Whether you're excited (or nervous) for a first date or planning a night out with the partner you see but don't necessarily get to spend quality time with every day, the classic "dinner and a movie" date idea is timeless for a reason. It's an all-season, indoor date idea that gives you time to talk while also giving you something to talk about — and hopefully laugh about and bond over, too.
Why Choose "Dinner and a Movie" for Your Date Night?
For any date you might want to find a balance between intimacy and entertainment, and the "dinner and a movie" combo checks off a lot of boxes for both sides of the equation. The familiarity of the scenario helps foster a fun date that is both relaxed and engaging.
Dinner offers a lot of direct interaction, while the movie is a shared experience that gives you fodder for future conversations. And even if the movie isn't exactly the right choice, hopefully you both learn something about each other in the process — or have something to playfully rib one another about, at least.
Choosing the Perfect Movie
We could write thousands of words on this subject. Smarter people have tried; some have even succeeded. Look, you really want the movie portion of the date to be an opportunity to relax and have a good time. Unless that's not what you like! In which case, maybe wait until TERRIFIER 3 comes out to set a date.
You don't need our advice to make this work. Choose a genre you can both agree on, and hopefully something neither person has seen. You want a movie choice that will give you something to talk about long after the credits roll; or maybe something to argue over, if that's your vibe. However you get to the point where you're opening up and enjoying the shared experience while sharing thoughts and opinions works for us.
Making the Most of Your "Dinner and a Movie" Date Night
Without veering too deeply into advice column territory, just be present. The main criticism of seeing a movie on a date, and especially a first-date movie, is that it's a way to breeze through the date without engaging too deeply. And, yes, there is that possibility.
But seeing a movie with someone new, or with the person you've already chosen to spend your life with, can be an opportunity to learn something that person might not directly reveal. Do they laugh at a strange line of dialogue in POOR THINGS or are they even more excited by the FURIOSA trailer than you were? Were they not affected by ALL OF US STRANGERS at all? (If so… well, we weren't going to give advice here, but…)
The point is that a dinner date is a chance for someone to deliberately reveal aspects of their personality, or not. A movie is a chance for some unguarded reactions, and those can be beautiful.
Your next step for date night: Choose a movie!