A few weeks ago, the sequel "Minions 2 - In Search of the Miniboss" hit the cinemas - and triggered a trend called "Gentle Minions": Groups of predominantly young men come to the cinemas in suits and sit in the auditoriums with their fingers spread together - Gru's characteristic gesture.

But it does not always stay that harmless. In Britain, cinema operators are reporting riots and disturbances during screenings. Footage posted on the Tiktok video portal shows the suits screaming and dancing in front of the screen while popcorn flies through the air, lands on the floor - and is left there, much to the annoyance of the cinema staff. According to the reports, some families who were present were horrified and fled the cinema with their children, some of whom were crying. As a consequence, some cinemas refuse entry to young people in suits.

The trend has also arrived in Bonn. According to cinema operators, however, the behaviour has so far been within acceptable limits. Tobias Kraemer, managing partner of the Woki, has been following the news about the new trend and says: "We also have Gentle Minions every day. But they have actually behaved gently so far, so we haven't had to intervene." After the "Minions" screenings, there’s more cleaning up to do at the Woki, "but that is quite normal for a well-attended family film," says Kraemer.

Kraemer's observations are also confirmed by one of his employees. According to her, a lot of guests came in suits, especially for the evening screenings. "But it's slowly dying down," she says. "In the meantime, we hardly see any Gentle Minions here." There have never been any problems with the suits, she says.

Why the young men wear suits is quickly explained: Gru wears a black suit in "Minions 2". Why some of the suits in the cinema behave like villains, on the other hand, is a matter of debate. A small group who came to an evening screening at the Woki had no sympathy with them. Three young women in blazers and a young man in a suit wanted to watch "Minions 2". They were upset by the behaviour of some of the "Gentle Minions". One of the young women said: "We think the trend is funny and cool. But we don't like it when people get rowdy and mess things up. That's not the point of the trend as far as we see it." The point, she said, is to have fun. "Besides, popcorn is far too yummy for us to throw it across the auditorium.

There were no "Gentle Minions" at all at the Sternlichtspiele in Bonn. Theatre manager Günter von Schenck says: "Looking at various social media channels, we can certainly report with not too much regret that our cinema has not been affected by the phenomenon." He adds that his and his team's sympathies go out in particular to the cinema colleagues affected, who have to get their partly devastated auditoriums back into shape

.The picture is similar in the Rhein-Sieg district: The trend was not known so far at the Capitol cinema centre in Siegburg. Owner Christina Neff has "not noticed anything unusual" among her guests.