It's 3am. Do you know where your cinephiles are?

at an IMAX 70mm screening of The Odyssey, of course.

This has been a good week for movie theaters. With Christopher Nolan’s much anticipated The Odyssey finally coming out, popcorn is freshly popped and the Freestyle Machines are barely hanging on. As someone who runs a moviegoing Substack as a hobby, you can imagine how much I’m enjoying hearing from scores of people who are dropping everything to experience the magic of cinema. But there’s one group I’ve been most eager to hear from: Those who chose to see The Odyssey at an absurd hour of the day.

Due to the unprecedented demand for the film, opening weekend screenings sold out a year in advance, especially for the rare and coveted IMAX 70mm format. You want to see this movie from the back row at 7pm on a Thursday? Try your luck in January 2027. Alas, many found themselves resorting to the bonus showings theaters added on the odd hours of the day, most extreme ones being at 3 and 6am. I wish I could say it wasn’t worth the trouble, but I’m sorry—it’s impossible not to feel a true sense of wonder watching Matt Damon get absolutely pounded by the waves in the Aegean Sea, projected on a screen the size of a five-story building. So if you’re considering a crack of dawn showing but need more information before reserving your seat, I asked a few friends who braved sleep deprivation to tell the tale.

photo sent in by Megan

You might be wondering, how does one even find themselves in a movie theater at 3am, a time usually reserved for dreaming? Megan said, “The day tickets went on sale, I was getting error after error any time I tried to select tickets, and I was in charge of getting them for myself and four friends. I randomly checked back on the AMC site at midnight and saw they had added showtimes at 3am. Instantly booked five tickets in a panic and then let my friends know— nobody canceled, and none of us fell asleep during the screening!”

Me personally, I saw The Odyssey at 10pm at the Chinese Theater and it felt like I lived a hundred lives until it was time to leave my house, even got a 45-minute nap in just in case. But in the grand scheme of showtimes, mine was child’s play! Miles, who saw it at 2am said, “I spent most of Saturday trying to figure out how I was actually going to pull it off. Sleeping in that morning didn’t happen, but I managed a nap from midnight to 2am. I was definitely fading a bit during the third act, but I made it through. Very worth it.”

Brittany, who also saw it at 2am, noted that she took a nap on her couch from 9pm until 1am, and her boyfriend who tried napping in bed didn’t manage to. Important learning here is that a couch nap is the key to success.

this did succeed in keeping me up from 10pm til 3am

For me, staying up for my screening required having a cold brew at 7pm and a Diet Coke I sipped very slowly throughout (a bathroom break is not an option). A Monster energy drink was the beverage of choice for both Miles and Megan, who noted that she would normally not touch it but had to pull out the big guns to stay awake. Brittany only had half a coffee, which is unimaginable to me, someone who needs two shots of espresso to make it out of bed. Respect.

DYK that The Chinese Theater and The Dolby where the Oscars are held every year are inside the same mall?

Let me note for clarity’s sake that a 3am screening of The Odyssey would end around 6.30 in the morning. So do you go right back to bed afterwards or start your day like it’s any other day? As the credits rolled and the sun started rising over the Trojan Horse outside AMC City Walk, Megan left the theater and went not to take a nap but straight to breakfast to debrief. Hardcore.

If you’re seeing The Odyssey, what time is your screening? LMK, I’m nosy.

unironically loving this