The best movie theaters in Houston are the ones that make the movie part of a bigger night. This is a city where you can catch a late art-house premiere in a restored art deco palace, a 35mm print on a university campus, a big blockbuster in a recliner with a full dinner and a free show on a hillside under the stars. Every option below is great after a relaxed evening at home, as long as somebody sober is driving. Showtimes change constantly, so check each theater's own listings.
The River Oaks Theatre
The River Oaks Theatre on West Gray is the most important movie theater in Houston. It opened in 1939 and spent decades as the city's home for art films, foreign films, cult classics and midnight movies. When it closed in 2021, people protested out front. Then it came back, restored and reopened in fall 2024, and Houston film lovers acted like a family member came home.
Today it is run by the local group Culinary Khancepts, with first-run art-house films, repertory screenings and cult midnight shows, bars on both floors and that gorgeous art deco facade glowing on West Gray. It is the definition of a date night, a solo afternoon escape and a cult movie party all in one building. Sit up in the balcony if you can.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Films
The Museum of Fine Arts runs one of the most serious film programs in Texas, with screenings in its Brown Auditorium and the Lynn Wyatt Theater. Expect restorations of classics, international cinema, documentaries, retrospectives on great directors and film festivals. The crowd is there to watch the movie, so phones go away and talking stops.
Pair it with an afternoon in the galleries and a walk through the Museum District, and you have a perfect cultural day. See our Museum District guide.
Rice Cinema
Rice University has brought its cinema program back in a new, intimate theater inside Sarofim Hall, with projection for 16mm and 35mm film. That means real film prints, the warm flicker and grain you do not get from a digital file. Programming leans toward art films, classics and cinema history, mostly on weekend nights. Check Rice's own listings for what is playing, then make a night of it in Rice Village.
Big Dine-In Theaters
When you want a blockbuster with a full meal, dine-in is the move. You sit in a recliner, order off a menu at your seat and somebody brings you food while the trailers roll. It is a very Houston thing: big, comfortable, air conditioned and a little indulgent.
Star Cinema Grill
Star Cinema Grill is a Houston-born dine-in chain with locations around the metro, including CityCentre, Vintage Park, Baybrook and Cypress, where there is an IMAX screen. Full menu, full bar, recliners and servers at your seat.
iPic
The iPic in River Oaks District is the luxury version: big reclining pods, blankets, pillows and a full restaurant. It costs more, and it feels like it. Good for a birthday or the kind of night where you want to be ridiculous on purpose.
Flix Brewhouse
Out in Katy, the theater that used to be the area's last Alamo Drafthouse reopened as Flix Brewhouse, a dine-in theater with its own brewery. Worth knowing if you live out west.
The Big Screens
For a giant blockbuster on the biggest, loudest screen possible, Houston has several large multiplexes with premium formats like IMAX and other oversized screens. Regal Edwards Greenway Grand Palace near Greenway Plaza is central and easy to reach from the Loop. Downtown, the AMC at Bayou Place is in the Theater District, which makes a downtown dinner and movie easy. AMC Gulf Pointe 30 on the southeast side has a huge number of screens and a lot of options.
Miller Outdoor Theatre
Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park has been putting on free shows for decades, and that includes film screenings along with music, theater and dance. You can grab a covered seat or spread a blanket on the hill. Watching a movie under the Houston sky on a mild fall night is pure magic. Bring bug spray. The season and schedule vary by year, so check Miller's own listings.
Late Shows and Cult Screenings
Some movies are better after 10 p.m., and Houston has a real culture of late shows. The River Oaks Theatre leans into it with cult classics and midnight screenings, the kind of nights where the audience knows every line and yells half of them. The big multiplexes run late blockbuster shows on weekends, which are perfect when you want a giant screen and a mostly empty room.
Our picks for a late show: anything with great visuals and a loud score, anything animated and weird, and any cult classic you have seen ten times. Pick an aisle seat, get the popcorn and let the AC do its job. When it lets out, the late-night food guide has you covered.
A Little Houston Movie History
Houston used to be full of neighborhood movie houses, art deco palaces and drive-ins scattered along the highways. Most are gone, knocked down for strip centers and freeway lanes, which makes the survivors feel even more special. The River Oaks Theatre is the big one, a 1939 art deco landmark that came back from the dead after a fight that brought out thousands of Houstonians who refused to let it go.
The city has a long relationship with the movies, too. Houston has been the backdrop for films about astronauts, oil, family drama and Texas weirdness, and Mission Control's most famous line made the city's name a permanent part of movie history. When a film says "Houston," the whole world knows what it means.
Planetarium and Giant Screen
The Houston Museum of Natural Science has a planetarium dome and a giant screen theater. A star show in a dark dome, reclined back and looking up at the universe, is about as mind-expanding as a museum visit gets. It is a great daytime move, especially in summer. See the Museum District guide.
Picking the Right Theater for the Night
- Art film or classic: River Oaks Theatre, MFAH Films or Rice Cinema.
- Blockbuster plus dinner: Star Cinema Grill, iPic or Flix Brewhouse.
- Biggest possible screen: an IMAX or premium-format multiplex.
- Free and outdoors: Miller Outdoor Theatre in season.
- Space and stars: the planetarium at HMNS.
Theater Etiquette for Heads
- Eat before or order inside. Do not smuggle a full taco plate into a nice theater.
- Silence the phone and turn the brightness down. Everybody can see you.
- Laugh as loud as you want at the funny parts. That is half the fun.
- Do not light anything up. Not in the theater, not in the parking garage.
- Have a sober driver or call a ride. Theater parking lots at midnight are full of people making bad choices.
After the movie, see the late-night Houston guide for where to eat.
