A group of cinemagoers had the ultimate Holdovers immersive experience when they got locked inside a theater

Dominic Sessa and Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers
(Image credit: Focus Features)

Cinemagoers watching The Holdovers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, found themselves having a more immersive viewing experience than planned when they were locked inside a theater earlier this week.

A group of movie theater patrons were trapped inside the cinema in Brazil's capital city after employees forgot they were in there and locked up for the night. According to Brazilian publication O Globo, customers first realized something was amiss when the lights didn't come back up after the movie finished. They managed to make their way through the darkness to the cinema foyer, where they eventually attracted the attention of passersby and staff at another cinema on the same street.

In Brazil, the movie's title has been translated as 'Os Rejeitados', which means The Rejected. "At that moment, we just wanted freedom," one attendee told O Globo. "We didn't know how to proceed. It was as if we were orphans there… We had just watched the movie The Rejected. And we feel like this: rejected."

The Holdovers follows the students at a boarding school in '70s New England who are forced to stay on campus over the Christmas break as they have nowhere else to go. Paul Giamatti plays the history teacher who's forced to chaperone them and he's been nominated for an Oscar for his performance, as well as winning a Golden Globe. His co-star Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who plays the school cook, won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, and she's also up for an Academy Award.

The Holdovers is out now. For more viewing inspiration, check out our picks of the biggest upcoming movies on the way in 2024. 

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.