Movie Night Sweets: How to Beat the Cinema Counter From Your Sofa

The cinema has the big screen and the surround sound. You have the sofa, the blanket, the pause button and nobody kicking the back of your seat. On every count that matters, home wins. Except one.

The pick and mix.

That glowing wall of tubs in the foyer is the best part of going to the pictures, and it's the one thing a supermarket sharing bag has never managed to replace. So here's how to bring it home, and do it better.

Why a sharing bag never feels like enough

A sharing bag is one sweet, repeated two hundred times. By the second trailer your hand knows exactly what's coming. Pick and mix is the opposite: a fried egg, then a fizzy bottle, then something blue you don't remember choosing. Every reach is a small surprise, which is what you want when your eyes are on the screen.

It also ends the oldest argument in the living room. One of you wants fizzy, one wants soft and fruity, and one only ever eats the cola bottles. With a proper mix, nobody has to compromise.

The easy option: one pouch, two cups, no pausing

Movie Night is the bundle we built after one too many films where everybody wanted something different. You get a pouch of our Best Seller Mix to pass along the row, plus a cup of Fizzy Mix and a cup of Gummy Mix, one for each arm of the sofa. That's over a kilo of sweets, portioned so nobody has to share unless they want to.

On the soft side, expect the likes of giant strawberries, fried eggs, jelly snakes and twin cherries. On the fizzy side, bubblegum bottles, blue raspberries and tongue painter dummies for when the plot drags. Enough for a double bill, or one very long series.

One cup each, and keep your hands to yourself

If your house runs on strict sweet borders, The Triple Threat is three big cups in three different moods:

• Sour ShockLab is the dare. Four kinds of Toxic Waste, with fizzy tongue painters and jumbo fizzy cherry cola bottles to take the edge off. Just about.
• Heartbreaker is the soft one. Gummy hearts, pink and white mice, raspberry millions and terrific turtles.
• Vintage Pick & Mix is the old school one. Flying saucers, foam bananas, wine gums, jelly babies and giant cola bottles.

Stack them, swap them, or hide yours down the side of the cushion. We won't tell.

Match the sweets to the film

Half the fun is picking a mix that suits what's on. Our completely unofficial pairing guide:

Horror: go sour

You want something that makes your face jump before the film does. Sour Apocalypse is ten of the sourest sweets we stock in one bag, with Toxic Waste leading the charge. Sour first, fruit underneath, and a second wave just when you think it's safe. Rather like the film.

Blockbusters: go American

Double Feature is the American cinema counter in one bag: Mike and Ike, Lemonheads, Nerds and M&M's, the sweets you've watched people eat on screen your whole life. There's plenty more in our American mixes.

Rom coms and date nights: soft and quiet

Nothing that crunches during the big speech. The Hall of Fame is the all time greats of the pick and mix counter: fried eggs, milk bottles, cola bottles, gold bears and jelly beans. Easy to love and easy to share, which is the whole idea.

Family films: something for everyone

Fizzy for the big ones, gummies for everyone else. Fizzy Shockwave gives every sweet a fizzy sour coat, and our best sellers are the place to start when nobody can agree. One for the grown ups: sour sweets really are sour, and many of our sweets aren't suitable for children under three because of the choking risk. Each product page has the details.

The classics: go retro

Watching something older than you are? Eat the sweets that were in the foyer at the time. The Retro Rewind is a 70s mix, an 80s mix and a 90s mix in one bundle, and our guide to retro sweets will help you work out which decade is really yours.

How much do you need?

• Two people, one film: a 300g Teaser Pouch of one of our ready made mixes.
• A family or a sofa full of friends: the Movie Night bundle or The Triple Threat, so everyone has their own.
• A whole series in one weekend: a 1kg Signature Pouch. It's resealable, which is optimistic of us.

Five rules for a proper film night

1. Pick the film before the sweets come out. Forty minutes of scrolling is how a pouch disappears before the opening credits.
2. Decant. Bowls or cups, one each. Rustling is for the cinema.
3. Lights low, phones face down.
4. No commentary from anyone who has seen it before.
5. Save one favourite for the end credits. You'll thank yourself.

Get it in time for the weekend

Every order is hand mixed, weighed and sealed by our own team, from a range of 600+ sweets. Order before 2pm Monday to Friday and it's dispatched the same day. Standard delivery usually takes 2 to 3 working days from dispatch, so for a Friday film night, ordering by Tuesday is the safe bet. Delivery is free on orders over £50, and the full details are on our delivery page.

After that there's only the film left to choose. That part's on you.

Shop the Movie Night bundle