The best time I’ve ever had at a movie was the first time I went to a midnight screening of The Room.
If you’re unfamiliar with the movie, you’re not alone. After being released in two Los Angeles theaters in 2003, the film has taken on a completely new identity by being shown in the midnight circuits in various cities across the United States and Canada. It has become this generation’s Rocky Horror Picture Show, drawing audiences who hear about it through word of mouth circulation, attracting an interactive experience that invites the audience to participate in the show. While Rocky Horror has had decades to formalize the etiquette and script and shadow casting protocols, The Room feels like a blossoming secret.
And it’s hard to explain the extent to which this movie is outrageous. There was a time when I thought I would never see a movie worse than Battlefield Earth. But The Room is even more ineptly made, thematically absurd, and full of utterly head-scratching moments. If movies can be quantitatively measured by the time a viewer spends facepalming in disbelief and bafflement, The Room surely must earn the highest score in history.
Whether you’ve experienced it yet or not, here are 5 reasons that make The Room worth seeing every month.
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