The Curzon Riverside opened in Canterbury last summer and is unique among cinemas in that it provides viewers with a comfortable, luxurious environment that makes watching a film especially memorable.
The building’s décor makes you feel as if you are in your own movie, especially at night. Symmetry and sepia lighting as you walk down the corridor is reminiscent of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. The effect creates in the cinemagoer the sensation of being in a movie themselves.
Each of the five screens is named after one of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales: The Knight Screen, The Friar Screen, The Miller Screen, and so on. This again makes the cinema unique: it links to Canterbury’s heritage and instils in the viewer the sense that they are part of the wider culture of the city.
While the general assumption may be that such style and grandeur would come at a high price, an adult ticket at Curzon Riverside at £14.50 is similar to many of the other mainstream cinemas. And while there may be more affordable cinema alternatives to the Curzon, the cinema’s comfort and style will surely make one less inclined to opt for a cheaper theatre at the expense of the richness of the Curzon experience.
Cinema food and drink has always been notoriously expensive, and at Curzon it’s no different. Nonetheless, the furniture and bar ensure a comfortable time while eating, so much so that locals often visit purely to enjoy the café experience. If you are visiting to watch a film, one treat is to ask for food to be delivered to your seat, with the wide aisles and ample table spaces designed to accommodate this.
Overall, The Curzon Riverside is fantastic – it’s just waiting for more people to visit. The cinema itself is part of the bigger Riverside development, constructed last year at a cost of £115 million. The wider development has not yet reached its full potential, so we'll have to wait and see over the next few years if it lives up to its expected popularity.
