art house

[ahrt hous]

noun

1. a movie theater specializing in the exhibition of art films.

art house

noun

1. a cinema which specializes in showing films which are not part of the commercial mainstream

adjective

1. 1. of or relating to such films or a cinema which specializes in showing them

   2. ( as modifier )

      the surprise art-house hit of the season

Word History and Origins

Origin of art house¹

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

With acclaim, roles outside of the art house — such as Kane Parsons’ upcoming sci-fi horror film for A24, “The Backrooms” — and now Oscar buzz, Reinsve has also begun to navigate the choppy waters of fame, which has upended her travel schedule and reshaped her relationships.

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Though the series’ debt to noir fiction and film is foregrounded — as when Marty takes a date to see Robert Wise’s 1949 “The Set-Up” at an art house where the marquee reads “Noir Nights. American Neorealism Series” — “The Lowdown” doesn’t itself quite qualify as noir; it’s too cheeky.

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A 2024 study by Art House Convergence showed that between 2019 and 2024, audiences became younger and more diverse.

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Independent cinema has had the least trouble recruiting an audience post-pandemic, according to Art House Convergence.

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"It's been limited to coastal New York viewers through art house films," he says.

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