Room Escape Artist

The Movies Experience is one of Belgium’s best escape rooms. Here are our other escape room recommendations in the area.

Update March 4, 2025 from Matthew Stein:

Revisiting The Movies Experience 2 years after my original review, I was impressed by how this already stellar experience had grown even more magical. The Push Mystery Rooms added 2 new segments which featured some of the best set design and puzzles of the entire game, along with a wealth of easter eggs that seasoned Benelux escape room players will appreciate. They also enhanced the lighting and sound throughout the experience, including more voiceovers and a new finale video.

The upgrades continued past the end of the game with a new post-game lounge called The Greenhouse. Filled with potions, this impeccable aesthetic would make for a compelling escape experience in and of itself.

And the Oscar goes to…

Location: Bruges, Belgium

Date Played: July 18, 2023

Team Size: 2-4; we recommend 2-3

Duration: 90 minutes

Price: 220 € per game, regardless of the number of players

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: All players must crawl

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock (in fact, there’s an entire safety page on their website – we love this level of transparency!)

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

The Movies Experience was a labor of love in every sense: love for classic films, love for the childlike wonder of frequenting a movie theater, love for escape rooms, and love for the droves of dedicated escape room enthusiasts who make the trek out to Bruges, Belgium just for this blockbuster experience.

This overwhelming passion was especially evident through the continuous evolution of The Movies Experience over past years, adding new scenes and enhancing existing ones even as this game was already amongst the highest regarded in the region. In fact, we learned that The Push Mystery Rooms has already added a new feature film into the game in the time between when we played and when this review published.

I’m often skeptical of escape rooms that lean too heavily on the nostalgia of external IP to evoke strong emotions. Yes, these emotions are real, but are they as fairly “earned” as in experiences that tell fully original stories? In the case of The Movies Experience, I’m inclined to say “yes.” Though much of the experience focused on showcasing the worlds of particular films, the narrative ultimately revolved around the character of Arthur, a cinema employee whose journey established smaller stakes that made the soul of the experience feel personal and meaningful. Rather than striving to save the world, we were tasked with forming an empathetic connection with a relatable individual.

The Movies Experience was as much Hollywood prop museum as it was escape room. The lobby and initial spaces of the game in particular were packed with movie memorabilia and posters. Many of these items weren’t used in puzzles, and the game did a stellar job of making sure this extra decor didn’t feel like red herrings.

As of 2023, there are two versions of The Movies Experience: a “full” version which contains a spooky horror film-inspired segment and a “lite” version which excludes that actor interaction but is otherwise identical in terms of length and gameplay. We played and highly recommend opting for the “full” version, even if you’re somewhat horror averse. This was very much “fun horror” that added positively to the shape and intensity of the experience. The game operator actively calibrates the experience to ensure that players are not pushed past their limits, and you’ll be fine as long as you have one somewhat brave person.

If you are anywhere in or near Belgium, The Movies Experience is absolutely worth the pilgrimage. If you have the time, make a day of it and spend the night in the beautiful old city of Bruges, full of medieval and Gothic architecture and phenomenal beer.

Who is this for?

• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Adventure seekers
• Story seekers
• Movie lovers
• Any experience level

Why play?

• You have strong positive memories associated with the cinema
• An extravagantly detailed, sprawling set
• Delightfully smooth gameplay
• A touching narrative

Story

We entered The Roxy in an attempt to find Arthur, a cinema employee who’d gone missing.

Setting

The Movies Experience began in the lobby and theater of a classic cinema. Vintage marquee lighting of the theater’s name “Roxy” instantly channeled a certain era, alongside a small museum’s worth of vintage props and movie memorabilia. As the game evolved, we were transported to increasingly varied and detailed worlds.

Gameplay

The Push Mystery Rooms’ The Movies Experience was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty and a high level of nostalgia.

Core gameplay revolved around solving puzzles and making connections.

Analysis

➕ The Movies Experience was densely packed with nonstop moments of delight, joy, and nostalgia. The gameplay was as buttery as the popcorn, as silky smooth as the cinema’s red velvet seats. Every puzzle felt approachable and logical — and above all else, fun. With fantastic flow and little-to-no stop in the action, this was the very definition of a feel-good game. The gameplay was more interaction-y than puzzle-y, but puzzling hard or setting records was not the point here.

➕/➖ The set was expansive, detailed, and overall very well built. Certain scenes conveyed the spirit of the movies and the sense of adventure more strongly than others. A natural environment was jaw-droppingly transportive, whereas a film that overlapped with a classic escape room theme seemed too well lit and felt a bit like sterile prop storage.

➕ Thoughtfully incorporating lighting, sound, smells, tastes, and temperatures, The Movies Experience was truly multisensory and each new environment felt completely different.

➕/➖ Thorough spotlighting guided our attention throughout the game, providing helpful focus especially in more crowded environments. In certain moments, this style of gameplay may feel too on rails or hand-holdy for some players, and a similar level of clarity could have been achieved while leaving just a bit more for players to discover on their own.

➖  Some object placement required a bit of extra jiggling to register.

➕ A spooky effect pulled us into a new space.

➕ A light horror segment was dynamic yet approachable. Not all players needed to participate, there was a reasonable justification for a scary interaction, and the game provided a very clear “out” if all players really weren’t feeling it in the moment. Following some more lighthearted movies and themes, this segment played tribute to the genre of horror films, tastefully rounding out the emotional spectrum that players encounter throughout the game.

➕ A dramatic transformation made us question our memories and brought the magic of movies to life.

➕ The finale provided a full cinematic experience, paying loving tribute to both the protagonist’s and the creator’s deep passion for the subject matter presented. Such a heartfelt sentiment left me joyously tearing up as I exited the cinema.

Tips For Visiting

• The Push Mystery Rooms offers “Full” and “Lite” versions of The Movies Experience. As of 2023, these are both 90-minute games with nearly identical gameplay, differing only by the presence of a scarier segment in the “Full” version. Previous versions of the game differed in length and puzzle content. The creator is particularly invested in developing this experience, and we expect the content and structure may continue to change over time.
• Parking: Street parking is available near the venue.
• Drinking: Bruges is a hotspot for beer, and dark beers in particular. We especially enjoyed the vast selections at ‘t Brugs Beertje and De Garre.
• Review our tips for playing games with actors.

Book your session with The Push Mystery Rooms’ The Movies Experience, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.