Frequently asked questions

We made this decision deliberately in 2020 and have held to it since. The quality of discussion and community on PölderPlay depends on members being genuinely engaged with film — not people who signed up during a free trial and never came back.

We've seen what happens when streaming services optimise for growth: the median user drags everything toward the most accessible content, and the interesting edges get buried. Invitation-only is our structural answer to that problem.

Send an email to join@polderplay.fun with your name, a short introduction, and a few films or directors that matter to you. We review all requests on the 1st and 15th of each month.

See the request page for full details on what to include.

We batch-review requests on the 1st and 15th of each month and send responses within 24 hours of each review date. So the maximum wait is about two weeks.

We don't send rejection emails — if you haven't heard back within three days of a review date, your request wasn't accepted in that round. You're welcome to try again; sometimes it's simply a matter of timing and capacity.

Yes, and referrals are the fastest route to acceptance. If an existing member mentions your name in their own email to us confirming you're someone they can vouch for, we weight that heavily. Ask them to email join@polderplay.fun separately with your name and email address.

€12/month, billed monthly. There's also an annual plan at €110/year (saves you €34). We don't offer a free tier or trial — if you're accepted, your first month comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee if you decide it's not for you.

See full details on the membership page.

Yes. Cancel any time from your account settings. Your access continues until the end of the billing period. We don't do dark patterns — there's one button, no hoops to jump through, and no "are you sure?" screens beyond a single confirmation.

Every title is reviewed by at least two of our eight curators. We don't have a rigid scoring rubric — we're looking for films that reward attentive viewing, that have something to say, and that fit within our editorial focus on European cinema.

We add roughly 30–40 titles per month. We also remove titles when rights expire or when we feel they no longer fit what the library is trying to be. That second reason is controversial among members and we've had heated forum discussions about it. Our position: a curated library is different from an archive.

Yes, selectively. We have a sizeable section of Japanese cinema — particularly 1950s–70s, where we think the overlap with European art house sensibilities is real, not just superficial. We also have Iranian cinema from the 1990s and 2000s, selected South American films, and a small but growing African cinema section.

Non-European titles make up about 15% of the library. We're not trying to be global — we're trying to be good at what we know.

Members can submit suggestions via the members' forum, where there's a dedicated thread for acquisition requests. We read all of them. We can't always acquire suggested titles — rights can be complicated — but several films in our library came directly from member suggestions.

Every film in our library has an accompanying essay — typically 400–800 words — written by one of our curators. These cover production history, context, why we think the film matters, and often a specific formal or thematic observation that rewards a second viewing.

We don't generate these with AI. They're written by humans who've watched the film and thought about it. Some of them are very good.

Most films are available in 1080p. About 180 titles are available in 4K HDR. A small number of older titles are only available in 720p — we're honest about this on the film page before you start watching.

Dolby Atmos is available on about 60 titles. Stereo and 5.1 surround are standard.

Web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge — all current versions), iOS app, Android app, Apple TV app, and Android TV. Chromecast and AirPlay are supported from the web and mobile apps. We don't currently have a native app for smart TVs other than Android TV and Apple TV.

Yes, on iOS and Android. Downloaded films are available for 30 days, or 48 hours after you start watching — whichever comes first. Not all titles are available for download (it depends on the license terms we've agreed with rights holders).

Two simultaneous streams on one account. We don't offer shared or family plans — membership is personal. If you're watching with a partner or housemate who also wants access, they'd need their own account (and their own invitation).

Film Circles are small, structured discussion groups of 8–12 members. Each Circle watches and discusses a single film over a two-week period. Discussions happen in a dedicated forum thread — no video calls, no real-time chat, just written responses you can contribute to at your own pace.

The format was inspired by book clubs, but adapted for film: we found that the asynchronous written format actually produces better discussion than real-time chat, because people have time to think before responding.

No. Participation in Film Circles is entirely optional. About 65% of our members are in at least one active Circle at any given time. Many members join purely to access the library and never participate in Circles — that's completely fine.

Once you're a member, you can browse active Circles in the members' area and request to join one with available space. You can also request to be matched to a Circle based on your preferences — we try to match people with similar tastes and roughly similar depth of engagement with film.