Comfort movies
9 Comfort Movies to Rewatch When the Week Wins
Our nine go-to comfort movies, from Paddington 2 to Singin' in the Rain, and the right kind of bad day to put each one on. Rewatching encouraged.
A comfort movie doesn't have to be the best film you've ever seen. It's the one you put on when the week has flattened you, the one you can half-watch while folding laundry and still feel better by the credits. Call them feel good movies if you like. We'd just add one condition: they have to survive the tenth rewatch.
Nothing on this list asks you to brace yourself. There are two musicals, a fairy tale, a food-truck road trip, two Hugh Grant performances and one time loop, made over more than sixty years. We didn't rank them, because comfort doesn't work that way. Pick whichever one matches the kind of tired you are tonight.
My 9 Movies
9 Comfort Movies to Rewatch When the Week Wins
The nine picks
Paddington 2
Dir. Paul King · 2017
Paddington is settled with the Browns in London and working odd jobs to buy Aunt Lucy the perfect birthday present, an old pop-up book of the city. Then someone steals it. Paul King's slapstick runs like clockwork, and the film sincerely believes that good manners can change a room. Hugh Grant, playing a vain actor with a trunk full of disguises, looks like he's having the time of his life.
- Best for
- Anyone who needs proof that kindness still works
- When to watch
- A gray Sunday under a blanket
The Princess Bride
Dir. Rob Reiner · 1987
A grandfather reads his sick grandson a story about true love, sword fights, a giant and a Spaniard with a grudge. Rob Reiner keeps cutting back to the kid complaining about the kissing parts, so the film gets to be sincere and make fun of itself at once. You probably know half the lines already, even if you've never sat through the whole thing.
- Best for
- People who like their romance with a wink
- When to watch
- Home sick on the couch
Amélie
Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet · 2001
Amélie, a shy waitress in Montmartre, starts fixing strangers' lives in secret. Jean-Pierre Jeunet shoots Paris in saturated greens and reds and cares a lot about tiny pleasures: cracking the top of a crème brûlée, skipping stones on the canal, sinking a hand into a sack of grain. Some people find it too sweet. We think the loneliness under the whimsy keeps it honest.
- Best for
- Daydreamers and people-watchers
- When to watch
- A slow weeknight with a glass of red
Chef
Dir. Jon Favreau · 2014
Jon Favreau writes, directs and stars as a chef who loses his restaurant job after a very public meltdown. So he buys a food truck and drives it across the country with his young son. Nobody gets hurt and nothing much goes wrong. Mostly you watch people cook Cuban sandwiches, and the late-night grilled cheese scene alone is worth the rental.
- Best for
- Cooks, eaters and the slightly burned out
- When to watch
- The night before a big weekend of cooking
Mamma Mia!
Dir. Phyllida Lloyd · 2008
A bride-to-be on a Greek island invites the three men who might be her father to her wedding, without telling her mom. ABBA does most of the work from there. Phyllida Lloyd's film is loud and sunny and not embarrassed about either. Meryl Streep singing 'The Winner Takes It All' on her way up a cliff is about as committed as a performance gets.
- Best for
- ABBA fans, obviously
- When to watch
- A night in with friends who will sing along
Notting Hill
Dir. Roger Michell · 1999
A man who runs a struggling travel bookshop in west London spills orange juice on the most famous actress in the world. Honestly, his friends are the best part. There's the dinner party where everyone competes for the saddest life, and there's Spike, the flatmate with no shame whatsoever. Hugh Grant stammers, Julia Roberts looks tired of being famous, and somehow it all works.
- Best for
- Romantic comedy loyalists
- When to watch
- A rainy night with takeout
Groundhog Day
Dir. Harold Ramis · 1993
Bill Murray plays a sour TV weatherman stuck living the same day over and over in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Harold Ramis plays it as a comedy first, and the part about patience sneaks up on you. We suspect it's so soothing to rewatch because you already know what's coming next. So does Phil.
- Best for
- Fans of bone-dry humor
- When to watch
- February 2, obviously
Singin' in the Rain
Dir. Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen · 1952
Hollywood is switching from silent pictures to talkies, and a matinee idol's leading lady turns out to have a voice that could strip paint. Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen fill the gaps with dance numbers. Kelly splashing through the title song in a downpour is still the happiest scene in the movies, as far as we're concerned, though Donald O'Connor's 'Make 'Em Laugh' comes close.
- Best for
- Anyone who needs a burst of joy
- When to watch
- A wet afternoon when you can't go out
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dir. Wes Anderson · 2014
Ralph Fiennes plays M. Gustave, the fussy, perfumed concierge of a mountain hotel in a made-up European country. His new lobby boy, Zero, gets pulled into a caper over a priceless painting and a contested will. Wes Anderson frames everything in pastel symmetry, like a box of expensive pastries. There's a quiet sadness underneath about a world that's gone, which may be why it goes down so easily on a cold night.
- Best for
- Anyone who likes a handmade look
- When to watch
- A snowy evening with a pot of tea
Make it yours
Your comfort list won't match ours, and it shouldn't. Put these nine into the My 9 movie maker, swap out anything you'd never actually reach for on a bad night, and add the ones you would. Then share the grid, so your friends know what to put on next time you're having one.
Opens the maker with these nine in the grid. Swap any of them for your own.