They were told not to go to their schools or offices. Concerns about long lines and shortages had discouraged them from going shopping. They could not visit libraries or museums; no concerts or shows were being held. There were no sporting events on TV, and only so many times that they could watch “Love Is Blind.”

So, during an anxious weekend when the coronavirus outbreak had forced the closure of many cultural institutions and the cancellation of countless events, some Americans did what they still could to take their minds off the widespread uncertainty: They went to the movies.

Though filmgoers did not turn out in overwhelming numbers — a Friday afternoon showing of Ben Affleck’s alcoholism recovery drama, “The Way Back,” at the AMC Magic Johnson Harlem in Manhattan was attended by only one customer — they came to sit in darkened rooms and escape into other people’s stories because it was all they could think to do.

Seated alone and well off to the side of a theater at Landmark’s Century Center Cinema in Chicago, Mike Donovan, a 66-year-old retiree and volunteer prison chaplain, explained that he had gone to a Friday matinee showing of the period drama “First Cow” practically out of habit.