This article aims first and foremost to promote a more systematic inception of reception studies into audiovisual translation research. More specifically, it reports on a series of experiments carried out at major Italian film festivals (Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica di Venezia and Torino Film Festival), with the aim to evaluate audience reception of subtitled films and their awareness of what contributes to, or jeopardizes, quality in subtitling. The experiments described in the article were carried out on three different occasions, between 2009 and 2011, and their focus ranged from a general appreciation of subtitled films, to a more specific evaluation of their comprehension under varying circumstances. On the whole, results from over 230 reception tests are reported and discussed.