The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have approached some of Australia’s major cinema chains for their official policies on unaccompanied children in suits, but have not yet received comment.

Judging by the videos circulating on social media (from both Minions fans and frustrated cinema employees), though, it’s fair to say the trend is taking off here too.

But… why is this happening?

The simple answer is: it’s currently school holidays, and teens have more time to do things that deliberately confuse and lightly annoy the adults in their immediate vicinity.

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But young people’s bizarre engagement with this film isn’t totally out of the blue either. Since first appearing in Despicable Me back in 2010, Minions have become a huge cultural phenomenon which people either love, hate, or love to hate.

They’ve also developed a life of their own on the internet. The emoji-like characters first became popular with older people sharing earnest memes on Facebook, and have since been ironically co-opted by millennials and Gen Z to produce content that’s often dark and almost always nonsensical.

With the release of a new Minions movie, this online fandom has spilled into real life and kids are getting dressed up in their fanciest gear to ironically honour an increasingly ridiculous phenomenon.

And it’s no coincidence that Universal Pictures is leaning in to the chaos. Though Minions: The Rise of Gru is primarily a kids’ film, it has also been actively marketed towards an older demographic.

The official TikTok account for the film has a bunch of content with the same ironic sense of humour – one video giving a specific shoutout to “2010s kids” that would have grown up with the franchise – and the movie’s soundtrack is helmed by producer Jack Antonoff, who is famous for working with young superstars like Taylor Swift and Lorde.

Antonoff’s soundtrack, which he announced on Instagram in the style of a festival lineup, features ’70s covers from popular acts including Phoebe Bridgers, Tame Impala and Thundercat.

This is helping put the film on zoomers’ cultural radar – and it’s all translating to serious success at the box office.

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At the time of writing, Minions: The Rise of Gru has clocked up $296 million in global takings and is on track to smash the record for the biggest fourth of July holiday weekend debut in the US.

Of course, it’s not all kids in suits – Despicable Me is the most successful animated film franchise in the world. But their ticket purchases, however ironic, don’t hurt either.

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