On a typically damp and dreary Wednesday evening in January, families were seeking solace from the post-Christmas blues at a Merseyside Showcase Cinema, where Timothee Chalamet's Wonka was being screened.
In other screens within the Croxteth picture house, couples and groups of friends were enjoying popcorn and a Tango Ice Blast while watching a biopic of Elvis Presley's ex-wife Priscilla.
The acclaimed film One Life, depicting Sir Nicholas Winton's efforts to rescue Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, was also among the new releases.
The lobby was largely empty when Leslie Garrett walked in wearing flip flops and a long green overcoat with the hood up, carrying an AK47.
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