them under 35.

“This was an audience we always thought might be lost to their small screens,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head analyst of marketplace trends at Rentrak, a box-office data service. “But I think younger Gen Z audiences are particularly interested in those more handmade, tactile experiences, and going out to the movies is one of them.”

“I think this is going to build on itself,” he added. “The whole idea of moviegoing has become so cool.”

- Author: Melena Ryzik, The New York Times

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