‘My eyes sting, but damn, they’re open’: Surviving a 12-hour Twilight marathon in 2025 | twilight

IIt’s around 4am on a Saturday morning, and the delirious energy is on display at the Randwick Ritz’s 12-hour Twilight Saga marathon from dusk to dawn. The cinema has an airport lounge atmosphere after major delays. At this point, people no longer care about their appearance and do everything they can to stay comfortable.

We’ve reached the 30-minute “breakfast break,” which means we’re three of five movies into the romantic tale of quiet, clumsy teen Bella Swan, who moves to the foggy town of Forks, Washington, and falls (permanently) in love with Edward Cullen, a 17-year-old vampire.

The Ritz’s Twilight Saga screening – which ran from 8:30pm on Friday and ended with dawn already at 8am on Saturday – is the first of many screenings being held around the world to mark the 20th anniversary of Stephenie Meyer’s books. While the books have sold more than 160 million copies and the films have grossed more than $3.6 billion worldwide, Twilight’s lasting power is impressive – evident in the 150 people who have lasted through three films and are now projected across the Ritz’s 660-person main theater, either napping on the floor or reclining on multiple chairs.

The crowd consists mostly of Gen Zers and their accompanying Alphas, with a few Millennials and more men than you might think. (Although this is mostly due to a group of brothers who spent the first film audibly asking each other, “Is this supposed to be a comedy?”)

At this point, many still wear their Twilight merchandise – but sometimes wear more ornate clothing, such as a cape made of Edward Cullen’s various faces. But some changed to pajamas, walking around in silk hairnets and face masks. Others crack open a beer or drink a flat white. The stench comes in waves: the unmistakable smell of energy drinks produced by teenagers.

This is my new family, the ones who stay after seven hours; In an unspoken covenant, they adopted me after my friends left, under the pretext of sleep and responsibilities. “The weak links and the fake Twi-hards are gone,” say my fellow Bert Brothers. He nodded. “My eyes are stinging, but damn, they’re open,” Isabella adds. Is there a sparkle in her eye too?

Some didn’t try to stay awake, instead opting for strategic naps during the futility of the five-film saga, though no one can agree on exactly which one. Phoebe, a 20-year-old college student, feels strongly about this being the third Eclipse movie, and offers the same criticism I hear others use to make of the sequel (New Moon) and both Breaking Dawn parts (fourth and five): “Nothing happens, bro! It’s so depressing. A snooze-fest.”

I disagree: I haven’t watched the entire Twilight movies since the series ended in 2012, and I’ve forgotten how repetitive they are. The first four films are as follows: Bella wants to be a vampire; Her brilliant lover, Edward, does not want to condemn her to an eternity as a monster; Defeat the blood-sucking threat; Repeats.

More than once I think: Why am I here, and why am I dressed like Edward Cullen, with the slowly building foundation and glossy face? For the press, I’m pretending. But no, it’s mostly because, as someone who came of age in the mid-2000s, Twilight runs through my veins. To paraphrase Bella Swan, I “love her unconditionally and irrevocably.” I love its melodramatic world of vampires and werewolves, its bizarre monologues and its baffling cinematic choices large and small – from Emmett Cullen holding a sack of egg yolks to the CGI horrors of Renesmee, Bella and Edward’s hybrid child.

“There’s something ridiculous about Twilight,” Phoebe says. “The aesthetics, all the really bad acting, and that blue filter in the first part!”

“It’s now evolved into a big cultural thing, where it’s a mixture of humiliation, but also love for how ridiculous the story is. It’s just so wild.”

This crowd reads the most ridiculous moments in movies, after all of them became TikTok trends over the past five years, as Gen Z and alphas discovered Twilight. Everyone hates Renesmee, and boos her whenever she appears on screen. Shortly after she was born, someone shouted, “Clanker!” Judging by the cheers alone, everyone’s favorite character is Bella’s gruff but handsome father, Police Chief Charlie Swan.

When Bella screams, “You named my baby after the Loch Ness Monster?” In Breaking Dawn: Part 2, the audience’s screams clearly overwhelm a few people awake at 6.27am.

But the best moments in this marathon are the less-rehearsed reactions: the solitary applause when Bella and Edward get engaged, or the murmur of confusion when Bella more or less parrots pro-life arguments in defense of the half-vampire child feeding on her from the inside.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Phoebe told me. “I love cheering or hearing people and their random conversations that make everyone laugh. That’s the whole point of being here.”

After we’re let out at 8am, there’s a quick photo of the survivors outside, which most people turn away from, not quite camera-ready. Even those who hold aloft their ceremonial certificates of victory are quick to disperse and chase some sleep. And I was left alone, shining in the sun.

• The Twilight Saga returns to Australian cinemas on Saturday 1 November, with marathons at Event Cinemas, Hoyts, Village Cinemas and Cinema Nova in Melbourne. Twilight marathons are held around the world; Check your local cinema for dates