Forget crowded cinema halls, strangers checking their phones and someone rustling a bag of popcorn during the quietest scene. In central Zagreb, there is now a place that turns movie night into something much more private.
Zagreb has a new place for people who love films but do not necessarily love the traditional cinema experience. Hidden inside a historic 19th-century basement in the city centre, BrickClub is a private mini cinema designed for just one group at a time.
Located at Gundulićeva 26, within walking distance of many of Zagreb’s best-known central streets and squares, the space combines old brick walls and vaulted ceilings with contemporary cinema technology. The result feels somewhere between a secret screening room, a private lounge and one of those places you would probably never discover simply by walking past.
But the most interesting part is not the screen. It is the idea behind it.
In this story
A cinema where the entire room is yours
At BrickClub, you are not buying a ticket for a particular seat or joining a room full of strangers. Instead, the space is reserved exclusively for your group.
You decide who comes, what you watch and what kind of evening you want to have. It could be a favourite film everyone has already seen ten times, a series you want to watch together, an important football match or another special television event.
There are no strangers talking behind you, no glowing phone screens several rows ahead and no need to adjust your evening to anyone else.
For anyone who has ever wished they could combine the comfort of watching a film at home with the big-screen experience of a cinema, this is essentially the idea.
A historic Zagreb basement turned into a private screening room
The setting gives the concept much of its character.
BrickClub occupies a basement almost 150 years old, with exposed brick and distinctive vaulted ceilings that immediately separate it from a conventional cinema hall. Inside, however, the technology is decidedly modern.
The space includes an almost four-metre-wide screen, surround sound, carefully designed lighting and acoustic treatment created to provide a proper cinema experience.
That contrast works particularly well in Zagreb, a city where some of the most interesting places are often hidden behind ordinary façades, inside courtyards or below street level.
BrickClub feels like another addition to that side of the city: something you have to know exists before you can find it.
Perhaps this is what going out looks like now
There is also something very current about the idea.
For years, going out often meant finding the busiest restaurant, the most popular bar or the event everyone else was attending. Increasingly, however, many people are looking for experiences that feel smaller, calmer and more personal.
BrickClub was created around precisely that idea.
Founder Domagoj Mak describes it not simply as another entertainment venue but as a place where a group can create its own evening instead of becoming part of someone else’s.
The concept deliberately avoids the feeling of a large public venue. You arrive with friends, choose what to watch, open a drink, settle in and eventually watch the lights go down.
It is a simple idea, but perhaps that is exactly why it feels appealing.
Not only for movie nights
Although films are an obvious reason to visit, the private cinema concept makes the space suitable for much more than a classic movie night.
BrickClub is designed for private evenings with friends, birthday celebrations, sports screenings, business gatherings and special occasions where privacy and atmosphere matter more than formality.
A big football match with your closest friends could work just as easily as an old-film marathon or a birthday built around someone’s favourite movie.
And because only one group occupies the room, the experience can feel less like attending an event and more like creating your own.
A different thing to do in Zagreb
Zagreb already has plenty of cafés, bars, museums and traditional cinemas, but places like BrickClub add another layer to the city.
For visitors, it can be an interesting option after a day of sightseeing, particularly during colder or rainy evenings when another night in a crowded bar does not sound particularly tempting. For locals, it offers something increasingly difficult to find in the centre of a city: a place where your group can genuinely have the room to itself.
It is also exactly the sort of experience we like seeing appear in cities — not necessarily bigger, louder or more spectacular, but more personal.
Sometimes a memorable evening does not require another attraction to tick off a list. Sometimes all you need is a good film, a few people you actually want to spend time with and a room where nobody else can interrupt.
Mindful Vacation tip
Turn it into part of a slow Zagreb evening. Take a walk through the Lower Town before your screening, stop somewhere nearby for dinner or a glass of wine, and leave the rest of the night deliberately unplanned. Zagreb is particularly enjoyable when you stop trying to fit ten things into one evening.
BrickClub is located at Gundulićeva 26 in Zagreb. More information about reservations and availability can be found through BrickClub’s official website and social media channels.
