If we come to AMC theaters for magic, then we depend on “Saturday Night Live” to parody it, with Chloe Fineman perfectly recreating Nicole Kidman’s iconic commercial with a cultish twist.
What began as a simple ad campaign to encourage moviegoers to return to theaters after pandemic-era shutdowns quickly became a full-blown pop culture phenomenon. The Oscar winner’s overly sincere musings about the power of cinema took on immediate meme status with fans emblazoning her awestruck face on T-shirts, as well as standing, cheering and reciting the famous “heartbreak” line aloud in theaters.
During the Season 48 premiere of NBC’s long-running sketch series over the weekend, Fineman hilariously mimics Kidman’s Australian accent and dramatic hand gestures (yes, we get the clap), as she slinks into an AMC theater on a cold, rainy evening.
After frightening fellow moviegoer Kenan Thompson with all-too-direct eye contact, Fineman’s Kidman then launches into the oft-quoted line: “Heartbreak feels good in a place like this.”
Her message brings the entire theater to its feet, with the adoring audience saluting the screen and chanting the line over and over again, which, naturally, imbues Kidman with supernatural powers. Soon enough, she’s become possessed by a cinema-loving demon, as lightning shoots through her body and she starts levitating above the seats.
But, ultimately, she’s just there to enjoy a movie and revel in that indescribable feeling we get when the lights begin to dim and … well, you know the rest. Thompson, however, isn’t as quick to brush the moment aside, remarking, “What the fuck just happened?”
As for the real commercial, it proved to be so popular that Kidman has renewed her commercial contract with the theater chain and is set to appear in a sequel coming soon to an AMC near you.
“I got a text from the chairman of AMC about a month ago asking me if I would write the next one, and of course the answer to that is yes,” screenwriter Billy Ray, who helmed the first ad, told Vanity Fair earlier this year. “It’s already written.”
“Of course, it’s with Nicole,” he added. “I’m not doing it without Nicole.”
