When one devoted fan turned a quiet movie theater into her own personal concert—complete with loud singing, offbeat clapping, and a phone flashlight waving at the screen—another attendee finally snapped.

Now they’re wondering: was yelling at her to turn it off a total overreaction, or fair game for ruining the vibe?

Read on for the story.

AITA for yelling at a woman to turn off her phone light in a movie theater?

One of my local movie theaters sometimes holds special screenings of niche/foreign movies or filmed performances. These screenings are typically limited to a single showing on one or maybe a few non-consecutive days.

My favorite vocalist released a concert film to theaters from his very first live solo tour, which was last year. Unfortunately, there were no tour stops on my continent, so I was excited to be able to see the footage on the big screen and enjoy his voice in good surround sound.

The film is not available to purchase or stream afaik. I would have no other opportunity to see it.

Boo.

I arrived right as the show was about to start and saw that there were hardly any other attendees. They were peppered around the theater but the bottom, front row of the stadium seating was completely empty.

When I walked in, there was a person sitting on the ground in the aisle apparently charging her phone. I don’t know if she bought a different seat or what, but she rushed in and sat one seat away from me when the music started.

She then proceeded to perform choreo, well, as much as she could while remaining seated. Her arms were flailing everywhere. She also was singing along, quietly at first, but progressively louder as the show went on.

Um, time and place, lady.

I decided it was best for me to move to the end of the row so that she wasn’t basically singing in my ear and throwing her arms in my immediate vicinity. When I moved, she stared at me like she was offended.

I really tried to ignore her, but at one point, she started to do fan chants loudly. She also was clapping along with the song, but NOT ON BEAT.

Still, I tried be chill and keep in mind that she was a fan just enjoying the show.

Wow.

But then, one of those emotional slower songs started. You know, the kind that you might start waving a lighter with back in the day. The audience in the film were waving their fan lightsticks.

This woman decided to join in by turning on her phone’s flashlight to full brightness and shine it on the screen as she waved it over her head. The circle of light from her phone was lightening the screen where it hit as it was going back and forth.

I’ll admit it. This is when I snapped. I literally yelled to her across my row. “Could you NOT?!?!” She looked at me like she was confused and pointed questioningly at her phone. “Yes, the light!”

Please just no.

To be fair, she did turn it off. And then just went back to dancing and singing, which, whatever fine. At least the light was off.

I thought about it afterwards though. Maybe I should have just let her fully enjoy herself. It was a concert film after all. If we were at an actual concert, this is what people would be doing. Maybe I should’ve just ignored it. Or hell, maybe I should’ve joined in and enjoyed the show that way.

But honestly, I really just wanted to focus on the performance and enjoy listening to his vocals. AITA for yelling for her to turn her flashlight off?

It’s one thing to get caught up in the energy of a concert film, but it’s another to shine a blinding light on the screen for everyone else.

Reddit agrees.

This person says OP was being extremely reasonable.

That the light was ruining the experience for others.

And that there are other ways to have fun watching a public movie…and this isn’t one.

A little consideration could’ve saved the moment—and everyone’s mood.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.