Luckily, everyone was fine, but a bit freaked out.
Oops. It seems like sometimes theater employees can forget there’s a late show, as an audience member got trapped in a cinema after watching The Holdovers.
The theater closed up shop, and it left the group shouting for help, Globo reports.
This took place in Botafogo, in Rio de Janeiro. There were around 40 people stuck inside the locked building at the film’s conclusion.
“We are trapped, they forgot us locked in here,” they tried to yell across to a bar on the other side of the track.
“At that moment, we just wanted freedom,” retired teacher Ruth Kauffmann said. “We didn’t know how to proceed. It was as if we were orphans there. Look, what a drama, right? We were left without action, desperate.”
She added, “The first indication that something was wrong came with the final credits when the lights in the room usually come on. That night, it was up to the spectators to go down the stairs in the dark and look for the exit door. Once we reached the lobby, with the help of cell phone flashlights.”
A group of 40 people in Brazil got locked in the theater during a screen of ‘THE HOLDOVERS.’
The place’s employees closed the theater and totally forgot about them:
“At that moment, we just wanted freedom. We didn’t know how to proceed. It was like we were orphans there.” pic.twitter.com/UV1dAvcMm5— The Hollywood Handle (@HollywoodHandle) February 1, 2024
Coincidentally, the two employees that closed the theater were on the same street. They rushed over to help.
Everyone turned out okay. Sure, it freaked them out for a bit. After all, who would want to be trapped in a dark theater? At least one with no movies running. That could be a bit scary.
Despite the drama, all the moviegoers agreed that Alexander Payne’s film, The Holdovers, about a group forced to be together against their will, was relatable and good.