There is a mysterious alchemy that occurs when people enjoy entertainment together. When we are part of an audience for a movie or a play or a concert or lecture, we feel a kind of kinship with one another.
This is not true in all group situations. We don’t feel the same sort of kinship when we share a bus ride or a plane trip with strangers. Nor do we feel any particular kinship with our fellow diners in a restaurant, or with the other people we see wandering around in a store or a gallery or museum.
The feeling of kinship only occurs when we are having a synchronous experience together — when we know that everyone around us is simultaneously experiencing the same narrative that we are.
There must be something wired into our collective DNA, some distinct evolutionary advantage, to the formation of this situational emotional connection with strangers.