If you’ve ever been in Australia and in particular in Sydney you will know exactly what I refer to, if not you’ll understand it pretty quickly.

I’ll make it simple. Going to the cinema in Australia is far from being the popular entrainment I have been used to in France.

What was my surprise when I thought I could go on a Sunday night to watch HP7 at the cinema for a couple of dollars. To be honest, everything is quite expensive in Sydney and I was ready to spend a bit more. I was thinking I could treat myself with a movie this Sunday (we could discuss the fact that going to the cinema should not be a treat but a popular entertainment, but that’s another topic). But imagine my face when I saw that it would cost me $18 to see a film.

€13.6 to see a film, can you believe this? Nothing fancy: plain 2D, no candies, a seat and air-con though.

Following this disappointing experience, the Sydney Morning Herald came up with an interesting article. I encourage you to read it (click the title of this article), but I’ll only quote a few sentences:

(…) the Choice study said that if an Australian family of four visited a multiplex-style cinema they would be $67 poorer after paying $18 each for adult tickets and $15.50 for concessions. A family across the ditch in New Zealand would pay only $33 and a family in the US at a similar cinema would pay $38.40. Throw in a few nibblies and there is not much change out of $100.

Unbelievable, right?