Connect with us
Back to the Drive-in (2022)
Image: Uncork’d Entertainment

Film

Back to the Drive-In looks at how drive-in theaters rebounded or didn’t, after the pandemic 

The new Back to the Drive-In documentary visits 11 drive-in movie theaters around the country and looks at their struggles following the pandemic’s lockdown phase.

Back to the Drive-In Review

In one of his Movie Answer Man books, Roger Ebert was asked how he feels about drive-in movie theaters. I can’t find the quote, so I’m paraphrasing from memory, but Ebert answered that while he loves the idea of drive-ins as a slice of classical Americana, he hadn’t actually been to one in several years, as he very much preferred the sound and picture in a conventional theater. 

I feel much the same way. I appreciate the part drive-ins play in American mythology. When one is shown in a movie, for instance, it tends to look really cool (see: that one great shot in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood when Brad Pitt passes a drive-in on the way home). But I don’t really love the experience of going to drive-ins, and every time I went during the lockdown phase of the pandemic, my dominant feeling was that I really wished I was in an indoor theater instead. 

Back to the Drive-in (2022)
Image: Uncork’d Entertainment

Back in 2020, with regular movie theaters closed, drive-in movies made a big comeback, with established drive-ins getting much more business than usual and some makeshift ones popping up (one was set up in the Philadelphia area, where I live, which for some reason projected the films unto undersized shipping containers, with its location inconveniently situated right in the airport’s flightpath.) 

This was also the age of drive-in comedy shows and even drive-in political rallies. But what happened to those drive-in venues, after regular movie theaters reopened? That’s the question at the heart of Back to the Drive-In, a new documentary that visits 11 drive-ins over the course of the summer of 2021, to see how they were grappling with the era when standard theaters and new movies were once again serving as competition. 

These are, for the most part, mom-and-pop businesses run by what seems like good and admirable people who seem to really love the movies and the movie experience; there’s no national chain of drive-in theaters. But Back to the Drive-in also makes it clear that there are big questions about whether the business model of most drive-in theaters is still viable. 

Back to the Drive-in (2022)
Image: Uncork’d Entertainment

Directed by April Wright, Back to the Drive-In includes some really beautiful overhead drone photography of each of the drive-ins, including the Galaxy in Texas,  the Wellfleet in Cape Cod, and the Field of Dreams Drive-in in Ohio. Missing is the Mahoning Drive-In in Pennsylvania, although that was the topic of its own doc, At the Drive-In, a few years ago. The Mahoning has drawn passionate audiences who love its double features of classic movies- and it survived a near-death experience in 2021.

Some of the then serve alcohol, which raises questions about whether it’s legal or advisable for people to drink in their cars or for businesses to serve alcohol that way. We also learn that the 2021 Fast and the Furious movie, F9: The Fast Saga was a big hit at drive-in theaters, which makes me wonder how anyone can watch that movie in a car and not want to immediately drive it really fast. 

Back to the Drive-In makes it clear that the existence of a lot of these theaters is pretty precarious, with some of the owners getting offers to sell their land or even already in the process of closing. 

It’s a fascinating subplot of the pandemic and an enjoyable documentary. But if the idea is to make the case for the drive-in movie experience, I’m not entirely sold.

Written By

Stephen Silver is a journalist and film critic based in the Philadelphia area. He is the co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle and a Rotten Tomatoes-listed critic since 2008, and his work has appeared in New York Press, Philly Voice, The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Tablet, The Times of Israel, and RogerEbert.com. In 2009, he became the first American journalist to interview both a sitting FCC chairman and a sitting host of "Jeopardy" on the same day.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Facebook

Trending

Falling-Down film review Falling-Down film review

Joel Schumacher’s Falling Down Poses Some Serious Questions

Film

The Big Lebowski The Big Lebowski

25 Years Later: Aggression Will Not Stand in The Big Lebowski

Film

The Academy Awards: The Best Picture Losers The Academy Awards: The Best Picture Losers

50 Best Movies That Did Not Win Best Picture at the Oscars

Film

The Academy Awards: The Best Picture Losers The Academy Awards: The Best Picture Losers

50 Best Movies to not Win Best Picture at the Oscars

Film

Blueback film review Blueback film review

Blueback Doesn’t Dive Deep Enough

Film

The Last of Us Look for the Light The Last of Us Look for the Light

The Last of Us Season One Ends the Only Way It Knows How with “Look for the Light”

TV

One for The Birds — Hitchcock’s Masterpiece at 60 One for The Birds — Hitchcock’s Masterpiece at 60

Second Wing: Another Look at Hitchcock’s The Birds

Film

Brother movie review Brother movie review

Brother is a Well-acted but Overwrought Account of 1990s Scarborough

Film

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie review Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie review

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Delightfully Returns the Fantasy Blockbuster to Form

Film

The Last of Us When We Are in Need The Last of Us When We Are in Need

Everyone’s a Monster In The Last of Us “When We Are in Need”

TV

One for The Birds — Hitchcock's Masterpiece at 60 One for The Birds — Hitchcock's Masterpiece at 60

One for The Birds — Hitchcock’s Masterpiece at 60

Film

Inside Movie Review Inside Movie Review

Being Trapped Inside with Willem Dafoe’s Art Thief is (Mostly) Great

Film

The Mandalorian Season 2 Phenomenally Flaunts The Potential of Storytelling With Star Wars The Mandalorian Season 2 Phenomenally Flaunts The Potential of Storytelling With Star Wars

The Mandalorian Starts Season 3 with a Good Episode but an Okay Premiere in “The Apostate”

Culture

Roberto Benigni at the 71st Academy Awards Roberto Benigni at the 71st Academy Awards

The Most Iconic Moments at the Oscars

Culture

The Mandalorian: Grogu’s Most Adorable Moments The Mandalorian: Grogu’s Most Adorable Moments

The Mandalorian: Grogu’s Most Adorable Moments

Culture

John Wick: Chapter 4 Review John Wick: Chapter 4 Review

John Wick: Chapter 4 Is an Action Epic for the Ages

Film

Connect