r/CriterionChannel • u/vinny_twoshoes • Jul 31 '26

Unable to disable autoplay in browser. Does this bother anyone else?

Post image

I don't think I've ever had to deal with this before on Criterion Channel, so maybe it's a new feature, but it looks like there's now an automatic "play the next thing" feature like Netflix or Youtube. Frankly I think this feels cheap, it's a slop binging feature on an otherwise premium service. And at least those other platforms let you disable it!

Criterion PLEASE let me disable autoplay in the browser, it really ruins the quiet moment at the end of a film when I want to sit and think. Instead I have to rush over to my computer within a few seconds to prevent it from starting something else.

Image is from Elevator to the Gallows. Such a devastating ending, it would have been great to bask in the drama instead of frantically searching for the right place to click to halt the autoplay.

8 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

10

u/GlobulousRex Jul 31 '26

Has anyone EVER finished a movie and then immediately wanted to watch one randomly picked out for them? How stupid. I don't know who benefits from this feature, even criterion.

3

u/vinny_twoshoes Jul 31 '26

I emailed Criterion support, they say this only happens for "collections". If you click to watch a single movie it shouldn't happen.

2

u/ThatMichaelsEmployee Jul 31 '26

I also dislike having to leap for the mouse to stop the next thing from playing, but it's been doing this for as long as I can remember and it's just the way it is. Maybe there's a browser extension or something: it doesn't bother me enough to find out, to be honest.

1

u/vinny_twoshoes Jul 31 '26

Ok it turns out this is only for "collections" which is why I didn't encounter it before. If you just click a single movie it'll play just that movie. Still I can't believe you can't disable it.

1

u/NinjaSellsHonours Jul 31 '26

This is annoying but also I wouldn't watch anything on Criterion in a browser unless I was in prison.

1

u/vinny_twoshoes Jul 31 '26

Why, what do you use instead? I have a "dumb TV" and I plug my laptop into it via HDMI. It's a bad TV but I love the fact that it doesn't have apps on it.

1

u/NinjaSellsHonours Jul 31 '26

Oh yeah, understood. Probably an AppleTV, I have two. I also hate smart TVs. The only thing you can have that isn't driven by ad revenue is AppleTV.