8 ways to watch a movie without checking your phone every two minutes

I didn’t think it would happen in my lifetime—and especially not to me—but the ADHDness of the world has made it as difficult to watch a movie without stopping for Instagram scrolling breaks as it has to read a novel without trawling Reddit for every possible explanation. To be fair, I didn’t think it would happen for novels either, because I was a one-book-a-day kind of person in my teens, but the minute YouTube was born, that fell apart. I say this as a journalist who once dreamed of being a screenwriter: the media we grew up with, that forged our psyches and gave us the fantasies of love and heroism that we still cling to so dearly, is outdated.

Don’t get me wrong—the stories, the art and the aesthetics are alive and well, it’s just that in this era of content fatigue, they’re more easily digested via memes or dreamcore Instagram posts rather than in one dedicated sitting. At some point in the foreseeable future, I’m sure any information or entertainment we desire will simply be AirDropped directly into our consciousness, but if you, like me, are looking to retrain your brain to watch a movie again without stopping to scroll Instagram every time the plot meanders even a little, here are a few hacks I’ve discovered:

1. If it’s physically impossible for you to watch a film without checking your phone, even in a movie theatre (nobody even tells you off anymore because they’re probably on their own phones anyway), an indie film club might be a good way to break the habit. The rabidness of indie film bros trying to imprint every frame of Pather Panchali or 2001: A Space Odyssey onto their brains will definitely hold you in check.

2. Make a fitness goal out of it. I once hula hooped non-stop for over an hour while watching Wonder Woman 1984, because Gal Gadot. Yes, it may hurt after, but also yes, it still counts as watching.

3. If sleep holidays have become a thing, I think movie holidays are a travel goldmine just waiting to happen. Think plush suites with projector screens, home theatre systems, a library of every movie you’ve never heard of, and, if you find a place remote enough, no internet. I probably wouldn’t watch The Ring in this sort of scenario, but I could very happily catch up on the Jane Austen Cinematic Universe or finally finish Citizen Kane.