at the drive-in

Rooftop Cinema Club's newest drive-in theater revs up in EaDo

Formerly in Sawyer Yards, Rooftop Cinema Club's drive-in motors to EaDo.

Photo courtesy of Rooftop Cinema Club

Since the Drive-in at Sawyer Yards put the brakes on its operation in November, fans of the buzzy movie experience have wondered where the movie experience would pop up next.

Now, Rooftop Cinema Club, which owns and operates the drive-in, has revealed its new location. The Drive-In at EaDo will, as the name implies, be held in East Downtown with screenings starting December 5 at 2300 Runnels St. The Rooftop operation will take over for another well-known drive-in, Space City Shows.

With December serving as a preview of the new venue, movie-goers can take advantage of soft-launch pricing throughout the month, starting with a weekend of drive-in favorites and holiday classics such as Love Actually, Home Alone, and Last Holiday. Renovations will be completed in January, according to a press release.

Tickets for the December screenings are on sale now online.

Movies will be projected onto a 40-foot screen facing rows of cars parked 10 feet apart. The audio will be broadcast over an FM radio signal. Guests can purchase concessions, food, and beverages completely contact-free through their mobile devices, including from local food trucks The Burger Joint and El Patio. Restrooms and sanitation solutions will be available on site, and staff will be in masks, per a release.

Soft-launch prices range from $18–27 per vehicle, depending on occupancy and screening day. Children three and under will not count as vehicle occupants. Parking spots are first-come-first-serve, and guests will be escorted by ushers once they arrive. Attendees will be required to wear masks when not in their car.

Soft-launch ticket prices are:

Weekend (Friday – Sunday)
The Movie Buddy $22 – reserves one vehicle for up to two guests
The Movie Squad $27 – reserves one vehicle for three or more guests

Weekday (Monday – Thursday)
The Movie Buddy $18 – reserves one vehicle for up to two guests
The Movie Squad $24 – reserves one vehicle for three or more guests

Meanwhile, Community Screenings at the EaDo location will take place during the second screening every Sunday. Tickets will cost only $5 per vehicle, regardless of occupancy. Ticket proceeds will benefit the Houston Food Bank. Guests will also find a donation box onsite to drop off any food items for the food bank.

Here is the screening lineup for December:

December 5: Love Actually

December 6: Home Alone; Last Holiday

December 7: The Wiz; Die Hard

December 8: Elf; National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

December 9: CLOSED

December 10: The Nightmare Before Christmas; Home Alone

December 11: The Polar Express; Friday After Next

December 12: How the Grinch Stole Christmas; National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

December 13: A Christmas Story; Bridget Jones Diary

December 14: Home Alone; The Best Man Holiday

December 15: Elf; Love Actually

December 16: The Grinch; Die Hard

December 17: The Nightmare Before Christmas; A Madea Christmas

December 18: Home Alone; Home Alone 2: Lost In New York

December 19: The Polar Express; The Holiday

December 20: It's A Wonderful Life; The Night Before

December 21: Elf; Elf

December 22: Elf; Elf

December 23: Elf; Elf

December 24: CLOSED

December 25: CLOSED

December 26: Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone; Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind

December 27: Happy Feet; Dumb and Dumber

December 28: Frozen; Friday

December 29: Spider-Man: Far from Home; Guardians of The Galaxy

December 30: Coco; Jurassic Park

movies

Movie Review

Cheesiness undermines Whalefall's intense survival story

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Austin Abrams in Whalefall.

Austin Abrams has been a professional actor for 15 years, but the 30-year-old seems to just now be getting his due. After years of mostly supporting roles in films like Paper Towns, Brad’s Status, and Weapons, he has been charged with leading two films in 2026 where he’s largely acting by himself: First Resident Evil and now Whalefall.

Abrams plays Jay Gardiner, who has returned home to California a year after the death of his hard-ass father, Mitt (Josh Brolin). The two had a tempestuous relationship, and while his mom (Elisabeth Shue) and sisters (Jane Levy and Emily Rudd) reminisce fondly about him, Jay finds it difficult to come up with good memories. The two did share a connection with the ocean, and Jay decides to honor him by going scuba diving.

Ignoring warnings of whale activity in the area, Jay makes his way out into a notoriously dangerous part of the ocean near their home. Soon after he starts swimming, he encounters a sperm whale chasing after a giant squid. Jay inadvertently gets sucked into the enormous creature’s mouth and, ultimately, inside its body. Faced with a seemingly inescapable situation, Jay’s only hope lies in the lessons his father taught him.

Directed by Brian Duffield and adapted by Duffield and Daniel Kraus from Kraus’ book of the same name, the film is at its best when it depicts Jay struggling to survive within the whale. The claustrophobic nature of the setting and the various obstacles (multiple contracting chambers, the squid, and more) he faces make every scene inside the whale feel as intense and cover-your-eyes scary as any great horror movie.

Naturally, the entire movie can’t be about his survival efforts, and so the filmmakers toggle back and forth between Jay’s ordeal in the whale to memories of times with his father. Not so coincidentally, these remembrances come with subtle or overt wisdom from Mitt that would serve Jay well in his current situation. More often than not, these flashback scenes are so on-the-nose that they come off as cheesy instead of inspirational.

It’s also difficult to derive any big emotions from the story other than revulsion at the way Jay’s body is brutalized while he’s inside the whale. None of the characters in the film receive a notable introduction to the audience before big events start happening. It’s next-to-impossible to be invested in their stories when their personalities are being revealed in bits and pieces throughout the movie.

Abrams does well enough in bringing out the terror Jay feels in the whale and the sullenness/anger he has toward his father in other scenes. But whether it’s because his lines in the whale are hard to understand (he’s often talking around a scuba mouthpiece) or the disconnect the character has with father, there’s just something missing in his performance. Brolin’s performance is one-note, and Shue, Levy, Rudd, and John Ortiz don’t appear enough to make a big impact.

With Kraus onboard as the co-writer of the film, it may be the case that Duffield was not given leeway to change the story of Whalefall too much. What might have worked in the book doesn’t seem to translate equally to the film, and while Jay’s nightmare in the whale is effective, the rest of his story doesn’t come across as successfully.

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Whalefall is now playing in theaters.

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