‘More than just a cheap ticket,” it says on the marquee above the Prince Charles in London’s Leicester Square – a cinema beloved for showing cult films, sing-alongs and all-night movie marathons. The Prince Charles is a favourite of Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino, and when news emerged it was threatened with closure earlier this year, more than 165,000 people signed a petition. Now comes a black-and-white movie, a work-based comedy following a fictionalised day in the life of the Prince Charles, shot by Fil Freitas, whose day job is duty manager at the cinema.
On paper, that sounds annoyingly smug and self-conscious. But The Regulars turns out to be sweet and charming, and absolutely hilarious in places, with the easygoing, natural feel of a Richard Linklater film. Freitas shot the whole thing for £6,000, filming at night, when the cinema was closed. His cast is a mix of friends and family, alongside Prince Charles staff and a few professionals. On the whole, they give funny, relaxed performances.
Freitas plays Fil, a film school graduate working at the Prince Charles. After sleeping in, Fil’s day gets off to a bad start and he arrives late – meaning he has to sign into the late book, a semi-serious attempt at discipline by cinema manager Sam (Ricardo Freitas). Not much happens. A customer finding a dead rat on the floor in screen two is the action high point. But one of the joys of the film is the banter between the staff who work at the cinema, while they wait to break into the creative industries. Fil is a film-maker; his girlfriend and co-worker Dusty (Dusty Keeney) is a photographer. My favourite is Rob (Robert Smith), who resembles an angry Paul Mescal: he is legendary for his rudeness to customers, shouting at anyone who crunches too loudly during a screening.
What keeps staff working at the Prince Charles is clearly a passion for cinema, not a commitment to customer service. They all share a casual disdain for customers, including their oddball regulars, who seem to be mostly shuffling older men who lug around multiple carrier bags. The Regulars would make a great television sitcom – cinema’s version of Black Books.
• The Regulars is in UK cinemas from 22 August.
