St. Louis Man Goes To ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Screening At Alamo Drafthouse. Then Someone Pulls Out A Target Bag—And Breaks The Golden Rule: ‘I Can’t Even Use The QR Code’

Going to the movie theater is supposed to be a fun experience, but it can easily be ruined by other’s behaviors. A person to the right or left might just chew their popcorn a little too loudly, whisper to their friend the whole time, or commit the most egregious crime—pulling out their phone to text in the middle of the screening. For all those reasons, a movie might not get remembered for its flashy imagery, but rather, for its audience.

Roman Vass, the bassist for the band Voidgazer, posted a video about one such experience. He went to see “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” at an Alamo Drafthouse locatoin. He says a group of around five men came in late. Vass says the group made “boomerangs” of their food with the brightness on their phones up, which put a damper on his experience.

As of this writing, Vass’ post has more than 79,000 views.

A Frustrating Viewing

Vass says that he went to Alamo Drafthouse, partially because it had comfortable seats and partially because the franchise has “good food” that customers can order during the screening.

Vass says he watched “Supergirl” and “The Odyssey” with no issue. But he noticed the crowd for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” was younger. “

Everything was fine for about 30 minutes. That’s when Vass noticed that a group came in late. The bassist thought that Alamo Drafthouse had an explicit no latecomers policy, but he says he refrained from judgment.

Then they got on their phones.

“They’re just on their phones, full brightness, Instagram, making … boomerangs of their food,” Vass says.

To make matters worse, another guest was similarly disruptive. They pulled out a Target bag mid-movie and started “fishing through it” disruptively, per Vass.

Vass Tries To Report Them

At first, Vass says he tried to ignore the group. But as they continued disturbing the showing, he says he decided he needed to report them. He realized, however, that he needed to use his own phone to do so.

“ bBt you can’t even scan the QR code to do it because it’s f——. The, the lights are off. I’m not gonna turn on my f—— flashlight to scan a QR code to be like, ‘These people are distracting me.'”

Eventually, however, the issue resolved on its own. The group left after only 30 minutes without seeing the full showing.

Wait, What Was That About QR Codes And Phones?

Vass mentioned that customers have to use their phones to order food at Alamo Drafthouse, but what does that entail?

Alamo Drafthouse infamously dropped some measures in its anti-phone policy in 2026. Customers now have to scan QR codes in the movie theater using their cellular devices, which led countless customers to say the franchise has gone downhill.

Some consumers, however, have said that mobile ordering hasn’t necessarily deterred their experience, aside from occasional, chance encounters with screen addicts.

But others have criticized the chain as a whole for the decision. On Reddit, for instance, regulars stated that “it’s more about fixing what wasn’t broken as an excuse to cut staff and overall injecting corporate ensh–tification into a touchstone of Austin cinephile culture.”

Outside of issues with screens, Alamo Drafthouse’s reputation took a nose-dive after layoffs, strikes, and continued employee complaints. Employees at a Denver Alamo Drafthouse went on strike as recently as this year due to the mobile ordering system’s implementation.

Commenters Bemoan The Theater Experience

In the comment section, viewers had general complaints about their recent movie theater experiences.

Bringing infants to the theater proved contentious. Multiple commenters said that a newborn singlehandedly ruined a recent screening.

“People are still bringing babies. We went to a 10pm showing, getting out at 1am and there was at least one infant,” one commenter said.

Another commenter said, “Someone brought their baby to The Odyssey when I went.”

Others complained about teens.

“Had a group of these teens who vaped and sat on their phones the whole time, laughing during quiet scenes bc I guess that’s funny to them or idk,” a viewer said. “the etiquette in theatres is gone, it’s why I most of the time go see it at times where it’s empty, sad.”

Vass replied to this comment adding, “Sucks cause I love going but people don’t know how to act.”

Adults, too, received flak.

“Mind you movie tickets are like 15$ these days just for people to sit on their phones or talk the entire time,” a third commenter said.

BroBible reached out to Vass via TikTok direct message and Alamo Drafthouse via email for comment.