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Where Philly goes to watch

Real film, old movie palaces, a tombstone showroom turned microcinema and a drive-in that still threads 35mm every weekend. Here's where to sit in the dark.

Philly is a better movie town than it gets credit for. The big chains are out on the edges, but the city itself is mostly nonprofits, old rooms and weirdos with film prints. That's a good thing: programmers who care and screens that have been running since your great-grandparents snuck in.

Sorted by the kind of night you want. No hours or prices here because those change. Check each theater's own site before you head out, and handle your sesh at home before the movie, not in the seats. That gets you a ticket and kicked out. More on where it actually works on where to smoke.

Real film: 35mm and the repertory scene in Philly

If you want to see a movie the way it was made, projector rattle and all, these are your people. Repertory cinema in Philly lives in a few rooms and a couple of traveling crews. Follow them, because the good stuff sells out.

  • Center City

    Film Society Center

    1412 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19102

    The flagship of the Philadelphia Film Society, and the room the society itself bills as having the largest screen in the city. The building opened in 1921 as the Karlton, became the Midtown in 1950 and got a giant screen for 70mm Todd-AO roadshow epics in 1954. Later it was the Prince Music Theater. The Film Society bought it in 2015 and has been calling it the Film Society Center since early 2025.

    It got a big lobby renovation with a new lobby bar. This is also where the society runs its film-forward programming, including 35mm showcases in the run-up to the Philadelphia Film Festival every fall.

    TipShow a same-day ticket at the box office for a discounted parking voucher at Liberty Place on 16th St.

  • South Philly

    Lightbox Film Center

    Bok Auditorium, 1901 S 9th St, Philadelphia, PA 19148

    Lightbox is the city's serious art house program, with roots going back to the 1970s and decades of screenings at International House in University City. After the University of the Arts shut down in 2024, Lightbox found a new home in the 600-seat auditorium inside the Bok building, the old vocational school in South Philly, and started weekly screenings there in November 2024.

    Expect restorations, experimental work and filmmakers sticking around to talk. The schedule usually lands midweek and on Sundays.

    TipUse the 9th St address for a rideshare drop. The accessible entrance is around the corner on Dudley St.

  • Pops up around the region

    Exhumed Films

    Not a theater, a crew. Exhumed Films started in Philly in 1997 and has spent almost three decades screening horror and cult movies from actual film prints instead of digital files. Their first show was a Lucio Fulci double feature. Their big annual event is the 24 Hour Horror-thon, noon to noon, all on film, which ran for years at International House and now lives at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville.

    They also program horror marathons at the Mahoning Drive-In. Follow their calendar, because their shows sell out.

    TipHorror-thon tickets go fast. Buy early, bring a pillow and plan your ride home ahead of time.

  • Callowhill

    PhilaMOCA

    531 N 12th St, Philadelphia, PA 19123

    The Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art lives in an old tombstone and mausoleum showroom, which is exactly as metal as it sounds. The building is owned by Diplo's Mad Decent camp, who bought it back in 2007. It's a small room that hosts concerts, comedy and a lot of film: local premieres, festival nights, cult screenings and oddball series.

    This is the microcinema pick. Very local crowd. City rules let movie screenings here run later than concerts, so late shows happen.

    TipCheck the calendar for film nights specifically. Plenty of nights are bands, not movies.

The classic single screens and independent theaters in Philly

Old City is the city's indie movie strip. Three of these theaters are within a short walk of each other, so if one show is sold out you've got options. Make a night of it in Old City.

  • Old City

    Film Society Bourse

    400 Ranstead St, Philadelphia, PA 19106

    The old Ritz at the Bourse, taken over by the Philadelphia Film Society in 2021. Five screens of indie, foreign and awards-season stuff, plus the odd anniversary rerelease. When the society stopped running the Roxy in Rittenhouse, its staff and operations moved here.

    It's the most reliable indie screen in the city on any random weeknight.

    TipDuring the Philadelphia Film Festival in October this place is packed. Buy ahead.

  • Old City

    Film Society East

    127 Sansom St, Philadelphia, PA 19106

    This was the Ritz East, which opened in 1999 in an old twin theater and closed in October 2021. The Film Society brought it back in October 2022 and renamed it Film Society East in 2025. Two screens, and a solid spot for first-run indies. Smaller and calmer than the Bourse.

  • Old City

    Landmark Ritz Five

    214 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106

    The last of the old Ritz trio still run by Landmark. It opened in 1976 as a three-screen house and was split into five screens in 1985. The grown-up art house: prestige dramas, docs and regulars who will absolutely shush you.

    TipWalk down to the waterfront after. It's a few blocks.

The best IMAX near Philadelphia (the honest version)

There's no IMAX screen inside Philadelphia city limits right now. The Franklin Institute shut its IMAX theater for good after the pandemic, the old UA Riverview on Columbus Blvd closed in 2020, and a plan to reopen Riverview with a laser IMAX fell apart.

So if a movie was shot for IMAX and you want it on IMAX, you're leaving the city. The nearest screens are in King of Prussia, Cherry Hill, Bensalem, Warrington and Downingtown. For the biggest screen inside the city, go to the Film Society Center.

  • King of Prussia

    Regal UA King of Prussia IMAX

    Mall Blvd, King of Prussia, PA 19406

    Right across from the King of Prussia mall, with IMAX with Laser and reserved stadium seating. It's the easiest real IMAX for most of Philly and the Main Line.

    Book your seat in the middle third of the room. Front rows on a screen this big are a neck workout.

    TipGrab a ride or go with a sober driver. The mall traffic after a sold-out show is no joke.

Drive-ins near Philadelphia (seasonal)

Drive-in season usually runs spring into fall. Check schedules before you go, because weather and the calendar decide everything. A rule that keeps the night good: whoever's driving stays sober, and nobody lights up in the car. That's a ticket on both sides of the river, and the snack bar is right there.

  • Lehighton, Carbon County

    Mahoning Drive-In

    635 Seneca Rd, Lehighton, PA 18235

    This is the pilgrimage. The Mahoning opened in 1949 and is the last drive-in in the country showing 35mm every weekend. Classics and cult movies only, with prints pulled from studios, collectors, university archives and Exhumed Films. The screen has grown over the years to about 110 feet wide.

    Themed weekends are the move: horror marathons, Exhumed's Zombie Fest and Camp Blood nights, Troma-Thon. It's a real road trip from Philly, so treat it like one.

    TipPick a designated driver before you leave the city. It's a long ride home.

  • Vineland, NJ

    Delsea Drive-In

    2203 S Delsea Dr, Vineland, NJ 08360

    New Jersey invented the drive-in, and this is the last one left in the state. It opened in 1949, closed in 1987 and came back in 2004. Two screens, double features of current movies, sound through your car's FM radio.

    The season runs spring into fall, with themed nights and the occasional fireworks show.

    TipGet there early on summer weekends for a good spot, and bring a radio if your car battery is sketchy.

Day trip theaters worth the ride

The suburbs have some of the prettiest movie houses in the region, most of them run by nonprofits that rescued them.

  • Bryn Mawr, Main Line

    Bryn Mawr Film Institute

    824 W Lancaster Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

    The Seville Theatre opened on October 1, 1926 as a single-screen beaux arts movie palace. A nonprofit took it over in 2005 and restored it into four screens that can run 4K, 35mm and 70mm. That makes it one of the best bets in the region for real film.

    It turned 100 and leaned into it, digging through an archive of more than 12,000 movies shown there over the century and bringing some of them back to the big screen.

    TipRegional rail's Paoli/Thorndale line stops in Bryn Mawr, a short walk from the theater.

  • Phoenixville

    The Colonial Theatre

    227 Bridge St, Phoenixville, PA 19460

    Opened in 1903 as a vaudeville and silent film house, and famous forever because of The Blob. The 1958 Steve McQueen movie filmed its big scene here, where the audience runs screaming out of the theater. Every July, Blobfest recreates it with the Run Out, where the whole crowd flees the theater on cue.

    Year round it's a restored nonprofit arts venue with films and events, and it's the home of the Exhumed Films 24 Hour Horror-thon. Bridge Street has a lot of bars and restaurants for after.

    TipBlobfest weekend books up. If the Run Out is the goal, buy that ticket first.

  • Ambler

    Ambler Theater

    108 E Butler Ave, Ambler, PA 19002

    Warner Bros. opened this one on New Year's Eve 1928. It closed in 1997, was bought by a group of locals in 2000 and reopened in 2003. Three screens with a mix of new releases, indies, foreign films and classics.

    It's part of Renew Theaters, which also runs the County and the Hiway. Same taste across all three.

    TipButler Ave has plenty of places to eat within a block.

  • Doylestown, Bucks County

    County Theater

    20 E State St, Doylestown, PA 18901

    Opened September 3, 1938, with the vertical neon sign to prove it. It expanded in 2020 with a third, larger room built next door. Art house picks, new releases and classic revivals, in a small town that's made for walking around before a show.

    TipDoylestown is the end of the Lansdale/Doylestown line, so you can train it up.

  • Jenkintown

    Hiway Theater

    212 Old York Rd, Jenkintown, PA 19046

    Built in 1913 as the Jenkintown Auditorium, this is a one-screen, 330-seat neighborhood house with a replica neon blade sign out front. It runs as a nonprofit under Renew Theaters, with first-run, independent and foreign films. Closest of the suburban houses to the city.

Making a night of it

The best movie nights in Philly have a plan for before and after. The Old City theaters sit near a lot of late kitchens, Center City is right there for the Film Society Center and Bok has South Philly around it. Our picks for what to eat are on the eat page, and the Center City and South Philly guides fill in the blocks around each theater.

Getting there: the Market-Frankford line gets you close to Old City and the Center City theaters, and the Broad Street line runs down toward Bok. For anything in the suburbs, regional rail or a rideshare beats driving. If you're medicated, somebody else drives. That's the whole rule. New to town? Start with the first-timer guide.

Questions people ask

What is the best movie theater in Philadelphia?

For the biggest screen and the most film-focused programming in the city, the Film Society Center on Chestnut Street. For art house and repertory screenings, Lightbox Film Center at the Bok building. If you're willing to leave the city, the Bryn Mawr Film Institute can project 35mm and 70mm.

Is there an IMAX theater in Philadelphia?

Not inside city limits right now. The Franklin Institute closed its IMAX for good and a plan to bring a laser IMAX to the old Riverview theater on Columbus Blvd fell through. The closest IMAX screens are in King of Prussia, Cherry Hill, Bensalem, Warrington and Downingtown.

Where can I see 35mm movies in Philadelphia?

Watch the Film Society Center calendar, which runs 35mm showcases. Exhumed Films screens horror and cult movies from film prints at events around the region. Outside the city, the Bryn Mawr Film Institute can run 35mm and 70mm, and the Mahoning Drive-In shows 35mm every weekend in season.

What are the independent movie theaters in Philly?

In the city: Film Society Center, Film Society Bourse and Film Society East (all run by the nonprofit Philadelphia Film Society), Landmark Ritz Five, Lightbox Film Center and PhilaMOCA. Nearby: Bryn Mawr Film Institute, the Colonial in Phoenixville, and the Ambler, County and Hiway theaters.

Is there a drive-in near Philadelphia?

Yes. The Delsea Drive-In in Vineland, NJ is the closest classic drive-in and New Jersey's last one. The Mahoning Drive-In in Lehighton is a longer ride but shows 35mm every weekend in season. Both are seasonal, so check the schedule.

Is the Roxy Theater still open?

No. The Philadelphia Film Society stopped running the Roxy in 2021 and moved its operations to the Film Society Bourse in Old City. For indie movies in Old City now, go to the Bourse, Film Society East or the Ritz Five.

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