“Stop watching movies on your f**king phone”
© YouTube I David Lynch in the 2008 Interview.
Over the years, director David Lynch (1946–2025) has repeatedly expressed his discontent with the way audiences consume cinema, particularly regarding the tendency to watch films on small screens, such as those of mobile phones and tablets. This stance is not merely a personal opinion but reflects a broader critical message about the nature of the cinematic experience and the impact of technology on artistic perception.
David Lynch is renowned for his visionary and immersive works, where sound, image, and atmosphere merge to create profound, sensory experiences. For him, cinema is not merely a narrative but a work of art meant to be experienced in its full glory. Watching a film on divises — with its small screen and inferior audio quality — means missing out on much of that experience. In 2008, the American director made a striking statement about this habit, sarcastically remarking: “You’ll think you have experienced it, but you’ll be cheated. It’s such a sadness, that you think you’ve seen a film, on your f**king telephone, Get real!” This remark encapsulates the essence of his criticism: technology, although useful and innovative, should not compromise the quality of the cinematic experience.
© YouTube I David Lynch in the 2008 Interview.
This discourse serves as a warning against the use and spread of streaming cinema, an entertainment phenomenon now deeply entrenched in our daily habits. While, on one hand, screening films and TV shows via online platforms offers immediate convenience and accessibility, on the other, it has contributed to fragmenting the viewer’s attention, thereby weakening the engagement with high-quality audiovisual content. Moreover, file compression significantly degrades image quality — sacrificing precious details and visual depth — while the audio, often optimized for mobile devices, loses the richness and impact intended for theater screenings. Added to this is the fact that watching on small screens in distraction-laden environments prevents viewers from fully immersing themselves in the narrative. Indeed, this “portable cinema” is consumed in public spaces (trains, airplanes, waiting rooms, etc.), where “ambient distractions” add up to those already inherent in the audiovisual product.
Cinema is born as a collective and multisensory experience, where every element — from the grandeur of the big screen to the enveloping darkness of the theater — contributes to creating a unique and evocative atmosphere. Watching a film in a movie theater allows audiences to plunge fully into the story, in an environment designed to highlight every visual and auditory nuance. In contrast, consuming films on mobile devices results in a more superficial experience, diminishing the emotional and visual impact of the cinematic work.
Just days after Lynch’s passing, the legacy of his message — expressed a full fifteen years ago and still strikingly relevant today — compels us to reflect on our relationship with cinema and the importance of preserving its artistic integrity. At this point, one must wonder: are we sacrificing quality and “cinematic transport”, essential elements that carry us away with a film’s narrative and atmosphere, in the name of entertainment convenience? Cinema is meant to be experienced in its entirety, and perhaps, following Lynch’s advice, we should rediscover it in its most authentic form: on a big screen, free from “mass distractions”, so we can reclaim the evocative power of image and sound. In the meantime, turn off your phones!
© YouTube I David Lynch in the 2008 Interview.