When I first started to go to the cinema solo during my time at university, I was often plagued with doubts, mainly due to the social stigma. At first I felt as though people were judging me, wondering if they were thinking “That’s a bit odd isn’t it? Why go by yourself?” But these solo cinema trips helped ease a lot of anxiety. The art of de-stressing certainly becomes more complex as we get older, and in the age of the internet, the easiest way to fight off anxiety often appears to be scrolling until we realise hours have passed. The cinema experience has become a safety blanket, not just for me, but for many who want to escape from real life for a few precious hours.
The physical aspect of attending the cinema has benefits that we don’t typically realise. The concept of cinema therapy is something that isn’t widely discussed – in fact, most won’t know that it is a form of expressive therapy, similar to music and dance therapies. Segan’s Medical Dictionary describes this as a therapy that “can be a catalyst for healing and growth”. Most of the time we are self-prescribing cinema therapy without acknowledging its existence. You might have had a bad day at work, or simply just need to shut off for a few hours and peer into other worlds, whether based on real life or pure fantasy.
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Recognising the potential of cinema as a literal force for good, MediCinema is a charity founded by Christine Hill in 1996. The former Chief Executive was inspired after seeing nurses at St Thomas’s Hospital wheeling patient’s outside in their beds to watch the boats go by – it looked like a cinema with patients watching a film. The first of six MediCinemas opened in 1999 at St Thomas’s Hospital, and current sites include Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary and Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children/Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. It has been recently announced that through a generous pledge between Paramount Global and MediCinema a conversion of an existing lecture theatre at Manchester University NHS Trust’s Oxford Road Hospital Campus has been green lit for 2026.
Supported through public donations and various partnerships (there is no cost to the NHS), MediCinema allows patients and their families to have time away from the varying challenges of being on a ward. With programmes planned by the central MediCinema team along with input from the Cinema Managers, each screening provides normality for those going through a healthcare journey. There are up to 4 regular screenings programmed a week, with some screenings additionally tailored for specific clinical groups such as the Advanced Prostate Cancer Support and Breast Cancer Support. Special screenings are also part of the programme – most recently, patients at MediCinema Royal Hospital for Children in Scotland were treated to a special visit from Paddington and actor Hugh Bonneville for an advanced screening of Paddington in Peru. Beth Keane, MediCinema’s Head of Service Design and Impact, says, “One of the most amazing things about MediCinema is that we can help such a wide range of people. We can help people who are two, to literally 100 years old.”
The screenings are available for everyone, whether their hospital stay is a few days or longer term. The team also meets those receiving end of life care. “It’s incredible because we can help such a wide spectrum of people in many different ways. So that’s psychosocial, psychological and physiological and that has been a challenge for us to try and distil the ways we can help,” Beth continues. “We did some work on this and we found a set of key themes that kept emerging. They were things like mental health, resilience, easing stress, anxiety.”
Going to even just one screening can have a transformational effect on patients. Through ongoing research (2017-2024) MediCinema have found that 85% of attendees believe that the experience supports mental health and helps people to cope. An additional 94% say that it reduces the isolation felt in the hospital. “My son was in a lot of pain after surgery. Having MediCinema to look forward to really motivated him to start mobilising and moving which was just what the doctor asked him to do,” a parent of a Chelsea and Westminster patient said. “Without MediCinema he would not have been as motivated to get moving and recover.”
According to cinema therapist Birgit Wolz, PhD, there are several types of cinema therapy: Popcorn (cinema entertain that allows for an emotional release), Evocative (which helps individuals connect with storylines and characters) and Cathartic (that helps an individual access their emotions and may be used in the early stages of psychotherapy). Keane agrees that these three headings make sense. “I’ve definitely had patients speak of those things, they speak about the impact,” she said. “A lot of patients will be taken back [to their ward] by a volunteer and they’ll talk about how their mood has changed after watching the film. It might open up conversations with the hospital staff because film is a leveller. I want to shout about the fact that it extends beyond actually watching a film.”
While some patients may simply go to MediCinema to have some normality to their day, some find that it gives them the ability to ease the worries and concerns of their treatment. One case study revolves around a little boy who was suffering with anxiety around hospitals and the mask they use when putting him to sleep when going into theatre. “They [the patient and his mum] came to MediCinema together and they watched Dolittle. There is a specific scene where a little squirrel called Kevin is injured and he’s put to sleep using a mask and when he wakes up he feels better.” Beth continues. “The next day her son was due to go to surgery and he called himself Kevin the squirrel – for the first time they were able to go down to the theatre looking and feeling more relaxed.”
MediCinema research indicates that 55% of participants feel the physiological aspect of attending a screening has reduced their pain. From the engagement side of attending a screening, 72% agreed that they are more likely to visit a public screening, outside the MediCinema space. This alone proves the importance of cinemas in an era where streaming sites attempt to dominate the world order of the arts.
At this point, I would ordinarily write a conclusion to bring to a close a feature highlighting both the amazing benefits of cinema, film and the work that MediCinema are continuing to do. But who better to prove the benefits than someone who has experienced it?, Yasmin, a patient who attended screenings at CW+ Chelsea and Westminster MediCinema, beautifully sums up the experience:
“My cancer has been so hard on those who care about me, but when I get taken to the CW+ MediCinema, shown to my seat and made cosy, I’m not Yasmin with terminal lung cancer, I’m just ‘me’ again and I blossom, and, I’m excited, and for a few hours we can just be friends and family enjoying a movie again. It has meant everything to me. We are wreathed in escapism and the nurses and volunteers are amazing. I don’t worry about a single thing. The team collect me and take me back to bed. My nurses see me come back with a big smile on my face.
“MediCinema is a genuine godsend, I wish all hospitals had one, I think it would do patients and staff, the nation over the world of good. I’ve seen patients wheeled in lying on beds wearing the biggest smiles. You cannot put a price on that. I’m so grateful to the generosity of the film industry and the teams that make this happen. Thank you for what you have done for me and the people I love. Long may you continue, transforming the lives of movie goers great and small!”
