# Two movie theaters near me have ZERO cell phone reception, coincidence? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [November 2, 2025, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-movie-theaters-near-me-have-zero-cell-phone-reception-coincidence/1024494 "2025-11-02T02:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-movie-theaters-near-me-have-zero-cell-phone-reception-coincidence/1024494/21 "2025-11-03T02:34:37Z")
Yep. As @Crafter_Man says in post #13, his overgrown metal shed does the same thing. Never attribute to malice what can be explained by economy = cheapness. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-movie-theaters-near-me-have-zero-cell-phone-reception-coincidence/1024494/22 "2025-11-03T02:40:57Z")
@chela your car/system doesn’t auto decrease volume at braking, does it? ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-movie-theaters-near-me-have-zero-cell-phone-reception-coincidence/1024494/23 "2025-11-03T18:01:09Z")
If I don’t brake in time the alarms will go off and that’s all I’ll hear. ⏰‼🔔 ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-movie-theaters-near-me-have-zero-cell-phone-reception-coincidence/1024494/24 "2025-11-03T19:12:03Z")
I’ve goofed with jamming devices and they’re good for that but there’s no way a theater would install one. I could more easily imagine an employee or even a patron carrying/installing? something covert but I really doubt there’s anything actively nefarious at all. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-movie-theaters-near-me-have-zero-cell-phone-reception-coincidence/1024494/25 "2025-11-03T20:23:02Z")
Right. If the architects, engineers and construction people are halfway smart about things, it would be easy enough to spec designs and materials that effectively reduce cell signals inside a building while still maintaining plausible deniability. From a little googling, it looks like the challenge is more in _not_ reducing cell signals than the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-movie-theaters-near-me-have-zero-cell-phone-reception-coincidence/1024494/26 "2025-11-03T22:16:00Z")
I don’t think they even need to maintain plausible deniability. “Our guests don’t want to be annoyed by phones ringing during the movie, so we chose building materials that would block cell phone signals”. ---
**Author:** ![billy-jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2026, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-movie-theaters-near-me-have-zero-cell-phone-reception-coincidence/1024494/27 "2026-05-30T21:46:45Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > It might be best to avoid using cell phones in theaters anyway. > > It might you get shot even if you aren’t the one using the cell phone! > > From [Killing of Chad Oulson - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Chad_Oulson) > > > [@](#): > > > > On 13 January 2014,[2] Oulson and his wife Nicole were preparing to watch the movie Lone Survivor; retired law enforcement officer Curtis Reeves and his wife were watching from the row behind the Oulsons. Chad Oulson used his cell phone during the trailers; Reeves told Oulson to turn off his cellphone and to not use it in the theater. Reeves then exited the theater to complain to theater personnel, then returned to his seat. Chad Oulson threw popcorn at Reeves, who drew a .380 caliber handgun and fired, shooting Nicole Oulson in the finger and fatally wounding Chad Oulson who died later the same day. > > Unfortunately, the shooter was found not guilty. He should be spending his golden years in prison. And Oulson was hardly innocent. He should have kept the cell phone off. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2026, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-movie-theaters-near-me-have-zero-cell-phone-reception-coincidence/1024494/28 "2026-05-30T21:51:29Z")
[Moderating] @billy-jack , this is not the thread for discussion of that incident. If you wish to discuss it, find an existing thread about it, or if there isn’t one, start a new one yourself, in the appropriate forum. What forum is appropriate depends on the sort of discussion you want: If you just want to report the facts of the case, MPSIMS would be appropriate, while if you wish to complain about the stupidity or malice of those involved, the BBQ Pit would be appropriate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-movie-theaters-near-me-have-zero-cell-phone-reception-coincidence/1024494.md?page=1)