Only in Theaters

It’s essential viewing for any film fan and should — yes — be seen on the big screen.

The narrative about the theaters’ present-day fight for survival is undeniably compelling.

A fascinating and poignant look at the Laemmle family.

Like a knotty, poignant family business saga you might see on one of their screens, the story here is beautiful and complicated, one in which the twin weights of legacy and calling bear down on the need to survive in changing times.

It’s not a film about how important theatrical exhibition is for filmmakers (though that is nice too). Rather, it’s an intimate portrait of a man burdened by legacy, navigating uncharted waters, not even sure that he wants to.

The film will have you rooting for the family to succeed, although since I watched the movie on VOD, and not in theaters, I guess I’m part of the problem.

Only In Theaters is a love letter to film. A history lesson. The biography of a legacy. The sum of its parts is layered and vast, evoking happiness, sorrow, love, fear, loss, and victory.

This isn’t just “a movie about the movie business”&#59; it’s about how a calling gets into the blood and trickles down, generation to generation.

For the duration, Mr. Greg Laemmle displays the patience of Job and displays a type of courage and love of family that is beyond uplifting and inspirational. We should all be so lucky.

Wonderfully sentimental and devastatingly real. Only In Theaters is really one of the best films released in 2023.