Amazon Gives Free Prime (and Popcorn) to Residents of Manchester-by-the-Sea

This is a movies web site, so the focal point of this article will definitely be how Manchester by the Sea has benefitted the actual citizenry of Manchester-by-the-Sea, but let’s not bury the lede. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Amazon gave everyone living there a free year of Prime membership, and we’ll get back to that in a moment, because the real story here is that they also gave everyone free popcorn. Because Amazon makes food now. Apparently, the internet super-retailer recently launched something called Wickedly Prime, a line of snacks, teas, and what their web site calls ‘sweet spreads.’ I’m not quite sure what that is, but an automated drone air-dropping a crate of internet food right at my doorstep feels like the first step towards something major.

But yeah, right, the movies thing. Amazon Studios was the proud distributor of Manchester by the Sea (made even prouder when the film started hoarding awards), and to commemorate the arrival of the film on its Prime video streaming service, the company gave everyone living in the North Shore town a year’s worth of free Prime and free popcorn. Kenneth Lonergan’s drama really does owe a debt of gratitude to the town and its inhabitants, who filled frames as extras and gladly welcomed the crew as guests during their location shoots in Massachusetts. The specificity of setting numbers among the film’s greatest virtues, and that would’ve been impossible without the genuine article of Manchester-by-the-Sea.

Amazon‘s seeming gesture of altruism doubles as a highly visible advertisement, both for the now-streaming Manchester by the Sea as well as their line of popcorn. I’d gladly put my endorsement on Lonergan’s latest, but I cannot speak to the quality of this magically delivered Internet Popcorn. In the future, will all food be delivered to our private residences by the push of a button? Dare we dream?