How to have a virtual movie night

Virtual movie night ideas

Instead of coming together in a central location, you and your friends and family watch the same movie in your own homes, on your own devices, while chatting online about it (or anything else). It’s a way to feel close to people you can’t physically be close to and spend time together without having to worry about logistics. Just set a date, choose a movie and a platform, make sure everyone has enough snacks at the ready, and start the movie!

Here are a few ways to make your virtual movie night a blast:

Toast or roast with Microsoft Teams

For the lowest tech way to virtual movie night, you and your crew can decide on a movie to watch on your streaming service of choice, cue it up on your home devices at the same time, and talk about the movie together on Microsoft Teams! This is a great option for sharing stickers and polls all while chatting via text or video. Not all options allow for participants to chat in real time, so while your individual movies may not be completely in sync, you and your friends will be. Of course, should you go the video call route, it goes without saying that not everyone has to be on camera.

Try a browser extension

Microsoft Edge has over 1,000 browser extensions for entertainment! While some are limited to only watching specific programs or services, many can help facilitate a virtual movie night. Try one of these:

• Teleparty. This app, formerly known as Netflix Party, lets you watch movies with friends online on free and paid services like Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and HBO. Teleparty allows for real-time audio and video sync as well as a group chat.
• TwoSeven. You and your friends and family can video chat while watching major streaming services in a private chat room with TwoSeven.
• Hulu Watch Party. This extension is specific to the Hulu streaming service, so may require a subscription, and provides a great way for users with Hulu accounts to watch shows and movies together.

Watch directly

Rather than using an app or extension, some streaming services have built-in capabilities for hosting virtual watch parties. Disney+ has a service called GroupWatch that is part of the platform itself. This service works on web and mobile browsers, as well as on smart TVs. There are no extra steps to take if everyone in your group of friends and family is already a subscriber to the service.

If you choose to host a virtual movie night with a browser extension, Microsoft Edge is a great choice. Thanks to its Ultra HD 4K capabilities and support for 1080p resolution and HTML5 videos, the picture will be fantastic. So, if you can’t watch together in a movie theater or in your parents’ basement like you did when you were kids, go for the next best thing.