A skincare influencer with over two million followers is defending her decision to film a full beauty routine inside a packed movie theater during a three-hour blockbuster screening.
Miranda, the nurse and TikTok creator known online as @np.miranda, posted the viral video last week showing herself executing a multi-step regimen while seated in a crowded row during “The Odyssey.” The clip, which she captioned “POV, the movie is 3 hours long,” has drawn fierce backlash from viewers who called the stunt “peak influencer entitlement.”
The video opens with Miranda pulling on a skincare headband to sweep her hair back. She then digs into her toiletries bag for a bottle of micellar cleansing water, wiping down her face with a cotton pad before spraying herself with an exosome facial mist. She follows this with Volufline neck cream, which she noted was meant to help with tech neck, then layers on a density-restoring eye cream and a full collagen sheet mask “to lock it all in,” placing the wet mask directly over her face in the darkened cinema. To finish, she applies a propolis-infused lip mask while casually munching on a bag of jerky and sipping a soft drink.
She added a second caption asking her followers: “Anyone else bring their own skincare and snacks to the movies?”
While Miranda framed the routine as harmless self-care to keep her skin hydrated through the long sitting, thousands of social media users flooded her comment section with criticism. One top-voted comment simply stated, “I’m so tired of influencer culture.”
“Girl, what the hell, just watch the movie,” another frustrated user chimed in on TikTok.
Several commenters voiced particular anger over the glowing phone screen in a dark theater. “People should respect the cinema environment,” one user pointed out. “Using your phone during the movie can be distracting because the light from the screen bothers other people who are trying to enjoy the film,” they added, suggesting that “doing your skincare routine in a cinema doesn’t really seem appropriate” and that she should have just stayed home.
Others branded the entire display as a transparent grab for internet clout. “This deserves a Grammy because it’s HELLA performative,” one observer noted. “People are so desperate for attention it’s kinda insane,” another critic wrote.
Many insisted beauty routines belong in private spaces, declaring that “skincare is a home activity” and calling the stunt “the level of unnecessary.” One particularly angry commenter warned, “If I see your damn light on through my entire movie I’m getting you kicked out – this is so insanely rude.” Another lamented that “people have no social etiquette anymore,” while someone else dubbed the thought of sitting near her “a nightmare.”
Despite the wave of condemnation, a segment of Miranda’s comment section rallied to her defense, insisting the routine was harmless and even clever. Some claimed they would not have noticed her in the dark, with one writing, “I really don’t understand how this could possibly bother anyone else.”
“Some people just have to look for something to complain about,” another supporter claimed. Others found inspiration in the concept, calling it a great way to pass the time during a lengthy film. “This is actually hilarious and also so convenient,” one fan admitted, adding, “I fear I must try this very soon.”
Miranda herself jumped into the replies to push back against the criticism, agreeing with supporters that it was simply “multi-tasking at its finest.”
“I’m confused … Why does everyone have a problem with her wearing a face mask at the cinema?” Another defender asked, calling the setup “the dream.”
In the viral moment that spawned the controversy, Miranda’s original TikTok showed no apparent concern for surrounding moviegoers as she methodically worked through her routine with her phone screen illuminated throughout. The video’s casual framing as a relvable life hack rather than a public disturbance appeared to fuel much of the anger, with critics seeing it as emblematic of broader creator-culture excesses. The specific film she attended, “The Odyssey,” is itself part of Hollywood’s trend toward longer runtimes, with major studio releases increasingly pushing past the 150-minute mark.
The timing of Miranda’s stunt lands amid ongoing industry debate about whether audiences truly want longer films. Last year, “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve argued that younger viewers in particular prefer extended runtimes. “‘Oppenheimer’ is a three-hour, rated-R film about nuclear physics that is mostly talking,” Villeneuve said. “But the public was young, that was the movie of the year by far for my kids. There is a trend. The youth love to watch long movies because if they pay, they want to see something substantial. They are craving meaningful content.”