Josemi Play
Google
The Genesis cinema is a rare finding, or perhaps I'm a bad searcher, but nowhere I have been able, either in the UK or Spain—where I'm originally from—, to connect with movies at such a deep and engaging level. Perhaps it is its long history, easily smelled on the walls of the cinema all throughout, but with particular intensity in Screen 1, a giant theater room that keeps many of its original features dating back to the 1800s. Or perhaps you want a more intimate and relaxed kind of experience at Studio 2, a small room with a few sofas perfect for a careful spectator, accessed after a long empty and turning, silent corridor that could have come out of a David Lynch movie. Either way, it seems to me that Genesis is, hopefully for a long time, an oasis in the 2020s London for those who love cinema, or are simply tired of consuming fiction through streaming services, or tired of the short formats that dominate today, or social media, or the restless passing of time bombarded by all sorts of information or entertainment, preventing one from fully experiencing one thing at a time.
For me, these past few months, Genesis has become a refuge, a place where I can go to shut down any distractions, a place to, for the duration of the movie, get completely lost in the best sense.
Not only does it have everything a solo spectator could enjoy (that's usually how I like going to the cinema), but it also possesses social spaces which, although I have not used yet due to my introversion, seem alive and varied. Again, although I'm very much introverted and do not need that much socialization, I can only say that every time I have gone to watch a movie and an event (like poetry slams) has been on, it's been pulling me more and more to it.
In summary, you will find in Genesis what all commercial cinemas lack, and which few independent cinemas accomplish with such apparent effortlessness: character. And that's all you need to make the experience of watching a movie, whether one ends up liking the movie or not, to seem worthwhile and as a good use of your time.
Thank you to the owners and all the people working to keep Genesis on. May the future bring you everything you need to keep it running the way you want.
A very, very warm and genuine thank you.