Dogma, Clerks and Chasing Amy writer-director Kevin Smith says his 1980s-set film, The 4:30 Movie, celebrates a type of cinema-going culture that is sadly dwindling in the time of cellphones.
"You're stuck in a room with 150, 200 other people you maybe don't know, but you're all there for the same thing. We want to watch this thing. We want to be entertained. Kids today, they're siloed. It has been that way for a good decade or more, where everything they need is right there in their phones."
Smith said he isn't knocking people for finding a sense of community online.
"But meeting people in the real world, having real-world conversations? These are starting to be like lost arts for a certain generation," he said, joking that some young viewers might see his latest film as science-fiction.
"Part of me was like, 'Is any modern kid going to get this movie?' It shows a world where nobody's looking into their phone. Everybody's looking into each other's eyes. It opens with this seven-minute, phone conversation. When was the last time anybody ever had a seven-minute phone conversation in the real world?"Available on digital demand platforms Tuesday, the film is a coming-of-age story set in New Jersey in summer 1986.
It follows Brian (Austin Zajur), who after a lengthy phone call on a landline tethered to his kitchen invites his crush, Melody (Siena Agudong), to see a movie he already promised to go to with his guy friends.
In real life, Smith and his friends bought that Atlantic Highlands theater two years ago, renamed it Smodcastle Cinemas and shot The 4:30 Movie there.
"When we bought it, one of the first things I thought was: 'We have a set. This is a free location and we can make a movie here,'" Smith said.
He said he didn't want to go the route of his convenience-story comedy, Clerks, and tell the story of the employees who worked at a specific place, however.
"That's stolen valor," he quipped. "I've never worked in a movie theater, so I'm not going to pretend I ever did."
Instead, he decided to make a movie about going to the movies and the feelings of excitement, escapism and camaraderie that went along with that.
"Our parents used to drop us off at the first matinee and then pick us up at 10 at night with the presumption that you'll leave that movie theater, go to the other movie theater, go to the other movie theater and see four movies for the price of one."
Smith said Smodcastle was the perfect set for his film.
"Everything looks old. We never replaced anything," he said.
"The seats in Theater 1 at Smodcastle Cinemas are the same seats I sat in when I saw [the 1981 movie] Friday the 13 Part 2," he added.
"So, I was like, 'As long as we put a camera here, this is a period piece. This is my chance at Merchant & Ivory, for heaven's sake!' As long as we don't see the outside world, and put people in period clothing, [it works].'"
Smith decided to focus the story on one of his favorite memories, which was his first date with his high school girlfriend.
"So, the project was born from there, from, 'Hey, we got the location and hey, let's take a walk down memory lane,'" he recalled.
Smith found himself reflecting fondly on this period of his life after he survived a massive heart attack in 2018 and sought treatment for mental health issues in 2023.
"I'd just come out of the mental hospital, right? I went away to Sierra Tucson, so I was pretty fragile when I got out. This is about as fragile a movie as one can make when they're still in that state of mind," Smith said, equating the film to a "warm, comfort blanket."
"It took me back to a more comfortable time when I was a kid before the worries of life came in, before adulthood came looming," he added.
"I've had a pretty good adulthood, because I just make pretend for a living, but, even given that, everyone has been through trauma. So, as good as my life has been, there have been moments, of course, like everybody, where it's just like, 'Man, it's hard to be a human being.'"
The cast of the film includes a mix off fresh faces and old friends from Smith's previous works, including Nicholas Cirillo, Reed Northrup, Betty Aberlin, Diedrich Bader, Jason Biggs, Rosario Dawson, Rachel Dratch, Ralph Garman, Jason Lee, Logic, Justin Long, Jason Mewes, Kate Micucci, Jenny Mollen, Adam Pally, Sam Richardson, Genesis Rodriguez, Jennifer Schwalbach, Cliff "Method Man" Smith, Harley Quinn Smith and Ken Jeong.
"For the lead, Brian, Austin Zajur, I looked no further than my daughter's bedroom," Smith joked about Harley Quinn's boyfriend of five years.
"I was like, 'Know who I'm going to cast as the young me? The guy sleeping with my daughter because this will really affect their relationship,'" he added.
"I'm sure the kid's going to be in therapy for the next 10 years, going, 'He cast my boyfriend as the young version of himself. What am I supposed to do with that?' But she's a big fan of him as an actor, so she can totally see it."
