WISE Score
Avg. Tomatometer
A visual tour of the era when movie theaters looked like royal palaces and 'going to the show' meant sitting under a gold-leaf ceiling with 3,000 other people.
86%
This is a love letter to the massive, ornate 'temples of cinema' that defined the early 20th century. If your kid is into architecture, history, or just wonders why the local multiplex looks like a warehouse, this is a fascinating watch.
It's a documentary, though, so don't expect car chases—just a lot of gorgeous, sometimes heartbreaking, footage of grand rooms. It’s the perfect 'low-stakes but high-interest' pick for a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Best for kids 10 and up. There's nothing 'inappropriate' for younger kids, but the documentary format and historical focus require an attention span and interest level that usually kicks in around middle school.
It's a respectful, appreciative look at cultural history and communal art spaces. No snark, no toxicity, just a genuine love for the craft of theater building.
The sheer creativity of the architecture—theaters designed to look like Persian courts or Egyptian tombs—is a masterclass in 'world-building' before that was even a buzzword.
Extremely safe documentary content. The only 'peril' is the heartbreak of seeing a beautiful building get demolished by a wrecking ball.
Deeply educational about American history, urban development, and the evolution of how we consume media. It turns a trip to the theater into a history lesson without feeling like one.
There was a time when the theater was as much of a draw as the movie itself. Going Attractions does a brilliant job of showing the 'Atmospheric' theaters—places where the ceiling was painted to look like a night sky with twinkling stars and moving clouds. For a modern kid who has only ever seen a movie in a room with black curtains and sticky floors, seeing a theater that looks like a Mayan temple is a genuine trip.
The film doesn't just stay in the past, though. It tracks the depressing 'multiplexing' of America, where these grand spaces were chopped up into tiny, soul-less boxes or turned into parking lots. It’s a great way to talk to kids about intentionality in design—the idea that the spaces we inhabit change how we feel about what we’re doing.
If you have a kid who spends hours in Minecraft or Roblox building elaborate structures, they might find more inspiration here than you’d think. It’s also a solid entry point for discussing the Great Depression and the post-war shift to the suburbs, all through the lens of something they actually care about: movies.
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