As we venture deeper into the first couple months of the New Year – the “blue” months as I like to call them – it can feel like a prolonged time of winter limbo. Whether resolutions are struggling to be upheld, substituted or completely abandoned; the exhaustion of the post-festive slump is still lingering. Waking up to grey skies is becoming monotonous, and it can all just start to take its toll.
Perhaps what’s needed to break through this greyscale is nothing other than the technicolour of film. What better way to hibernate in true “blue” month fashion, after all, than in front of a good movie.
Whether you choose to indulge in this by yourself, with a couple friends or family, or host a full on movie night, I’ve got some nostalgic film recommendations ranging from rom-com to coming of age, threaded through with guaranteed heart-warming, to provide a little flicker of comfort and light to sustain you through to lighter, brighter days.
I present to you, your New Year Blues watchlist…
About Time (2013)
First on the list is this charming coming-of-age meets romcom. About Time follows Tim (Domhnall Glesson) who is told the men in his family have the ability to time-travel to any point in their past. Given this new power to potentially change the trajectory of his life, Tim decides to use it to find love. As we follow Tim through young adulthood, will he be able to secure his picture-perfect love story or is creating your own romcom not so simple?
Inflected with humour and quick-wit throughout, laced with dashings of profound quotidian wisdom, and not to mention the gift that is Bill Nighie, this film always feels to me like a big hug.
Perhaps the film’s parting message might spark inspiration within you too: to seek out and appreciate the glimmers of magic amongst the mundane, which once you start looking for them, show up all around you.
[Where to watch: NOW, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube]
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
A story of a certified daydreamer – Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) lives a monotonous, sheltered life; spending his days filing photos of incredible adventures for LIFE magazine, Mitty escapes from the everyday into the vivid creations of his imagination. Until his career is put on the line and he is sent on a quest of his own: to find the perfect image for the magazine’s final issue. Finally given the chance to embark on a true adventure of his own, Mitty is given the chance to truly make the epic out of the everyday.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is the ultimate endorsement and celebration of the daydreamer; the everyday-man turned heroic; and imparts a message of indulgement in your dreams no matter how big and fantastical they may at first seem. You never know, the adventure and leap of faith might just be worth it…
[Where to watch: Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube]
Love, Rosie (2014)
If you, like myself, are a sucker for the friends to lovers trope, and are ready to buckle in for (an incredibly long) slow-burn, then look no further than this delightful rom-com. Rosie (Lily Collins) and Alex (Sam Claflin) are childhood best friends, who no matter how much they might seem destined for each other, life just has a sneaky tendency to keep getting in the way. As they journey from teenagers into adulthood, they are forced to navigate life independently from each other…but something keeps pulling them back to each other.
Showcasing rom-com at its very finest, Love, Rosie is sure to tug on even the coldest of hearts. Are Rosie and Alex destined to be together, or is it an even more complex case of learning to let go of what you’ve outgrown?
[Where to watch: Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube]
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
Another coming-of-age to pull at your heartstrings, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a standout of its genre. It’s not often we’re gifted with the author directing the film adaptation of his own book, but Stephen Chbosky clearly wanted to ensure we weren’t disappointed. And I assure you, watching this profound, incredibly scored, cinematically-pleasing coming-of-age film will never be a decision you’d regret.
Narrated by and following the life of Charlie (Logan Lerman), find yourself transported into the compellingly beautiful and devastating cinematic world of the “wallflower” – the social outcast. Seeming to be resigned to watching his peers from the sidelines, Charlie is pulled into a different social world once taken under the wing of a couple of magnetic seniors (Emma Watson and Ezra Miller). Has he finally found a place to belong, or does life refuse to be that simple?
Exploring the complexity of “coming of age” amidst grief, mental health struggle and the social battlefields of the classroom, the Perks of Being a Wallflower above all is a humbling and comforting reminder that everyone, no matter external appearance, is fighting their own insecurities and self-consciousness. After all, there’s a little wallflower in all of us…
If anything, I urge you to watch (or even re-watch) this film for the pure hair-raising beauty of the “tunnel scene” – soundtracked by David Bowie’s Heroes, this scene is up there in my favourite cinematic moments of all time; stirring a reminder of the power of change and youthful aspiration we all hold in ourselves, no matter how dormant(/stagnant) it may lie at times.
[Where to watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV]
The Holdovers (2023)
My final recommendation is a more recent cinematic arrival. The Holdovers, set in the 1970s, is a moving and bittersweet tale of an unlikely friendship formed between a capable but troubled student, his stern and unapproachable teacher, and the grieving school cook who are forced to “hold over” in the boarding school, over the Christmas break.
If the delightful 70s aesthetic isn’t enough to hook you, the promise of an emotional journey that constantly pulls you between moments of heart-aching tears and eruptions of laughter, set amidst a cinematographer’s dream landscape should tempt you enough. Without subsiding into clichéd tropes, this touching dramedy is the perfect winter indulgence, at once delightfully subtle and incredibly profound in its resonating impression.
[Where to watch: Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon Prime]
Whether you choose to watch just one of these films or all, what I can guarantee is a stirring of emotional warmth, flickers of inspiration amidst what can otherwise feel like a very stagnant period of the year, and a stunning visual experience.
Happy watching!