As summer box office revenue rises with releases including The Odyssey in IMAX and Spider-Man's record-breaking performance, The Verge's editorial team reflects on cinema's enduring cultural value. Rather than reviewing new films, the piece pivots to examining why theaters continue to matter through personal staff recollections of memorable screening experiences across two decades.

Contributors recount moments where audience participation transformed passive viewing into shared social memory: spontaneous applause when vehicles transformed in action sequences, collective laughter at unexpected comedic moments, and participatory audience commentary during screenings. These accounts emphasise that cinema's appeal transcends individual film quality, instead residing in the irreplaceable communal atmosphere that theaters provide—a social dimension streaming services cannot replicate.