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It was sci-fi short story or novella that I read in Analog, Asimov's or SF&F in the past decade or so.

Set in a future extrapolation of our social-media, fan-centered world inside a future mega movie theater entertainment mall, where a late high school/ early college aged girl is with a group of friends and she really wants to see a certain movie and is consistently and conveniently redirected from seeing the one she is interested in. She ends up becoming intrigued by a boy at the theater acting strangely and becomes involved in the undercover "kid's" mission within the theater. The premise is that so many movies were being made, that a conspiracy formed where some movie companies started to advertise and market movies and merchandise for movies that they never actually filmed, and they were getting away with it.

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  • I read this, I think it was in a "Years best Si-fi" anthology. The "boy" was actually an undercover agent she had previously dated. Aug 17, 2018 at 8:07
  • I'm sure I saw a story like that in 'The Simpsons'!
    – Danny Mc G
    Aug 17, 2018 at 11:09
  • That would be a better world than our current world where they, sadly, do go ahead and make the movies.
    – davidbak
    Aug 7 at 16:50

1 Answer 1

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IIRC this is "Now Showing" by Connie Willis. You could read it in GRRM's anthology Rogues or Mrs Willis' new Christmas stories collection.

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    Could you edit to explain how this matches the OPs description?
    – TheLethalCarrot
    Aug 17, 2018 at 12:56
  • The Google book at books.google.com/… has most of the text of the story.
    – FuzzyBoots
    Aug 17, 2018 at 13:10
  • That was it. Thanks. Weird I remembered this as being something I read much longer ago and from a mag as opposed to an anthology, but checked my copy and sure 'nuff. Thanks again! Aug 19, 2018 at 9:31

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