I guess it also depends on how often you frequent the theater. I pay $25 a month for my AMC A-List pass, which is $2 cheaper than my current Netflix subscription, and have seen 17 films this year, mostly in Dolby, and spent an average of $5.88 a ticket so far (4 monthly payments x $25), which will keep averaging down as I see more films this month.
My point being, if theatergoing is an activity someone wants to invest time in it doesn’t need to be expensive in 2024, and in fact I’m spending significantly less than I did in 2008 when I was at the theater all summer long, and without a guaranteed seat.