The Cineplex

In Alan Del Tufo’s web series, The Cineplex, a small-town movie theater is struggling to stay open while hoping to make a profit. A close-knit staff of quirky misfits — including ushers Dylan (Kevin Michael Brennan) and Zeeshan (Wasim Azeez), social media concession worker Nat, security guard Andy, and others — keep the theater’s family charm alive. Yet, the main characters, Dylan and Zeeshan, like to create some mischief along the way.

When a new manager, Yelena, arrives, Dylan immediately harbors a crush on Yelena. All hilarity ensues as Dylan tries to kick back and have fun on the job, pull together an important screening of an art film, and appear to be a functioning adult to impress Yelena. But what Dylan doesn’t know is Yelena’s true reason for being there. If the Cineplex is anything like my local movie theater, filmmaker Alan Del Tufo is probably inspired by the corps of teenagers running concessions, cleaning between screenings, and trying to deal with customers as any pre-adult can.

“…a small-town movie theater is struggling to stay open while hoping to make a profit.”

Del Tufo pieces together little skits and scenes of life at the cineplex. The jokes fall squarely in the PG-13 category, being edgy yet harmless… even the blurred-out butt against the glass door is hardly offensive. To me, the fun in The Cineplex is that it’s actually shot in a movie theater with glimpses of the behind-the-scenes back office of a theater.

Kevin Michael Brennan and Wasim Azeez bring a lot of energy and fun to The Cineplex. They perfectly capture the goofy enthusiasm of employees who love their jobs almost as much as they love goofing off together.