Anyone alive today remembers vividly the horrors of 2020. Beyond the pandemic and the ever-increasing case numbers. One of the indoor activities most affected by the government’s overreaction to the Pandemic was movie theaters. State and Federal departments, demonstrating a stultifying level of control, shut down indoor activities for much of the Spring season. It was a bad time to be alive. Along comes this documentary, Essential Exhibition, to tell the story of Branson IMAX and other movie theaters affected by the Pandemic restrictions.
Essential Exhibition demonstrates a variety of strategies theaters employed to convince people to return to the businesses. This was crucial and likely difficult. After all, the Pandemic was the moment streaming video services took off. There was a long period where people could simply wait for a feature film to drop on Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, etc. This push-pull between streaming and the physical in-person experience was, but one issue movie theaters of all sizes had to contend with.
Family-run movie theaters, like the Moxie in Missouri, were also trying to find funding. If you aren’t selling tickets and don’t have the protection of being part of a large chain operation, you’re in an especially precarious position. Independent theaters like the Moxie live on donations and grant funding. Ticket sales were always a bit low, as of the Pandemic, ticket sales virtually dried up for them. In Essential Exhibition, we learn of Moxie’s struggle to acquire funding both from the PPP fund and from their pool of donors.
Complimenting the issues facing movie theaters, Essential Exhibition wisely explores the stories of film production workers. Movies, after all, require huge crews and casts of actors to become the entertainment we enjoy both at the theater and home. Cinematographer Nigel Bluck, AD Doug Torres, Composer Nathan Barr, and others inform you through Zoom interviews how they’ve survived in a world that has become increasingly remote. Torres and Bluck, being craftsmen who have to be on a set, were most impacted by when and where they would be cleared to shoot the films and television shows we as an audience want.
Essential Exhibition had to address the rise of streaming services. Many of the production professionals seem torn on the topic of streaming services. On the one hand, it was greatly convenient to sit in your living room with your family and watch movies. On the other hand, it’s screwing the movie theaters out of ticket sales. When Essential Exhibition discusses drive-in theaters during the Pandemic, it becomes clear that even the outdoor movie format doesn’t quite capture the magic of the indoor theater experience.
Ultimately, Essential Exhibition captures the incredibly difficult position filmmakers, movie theaters, and related businesses find themselves mired in following the Pandemic. It is a great, insightful film that provides much clarity to the trends that are now part of our lives. Between the rise and fall of streaming services and the diminishing returns of beloved movie theaters, there is much angst. State, federal, and local governments really did the movie business no favors. The suffering is clear across the board.
Essential Exhibition wants you, the audience, to remember that movie theaters exist and rely on your patronage. This is a very good documentary and worth watching wherever it’s released, even if, ironically, it’s released on a streaming service.
"…a great insightful film"
