Arabic version: السينما ساعدت جورجينا إليوت على العودة إلى العالم

According to The Guardian, Georgina Elliott found a measure of comfort in regular cinema visits after her younger brother drowned in an accident in 2022. His death changed the direction of her life: she did not take her first proper job and remained at home rather than moving out.

Elliott described a household in which each family member sought a different form of comfort. Her mother exercised, her father turned to music, and Elliott wanted escape. During a long January, she said grief left her feeling foggy, sensitive to light and sound, and often numb. Leaving the house was manageable, but deciding where to go was difficult.

An under-25s membership at her local cinema offered weekday tickets for £5.99, prompting her to walk to Greenwich for a screening of Corsage. The film, a feminist account of the life of Austrian empress Sisi, stirred emotions she had felt unable to access. When the screening ended, Elliott said she felt as if pressure had been released.

She began going to the cinema once a week, finding reassurance in sitting silently among other audience members. Rather than choosing films focused on bereavement, Elliott sought more life-affirming stories, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Taste of Things and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Later, How to Blow Up a Pipeline renewed her interest in eco-anarchism, while Aubrey Gordon’s documentary Your Fat Friend inspired her first journalism piece on atypical anorexia. As January became March, Elliott said films reminded her of a world beyond her grief and helped her decide to rejoin it.