How I met the love of my life at the 70mm Dolby IMAX screening of Sinners
I remember it like it was yesterday.
In many ways, it felt like the best day of my life.
I pulled up to the theater, and quickly double checked my phone to make sure I had the digital ticket cued up in my Apple Wallet. I was already pretty annoyed because I had a long week, running tons of errands around town and really wasn’t in the mood to deal with anybody. I just wanted to sit down, maybe get some popcorn and be taken away by a big screen spectacle. One that I had been waiting for awhile to see.
But then I saw her. She had just gotten her concessions. She walked off and the graceful bounce of her head of hair caught my eye as she bended around the corner. I only caught the side profile of her face, but it was something about the way she was walking. Straight elegance, bro. I’m not gonna lie, I paced backwards just to see what theater she was going into.
And yup, it was the same thing I was going to see. The theater clearly marked “Sinners in 70mm”.
And I’m thinking to myself, “damn, is she alone? What kinda person pulls up to see the biggest movie of the year by themselves. And in pristine 70mm projection with surround sound, no less?”
And then I looked down at my ticket, and chuckled internally. I was that kind of person. Here I was, all alone, trying my hardest to be on some cinephile shit. Can’t fault her for doing the same.
I got my popcorn, courtesy cup of water and then tapped my cargo pocket, just to make sure the peach rings I brought from home were still there.
Shuffling into the theater, I was a little late so the lights were already down. I had to “scuse me, scuse me” my way past some folks before I plopped down into my seat. And then I looked to my left and there she was, on the opposite side of the row. She glanced over at the commotion I was making, and I couldn’t tell if she saw me. But damn, I thought: You mean to tell me she also likes the 5th row up from the walkway? Prime viewing distance? Phew. Play it cool, bro, I told myself. Just chill, it means nothing.
And then, the movie came on. My excitement shifted to the story unfolding in front of me.
Yet, throughout the movie, I found myself glancing over at her, especially during the scenes where they were driving past the cotton fields, where the bright white backlight of the screen created just enough illumination to see her face more clearly. She was super super lightskin. Like, I’m talkin’ brightskin. And I thought to myself “of course, here I go again with this shit.” But whatever, I was drawn to her. Even through the fast-paced action and under the roar of the thunderous score, I just kept thinking about what she might make of the movie. What did she think about the scene where Stack was talking crazy to Cornbread’s wife? Shoot, I would never let nobody talk to her like that.
As the end credits rolled, I had a lot to think about. What a movie. There were so many messages that I was trying to reconcile and my mind was ablaze with interpretations. It was an experience that really stuck with me, and I had to sit for awhile to process. But then my eye caught her walking across the walkway, and right around the theater corner on her way out. Shorty was on the move.
I jumped up and left the theater, hoping it wasn’t too late to make a connection. And then I saw her from behind: slouchy hoodie, baggy pants, white sneakers with a crossbody bag slung around her. Stylish and comfy. But she also was making a beeline for the exit.
I ran up to her and said “hey!”
She turned around and gave me a smile. A smile of familiarity. In that way where she, at some point over the last 3 hours knew that someone, someone who perhaps could look like me, was aware of her.
“What’d you think?” I continued.
She took a long moment to herself to really think about it, and frankly, becuase of this: whatever she was going to say after that, I was already hooked.
“Such an interesting film. I felt a bit melancholy, suspense, but ultimately pride. It’s like we’re firmly in the era of pop cultural afropessimism.”
I was taken aback. That was such an amazing way to put it. I took a deeper look into her eyes, they were kind and squinty. She had a slight smile to her resting listening face and some freckles. Her curly head of hair was large and flowy and I thought damn, she knows what she’s talking about. I didn’t say that though.
“Wow, yeah. That’s real.” I said instead.
“What’d you think?”
“I mean, shoot. I felt the exact same way. Ha.”
She didn’t respond to this. I kept going:
“Funny at times. Full of so many messages.”
“Yeah. I agree.”
“Whole lot of talk of eating pussy in it too, right?? Uh haha!”
That was like pulling from deep, but to my surprise: she didn’t leave me hanging.
“That’s right! Shout out to the real eaters.” she said.
Damn. Was she the one?
After that, we exchanged names and then talked more about the acting, the camerawork, just all the little technical details. It was amazing, I felt like we were totally on the same page about everything. Almost like we should’ve gone to see it together. Before long, we were sitting down on a bench by the exit, just getting lost in comparing notes on all of our favorite classic movies from childhood, and even dishing about movies that we both hated. It was amazing. I felt an immediate connection. I was so glad I chose to go see this showing at this time.
Then, there was a knock at the door of the theater exit. You know how people gather around the outside of the theater and just talk about the movie. There was a group of white folks standing just otuside, and the one knocking was a white girl and she was like bouncing up and down holding her thigh, like she needed to go to the bathroom real bad.
“It’s open!” me and my new crush yelled simultaneously.
We smiled at each other afterwards.
“You gotta let me in!” The girl yelled back, gesturing like her hands were too busy to just pry the door open.
“Huh?” my crush said.
“I need you to open it!” the white girl responded.
“Uh, okay.”
My crush got up from the bench we were sitting at and walked to the door. This part was confusing as hell, but whatever. Some people just gotta go when they gotta go, I guess? As long as it didn’t mess up our vibe. But, at that point I realized I was missing something. I had been so preoccupied by our conversation that I checked my pockets and realized I didn’t have my phone. I had remembered leaving it in the cupholder of the theater. Fuck!
“Yo! I left my phone in the theater, but I wanna continue this discussion! I’ll be right back,” I yelled to my crush as she was approaching the door.
She looked back at me, with those kind eyes of hers. And with a deep understanding: she smiled and nodded.
I ran as fast as I could. The theater employees were already cleaning up the trash and loose popcorn from each row when I came back in. I went up to the 5th row and saw my phone exactly where I left it.
“Scuse me, bro.”
The employee was a black dude in his late 20s, and weirdly: I could feel his eyes on me. He looked at me for a second and we made eye contact for a little while longer than I expected to.
“Alright now,” I said.
“Alright. Be safe.” he responded.
When I walked back out, there she was. Still sitting on the bench by the exit, patiently waiting to continue our conversation. Man, what more could I ask for from today? I sat down, this time a little closer to her (you feel me?) and let out a deep sigh.
“Shit, I was so busy trying to get at you that I almost forgot my phone in there.”
“Oh, so you like me, huh?”
“Yeah, you cool or whatever.”
She chuckled.
“I think you’re cool, too. We should keep hanging out.”
“Hell yeah.” I responded.
Hahaha! It was on. Impromptu movie date AFTER the movie.
“Everything work out with ol’ girl? She ain’t know what to do haha.” I asked her.
“Oh yeah, I got her all situated.”
“These white folks something else.”
“Oh, no. She was actually really cool. Some people just struggle with communication and so I figured I’d help her out. You know? We all need to help out our fellow citizen. Everyone’s longing for something.”
“I mean, yeah. But. She couldn’t have just opened the door like a damn grown up?”
I laughed. But she looked away, and shrugged at this notion. Then she pointed at my pants.
“What, you got drugs on you?”
I looked down, and because of the way we were sitting, the peach rings in my cargo pocket were all bulging and whatnot. I blushed a little. But then I pulled them out of the pocket and showed her the gas station packaging.
“Home remedies, you feel me? Gotta keep them evil spirits away.”
She responded quickly:
“Or them prices down! They’ll charge you 3 times that at concessions.”
“See, I like that. You got some sense about you.”
“Oh wow, that’s a new one. I’ve never been told that before.”
She was looking right into my eyes when she said that. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t sure if it was sarcasm or not. I knew that we were vibing on a different level now.
I looked down to rip open the packaging, but I didn’t quite get it on my first try. She laughed at me, and I could feel her gaze. I ripped it open finally and then looked back up at her, and in the smoothest voice I could muster I said:
“You want some?”
She looked back at me. And you’ll have to bear with me because that’s where the the memory of that day starts to get a little hazy. But thinking back now and writing this, I actually remember she had some drool forming at the edge of her mouth when I said that. I remember thinking “whoa, that’s kinda weird” but I was just so in the moment. I think there was also some blood on her neck? Whatever. We were locked in. She looked back at me, drool dripping down her chin and with a sly smile she said:
“Oh, I definitely want some.”
She leaned over and—you know what, that’s when everything started to get hazy, and I start to forget certain details, but just know that, at that moment:
Our connection was solidified.
And yeah, the rest is history. We went off into the night after that and just kept hanging out. In a lot of ways, that day was like a date that just never ended. One hell of a time, I’d say. All because of our love for the movies.
And so as I sit here writing this, reminiscing, I’m just thankful that I met her. That we shared so much, so quickly. She’s in the other room right this very moment.
But yeah, go see Sinners, y’all. I had a great time.
All I know now is: it’s late. The sun is about to come up as I write this.
