WESTWOOD — Westwood Cinemas, 182 Center Ave., says it has had ongoing issues with underage patrons attempting to enter R-rated movies and is reminding customers it will be enforcing age rules at the door.
In a recent Instagram post, the locally owned theater said guests must be 17 or older to attend an R-rated film or be accompanied by a parent or guardian age 21 or older, and that IDs will be checked when a guest appears underage. The adult must remain in the auditorium with the minor for the full movie, the theater said.
The theater also warned that if a minor purchases an R-rated ticket online and arrives without meeting the age requirement or without the required adult supervision, the customer will be turned away — and a refund cannot be issued at the theater, according to the post. Manager Ashleigh Mulligan later clarified to Pascack Press that the point is not that the theater “doesn’t give refunds” generally, but that when a ticket is purchased through a third-party vendor such as Fandango, customers must seek any refund through that service rather than at the theater box office. She added that because the transaction is handled by the third party, the theater cannot guarantee the outcome of that refund request.
The message drew a lively local comment thread. Several commenters defended the policy as a legal and licensing requirement, arguing that movie theaters do not have the same discretion families may exercise at home. Others urged the community to support the cinema, which described itself as one of the last remaining theaters in Bergen County and said it has received negative online reviews from customers denied entry under age restrictions.
A few commenters questioned why an accompanying adult must be 21 or older, suggested a parental waiver as a workaround, or criticized the no-refund policy for online purchases. Others countered that the rules are longstanding and that complaints should be directed toward lawmakers, not theater staff.
Mulligan said Westwood Cinemas is open after a brief closure while the owner was vacationing, but that business has been uneven. Some days have been strong, she said, while some weekends have been “pretty slow.” Mulligan, who runs the theater’s Instagram account, said she has been trying to draw more customers in—and worries about what could happen if attendance doesn’t improve.
“That’s kind of like the bad thing about small town theaters,” she said, adding that streaming platforms and the long-term shifts accelerated by COVID have made it harder for independent cinemas to stay busy. Still, she said, the theater is “trying our best to stay open” and hopes the community will continue to show up.
Westwood Cinemas, formerly the Pascack Theater, opened in 1928 and was later refurbished with restored art deco details and upgraded sound and digital/3-D screens, according to the theater’s website.
Two Bergen County movie houses have gone dark in the past year and a half—Ridgewood’s Warner Theatre, which closed in January 2024 after a 91-year run, and Township Theatre in the Township of Washington, which closed for good on July 31, 2025. (The Washington Township building opened in 1966 as Washington Cinema.)
Just before the curtain fell in Washington Township, the theatre hosted a bittersweet farewell: a reunion of its former Clearview Cinemas crew.
In 2024 Westwood Cinemas stepped up for the shuttered Warner as one of two venues hosting the Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival (RGIFF), then celebrating its 13th year with a program of independent films and special events spanning four nights.