WATERVILLE — Michaela Loisel can’t say she has been to the movies every Christmas.
But no matter where she has lived, in Maine and New York, Loisel said heading to the theater has always been a Christmas Day activity.
“We love the movies on Christmas,” said Loisel, 69, of Hallowell, who was with her wife and daughter at the Maine Film Center in Waterville on Thursday afternoon. “It’s our favorite thing.”
At the Maine Film Center, the theater downtown that is part of the arts nonprofit Waterville Creates, moviegoers like Loisel at the 1 p.m. matinees were in for a treat: theaters nearly to themselves.
But more people were expected later in the afternoon and evening Thursday. And in central Maine, like across the rest of the country, theaters from Skowhegan to Augusta were open as they are every Dec. 25 to welcome the Christmas Day crowd.
“Christmas Day is always a popular time to go to the movies, both for those who celebrate the holiday and those who don’t,” Waterville Creates spokesperson Chris Melville said via email earlier this week.
For many, after spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at home with friends and family, heading to the movies is a way to get out of the house. For those who need a break from the holiday hoopla of presents, feasts and pesky in-laws, spending a few hours in a darkened theater with cozy chairs may come as a welcome respite.
And for those who do not celebrate Christmas, there typically just isn’t much else to do on Dec. 25.
“It’s also peak season for Oscar-hopefuls,” Melville said. “The movies we show this time of year at the Maine Film Center are getting a lot of buzz on the awards circuit.”
The film center’s lineup featured three screenings each of “The Secret Agent,” a political thriller set in Brazil; “Hamnet,” a historical drama adapted from a novel; and “Marty Supreme,” a high-budget sports drama starring Timothée Chalamet and other well-known actors, which opened Thursday across the U.S.
At the larger Flagship Cinemas on Kennedy Memorial Drive in Waterville, the Christmas afternoon showings included films from major franchises: “The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for Squarepants,” “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and “Zootopia 2.” The theater was also screening “Marty Supreme,” “Sing Sung Blue,” “Anaconda” and “The Housemaid.”
The Regal Cinemas in Augusta was open all day showing a similar lineup, plus a few others. And in Skowhegan, The Strand Cinema was set to open in the afternoon, showing “SpongeBob,” “Avatar,” and “Anaconda.”
Greta Thiele was working the concession stand Thursday at the Maine Film Center, making popcorn and serving drinks for the handful of people who trickled in to see “Marty Supreme.”
“We do start to see a pick up for the evening shows,” said Thiele, who was worked at the film center for three years and worked Christmas last year.
Her father, John Thiele, 76, of Bingham, was the only person in the theater watching the 1 p.m. showing of “The Secret Agent,” a film in Portuguese, English and German set in 1977 Brazil that tells the story of a technology expert fleeing a mysterious past.
The elder Thiele, who said his favorite movies are spy-related, said he was in town to deliver his daughter’s Christmas presents.
“I decided to stay for a movie while I’m here,” he said while munching on popcorn in the lobby.
Mike Rogers, 37, of Portland, was with his parents, Jonathan Rogers, 72, and Kathy McKay, 73, both of Benton, to see “Marty Supreme” at 1:10 p.m.
The star-studded film — directed and produced by Josh Safdie, whose last box office success was “Uncut Gems” in 2019 — features Chalamet as an aspiring ping-pong star in 1950s New York City. Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars, and Kevin O’Leary, best known as an investor on the TV show “Shark Tank,” makes the jump to acting for the big screen.
“We wanted to see the movie, and we didn’t have any kids around,” said Jonathan Rogers.
He said he was thinking about what people who don’t celebrate Christmas do on the holiday — go to the movies and eat Chinese food.
Mike Rogers said this year’s family celebration was smaller and lower-key, and that was what led them to the movies this year.
“This might be the first time I can think of,” he said.