I have to know I'm not wasting my time on some dumb plot twist or unsatisfactory ending or deus ex machina nonsense that leaves me more irritated than entertained. A trip to the theater - and here we add another hour for transport, at least $25 for tickets for two and $50 for child care - is an even bigger commitment. When I watch something now, it's almost always television - half an hour to fold the laundry or 50 minutes to clean the kitchen.Ī two- or three-hour movie is a commitment. (The last time I went was in January 2020, and the reason I haven't gone since has little to do with the pandemic.) I don't watch many movies at home anymore, either, though I had a weekly movie routine all through middle and high school. There's a reason some of Google's top autocomplete suggestions after you type any new movie title into the search box are 'spoilers,' 'summary,' and 'synopsis.' People want to know. I disagree, and I don't think I'm alone in this. Conventional wisdom holds that spoilers are bad, surprise is good, and what happens at the end is something you should learn only while watching the movie.

Film studios agree and will embargo early reviews to keep plots secret. They and their ilk are the reason film reviews only rarely have the information I want, and the reason that, when it is included, it's prefaced with a paragraph of warning and apology: Here be spoilers - like the cautions against sea monsters on old maps. They generally believe, as many do, that spoilers will ruin their enjoyment of the movie. This ritual drives my friends and husband crazy. Rarely will I agree to go if I can't find out exactly what I'm going to see.

If the summary isn't there yet, I search for it elsewhere, checking through reviews, Reddit discussions, anything that might tell me what happens in the end. I find the proposed film on Wikipedia, and, if a full plot summary has been posted, I read all the spoilers. Whenever I'm invited to the movies, I have a ritual.

Black box stock photos