A terrific & deeply moving journey into the American West on a search for traces of what was once a center of small-town life: the movie theater.  Director Rustin Thompson travels 10,000 miles to visit over 100 rural movie theaters in 10 states in the West. He finds the physical remnants of what were once vibrant theaters,now gathering dust or repurposed as gyms, banks etc. He meets the theater owners struggling to keep movies on the big screen while fighting streaming, inflexible distributors, rising costs and many more obstacles to staying open.

"I was deeply moved while watching Rustin Thompson's THE LAST PICTURE SHOWS, a touching documentary about the central role that movie theatres play as the center of public life in small towns across America. As someone who runs a family business that has been showing movies since 1938, I know all too well the challenges that the operators featured in the film face.THE LAST PICTURE SHOWS is something you'll want to see." - Greg Laemmle, owner/operator of Laemmle Theatres

“Spare and beguiling…the movie’s lyrical and elegiac tone makes it truly resonant.” - Glenn Kenny, NY Times

"The people who appear on camera demonstrate a unique can-do spirit, swimming against the tide and somehow surviving. The Last Picture Shows is a moving and poetic slice of Americana." - Leonard Maltin, leonardmaltin.com