How to Cancel MoviePass

There was a time when MoviePass was probably the most recommended digital service. I know it was in my circles—I had friends and family signing up galore, and I helped a few navigate MoviePass' sub-par customer service.

But it's now obvious MoviePass didn't count on its own success and didn't have the staffing in place to help new customers. It's now equally obvious MoviePass never counted on its success essentially ruining what it set out to do: give people unlimited movie access for a flat-fee, typically around $9.99 a month, or less if you paid annually.

Since the service's hey-day in late 2017, it's been steadily scaling back its offerings. It limited customers to only seeing a film once. It started a ticket verification policy that was annoying at best. It said customers could only see six movies a day—and movies picked by MoviePass (and they were never the good movies, certainly not new releases).

These days, MoviePass is a ghost of its former self. I've personally gone from seeing at least four movies a month with the service to seeing zero—because it never offers up a film I want to see. My cronies are all making plans to switch to the more expensive (but still cheaper than the box office) Sinemia. I suggest you join us.

That said, cancel your MoviePass account first. It has a reputation for not actually following through when customers try to get out, but here are the steps you need to take to exit MoviePass, once and for all.

Log Into the Mobile App

You can't kill your MoviePass account by logging in on the website using a desktop browser. You have to use the app for iOS or Android. Tap Account at the bottom.

Account Options

On the Account page, you'll see a lot of entries, including the laughable Refer a Friend. Tap Account Details at the top.

Account Details

Under Account Details, tap the bottom entry called Plan & Billing.

Missing Data!

This is where you may start to see problems. That warning of "the data couldn't be read because it is missing" came up numerous times when I first tried to cancel MoviePass. My first paranoid thought: this is MoviePass's way of messing with me, to prevent me from cancelling.

I tried again in a few hours and the page loaded with all the proper info. We'll call it a server glitch—it wouldn't be the first for MoviePass. Nor the first time people have had problems cancelling.

Plan & Billing

This is where you finally start to break free. The top entry here will indicate your current plan, be it a month-to-month or the annual plan. To the right of that, tap Cancel.

Cancel Subscription

This part is tricky. At the bottom you'll see a big red Cancel Subscription button, but you can't just tap it. You must first provide a Reason for Cancellation—that's why it says *required. Tap it.

Pick a Reason

At the bottom of the screen (at least on iPhones) you'll get the typical scrolling menu of choices. Pick from the options of Price, Theater selection, Ease of use, Lack of use, Service offerings, App functionality, or other. Then tap Done.

In the past there have been issues, especially on the Android app, where people tried to do a write-in option to say why they were cancelling. While that would feel good, skip the vitriol here and just pick the option in the menu. You can always tweet a screed at MoviePass later.

Get Ready to Cancel

Back on the main Cancel Subscription screen, you'll get a warning at the bottom that "Your MoviePass account will remain active until the end of the current billing period." That's right, you can't and won't get back any pro-rated money, not even on an annual subscription. So do this as close to the end of your subscription as possible. (Assuming you even care.) Tap Cancel Subscription.

Final Warning

A pop-up will appear that asks if you're really, truly sure you want to cancel, as well as another reminder that the account stays open technically to the end of the date you've paid through. Tap Cancel Membership.

Check That You're Cancelled

In a very annoying interface decision, there is absolutely nothing in the MoviePass app's account settings to actually indicated that you've cancelled, at least not if you've still got a few days with the account open because you paid ahead. On the Plan & Billing page it looks like you're still subscribed; there's even a "Next Billing Date" entry.

However, if you click Cancel again, and go through the above steps again, you'll get the message above. That is as close as you'll get to confirming MoviePass will let you go at the end of the billing period.

Don't Use It Again

You've probably heard that MoviePass was un-cancelling cancelled accounts. That's happened in part because people who cancelled then used the app, got offers from MoviePass with new plans, clicked an "I accept" button—the only obvious choice to click—and found they were back into using the service. Don't take the chance. Don't use the app. Don't darken MoviePass's digital door again until after your paid time is up. Better yet, delete the app, and check your credit card statements for any MoviePass charges. Dispute any that pop-up later, and call direct at 877-646-2892 or 646-400-0801 to get them to kill your account.

The Screen You Really Want to See

Once your account really is deactivated, you'll see the message above when you try to log on with your old credentials. But don't reactivate it. You don't want it. Tap the X to exit, leave the app, then delete the app from your phone.

MoviePass Was Dead the Whole Time

Here's IGN's take on the whole MoviePass crash and burn. They are not wrong.

About Our Expert

Eric Griffith

Senior Editor, Features

My Experience

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally since 1992, more than half of that time with PCMag. I arrived at the end of the print era of PC Magazine as a senior writer. I served for a time as managing editor of business coverage before settling back into the features team for the last decade and a half. I write features on all tech topics, plus I handle several special projects, including the Readers' Choice and Business Choice surveys and yearly coverage of the Best ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs, Best Products of the Year, and Best Brands (plus the Best Brands for Tech Support, Longevity, and Reliability).

I started in tech publishing right out of college, writing and editing stories about hardware and development tools. I migrated to software and hardware coverage for families, and I spent several years exclusively writing about the then-burgeoning technology called Wi-Fi. I was on the founding staff of several magazines, including Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine. All of which are now defunct, and it's not my fault. I have freelanced for publications as diverse as Sony Style, Playboy.com, and Flux. I got my degree at Ithaca College in, of all things, television/radio. But I minored in writing so I'd have a future.

In my long-lost free time, I wrote some novels, a couple of which are not just on my hard drive: BETA TEST ("an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale," according to Publishers' Weekly) and a YA book called KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. Go get them on Kindle.

I work from my home in Ithaca, NY, and did it long before pandemics made it cool.

The Technology I Use

My first computer was a Laser 128, an Apple II-compatible clone with an integrated keyboard, matched with an eye-straining monochrome green monitor. I used it to type papers in college for other people for money...until I discovered the Mac SE in the college computer room. That changed my life. My first cellphone was a Samsung Uproar—the silver one with the built-in MP3 player from the Napster days (the pre-iPod era).

I use an iPhone 15 Pro hourly and an iPad Air infrequently (but I'm always in the market for a cheap Android tablet). I have a PlayStation 5 just to play Spider-Man, and several Windows machines, including a work-issued Lenovo ThinkPad. I talk to Alexa and Siri all day long. I do the majority of my computing on a 15-inch LG Gram laptop attached to a Thunderbolt hub to run a multi-monitor setup—I overdid it on the power needed to simply work from home.

I'm most at home in Microsoft Word after decades of writing there. More and more, I turn to services like Google Docs, using tools like Grammarly. I use Google's Chrome browser due to an addiction to several extensions I think I can't live without, but probably could. I use Excel extensively on data-intensive stories, but for chart creation, we've switched over entirely to using Infogram for interactive features that are hard to find elsewhere. I do a lot of graphics work for my stories, but limit myself to the free and amazing Paint.NET software to edit images.

I'm a firm evangelist for using the cloud for backup and syncing of files; I'm primarily using Dropbox, which has never failed me, but I also have redundant setups on Microsoft OneDrive, plus extra picture backups on Amazon Photos and iCloud. Why take chances? For entertainment, mine is a streaming-only household—my kid has never seen network TV and barely been exposed to commercials, thanks to Roku and Amazon Music. The house is peppered with smart speakers from Amazon for instant gratification and control of smart home devices like multiple Wyze cameras and Nest Protect smoke detectors. I've got accounts on all the major social networks, to my horror. I have a robot vacuum for each floor of the house. I want a 3D printer, but not sure what I'd use it for.

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