OLDER,WISER, WAY MORE FUN

Movies aimed at older women, like 80 for Brady, are often derided-but they belong to a time-honored genre

- STEPHANIE ZACHAREK

BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, IT WAS A CLASSIC, time-honored pastime, particularly among women: over 60 movie lovers, retired and with time to kill, would head out for an early discount show at the multiplex and spend the day sneaking into the other movies on offer. This is how, not so long ago, your tracksuit-and-sneaker-wearing grandmother or aunt might have started the day with a mainstream crowd-pleaser like The Post and ended it having seen at least parts of, say, Blade Runner 2049 or Get Out. Bad for the movie industry, but good for the soul. And proof that people with a lifelong moviegoing habit are also likely to have curiosity in their bones, an eagerness to check out new things even if they’re not the target audience.

That was the world then. Now, we know that fewer middle-aged and older adults are going to the movies—according to some estimates in early 2022, frequent attendance was down by roughly half— some out of not-unfounded health fears but perhaps many more out of habit. It’s easier just to stream at home, especially now that the big studios seem to be catering mostly to teenagers and comic-book fans. This is the landscape into which 80 for Brady— a comedy starring veteran performers Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field—is dropping. Book Club: The Next Chapter, a sequel to the 2018 hit which earned 104 million and also featured over-60 actors), is due this spring. The obvious question is whether movies like these, designed to draw out an audience of senior and younger women alike, stand a chance at the box office. But beneath that question floats a more metaphysical one: What have we lost if they fail?