I'm a holder of the Alamo Drafthouse pass and attend, bare minimum, twice a month, often more. $20/seat per month to see one movie per day. Then it's just an alternative to going to a restaurant.
Properly controlled lighting, no ambient noises from your home or neighbors, everyone watching is required to not pull their damn phone out (on penalty of being banned), surround sound and sound treatment (the vast majority of home setups do no have adequate sound systems)...it's no contest. Watching movies at home is not comparable.
Most theaters don’t serve meals the way Alamo does, but the rest is still true: proper darkness, much better sound, huge bright screen, no distractions, no interruptions.
There was a time where people would go to the theater and then text, chat etc. In my experience that is rare now because those types of people just don’t go to the theater anymore. It’s expensive and less convenient than watching at home. Generally speaking, I have found that the people in a movie theater today really want to be there, and are well behaved.
Properly controlled lighting, no ambient noises from your home or neighbors, everyone watching is required to not pull their damn phone out (on penalty of being banned), surround sound and sound treatment (the vast majority of home setups do no have adequate sound systems)...it's no contest. Watching movies at home is not comparable.