How to Host a Movie Club

I've had the honor of hosting many film screenings and a couple of movie clubs in my life. The only thing better than watching great movies is watching them with other cinephiles!

Maybe you’d like to start a movie club of your own. Here are a few tried and true tips on how to best host a movie club.

Watch the Film Together

People in the same room watching a film at the same time respond better than when watching alone. Comedies are funnier when we hear others laugh. Thrillers are more intense when we can feel our neighbor’s anxiety. Dramas are more powerful when we cry together. We spend so much of our lives separate from each other; the opportunity to watch a movie with others is a gift of presence. Plus, conversations among the group before and after club meetings are as valuable as the meeting itself.

Start the Film at 8:00pm

Starting the film at 8 in the evening is a good way to make sure the most people will be able to attend. Eight o’clock is after dinner. It gives parents time to do the bedtime routine with their kids. Most films are about two hours long, so an 8:00 pm showtime allows enough time for a thorough discussion after the movie while still making sure the evening ends by 11. Of course, you may have other reasons for choosing an earlier (or later; I’m looking at you, college kids) start time. Do what works best for your group. I’ve found that 8:00 works best for working-age adults.

Let the Members Choose the Movies . . . with Guidance

This is the group’s movie club, and the group will feel their ownership if they choose the films each week. Yet people also appreciate a little guidance, so rather than giving them all of cinema to choose from, narrow the scope of their options.

For our movie club, I selected six to eight films that made good “next films” to watch based on what we had watched the week before. Any film opens the door to others based on its filmmakers, genre, film movement (i.e., French New Wave, American independent cinema, animation, etc.), theme, influence, and so on. From my short list, the group voted on which movie to watch next. This approach made the decision-making participative, and encouraged members to learn about films we didn’t watch as well as those we did.

Know Your Stuff

Prepare to lead each discussion by learning as much about the film as you can. Read the Wikipedia article about the film and follow the links to the article’s sources. Watch the special features on home media releases of the film. Read reviews, both current and from the time of the film’s release, to better understand how it has been received and how your group is likely to experience it. If you have time, watch the film before you show it to the group and note the things that stick out to you. Do deeper research about those things. You probably won’t share all, or maybe any, of this information with the group—more on that in the next point—but you’ll want to have information like this at hand.

Lead the Discussion; Don’t Monopolize It

Okay, so you know a lot about the movie, but this movie club isn’t about you—it’s about the group. Your job is to set things up so the group has a good experience watching and discussing the film together. Most of them will be experiencing the selected movie for the first time, forming their opinions on it and questions in the moment. Create a space for them to talk; add what you know only as necessary. Volunteer pertinent information if discussion lags or if the group doesn’t notice an important aspect of the film, but then let the group respond and carry the conversation forward. The important thing is the film itself and the group members’ responses. As the group leader, you are creating space for their interactions (not gathering an audience to appreciate your brilliance).

Serve Snacks

You don’t need to be elaborate here. Coffee, popcorn, and a little candy are typically all people are looking for when it comes to movie snacks. A Starbucks’ $20 coffee traveler serves 12 and comes with cups, cream, and sweeteners. Bags of already popped popcorn are available in the grocery store chip aisle. If you want to do more, go for it. I know of movie clubs that do a themed dinner alongside their selected film. You don’t have to make it complicated, though. Let the film be the main event.

Find a Co-Host

I’ve led movie clubs alone and with a co-host, and I prefer the latter. It’s more fun to have someone to bounce ideas off of and to share the organizational load. And if one of you needs to be away a week, it’s nice to have back-up to lead the group. If you can’t find a co-host when you start your group, start it anyway and a good co-host will likely emerge from within the group.

Find the Biggest Screen and the Loudest Sound System You Can

I spent my early movie-viewing years sitting too close to a 13” TV/VCR combo, so this is truly the most inessential tip of the bunch. But if you can find a place to host your movie club that has a big screen and big sound, it’s worth the effort. Movies impact us differently when we are encouraged to give them our full attention. Most of us have large TVs in our homes. Many of us have access to projectors and sound systems in our churches. Take advantage of whatever is at your disposal—and if the best you can do is a 13” TV/VCR combo, go with that.