The most beautiful arthouse cinema built in America in decades. Two screens on Ludlow Street — one a proper 175-seat auditorium with 35mm and 70mm projection, the other a 65-seat screening room — wrapped in a building that includes a restaurant, bar, bookshop, and candy counter that together form a complete cinematic ecosystem. Metrograph opened in 2016 with the conviction that the theatrical film experience could be elevated without losing its intimacy, and it succeeded: the seats are comfortable, the projection is reference-quality, the programme mixes new independent releases with restored classics and themed retrospectives, and the lobby feels like the living room of someone with impeccable taste in film and furniture.
Location
Lower East Side, New York
Map
Insider Intel
The main auditorium (Theater 1) is the room to see films in — proper 35mm and 70mm projection, excellent sound, comfortable seats. The repertory programming is adventurous and well-curated. The commissary restaurant serves good food; the bar extends the evening. The bookshop stocks film criticism, monographs, and the Metrograph Edition series of restored film releases.
Weekend evening for the full Metrograph experience — dinner, film, drinks. Weekday matinees for quiet screenings with the LES afternoon light filtering into the lobby. Opening nights for premieres attract filmmakers and critics. The calendar is dense; check the website daily.
Metrograph was founded by Alexander Olch (a filmmaker and tie designer) and has become the defining new arthouse cinema of its generation. Membership gives priority booking and restaurant access. Tickets are higher than Film Forum but the experience justifies the price. The Lower East Side location means post-screening bar options are excellent. Metrograph also streams a curated selection online (Metrograph at Home) but the theatrical experience is the point.