This summer I had a goal to watch as many movies on my watchlist that I could. On my watchlist, I had four Audrey Hepburn movies that I wanted to watch, which included Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Roman Holiday, Charade and Sabrina. These four movies had been on my watchlist for years, and I kept putting them off because I thought they would be boring or too long, but I was so wrong.
The first Hepburn movie I watched was Roman Holiday. Funny enough, I was planning to watch Sabrina, I had wanted to watch that one ever since Sabrina Carpenter wore a Sabrina inspired dress to the 2026 Met Gala, but I got Sabrina mixed up with Roman Holiday so I ended up watching Roman Holiday first.
Roman Holiday tells the story of a sheltered royal princess named Anne. One night, tired of her countless responsibilities, Anne sneaks out into the streets of Rome, where she runs into a serious journalist named Joe. Once the morning comes, Joe realizes he has spent the night with the famous princess while Anne has no clue he knows who she is. Joe is hungry for a promotion at work, so he decided to write a hit story over the princess without her knowledge. But as they spend more time together in Rome, they unexpectedly fall in love. Now Joe has to decide between running the story or keeping it to himself, and Anne has to face the fact that her Roman Holiday has to come to an end.
This movie was such a fun adventure to follow along with. Anne is such a whimsical character who finds joy in every little adventure, and Joe, a once serious man, turns funny and romantic with Anne. Their long holiday traveling around Rome made me feel like I was traveling with them, and even though the movie was in black and white, the scenery spoke for itself. The ending wrapped up in the perfect way, leaving the viewer wondering what happened to Princess Anne and Joe.
The next movie on my list was Charade, which is a perfect fall movie. Charade follows Regina, who returns home from a ski trip to find that her husband has been murdered. She then learns that her husband and his old war buddies were involved in a secret mission where Regina’s husband cheated and stole from his other buddies. Now Regina is being hunted down by her husband’s old friends who want payback. But Regina is being looked out for by a stranger who she met on the ski trip named Peter. He offers to protect her and help solve the mystery of her husband’s death before it’s too late.
This film felt like running through a maze. There were so many details that all intertwined to explain the story. I loved this movie, but sometimes I struggled to keep up with everything. But the movie kept me guessing up until the very end. Hepburn’s outfits in this movie were incredible and her personality was hilarious. This is the perfect stormy fall night movie.
Finally, it was time for me to watch Sabrina, which is what got me interested in Audrey Hepburn movies to begin with. Sabrina tells the story of a chauffeur’s daughter who is deeply in love with her father’s employer’s son David. But David is a notorious playboy and never notices Sabrina. Then Sabrina goes off to Paris, and when she finally returns home, she is beautiful and classy. David immediately takes interest in Sabrina, and Sabrina is overjoyed. But when David gets hurt and has to spend a few days in bed, he instructs his older, more responsible, businessman brother, Linus, to take care of Sabrina and take her out on trips to keep her entertained. During this time, though, barriers break down, and both Sabrina and Linus realize that there may be more to their relationship.
I was expecting to love this film; I even thought it would become my favorite, but honestly, it I wasn’t super impressed. I didn’t really enjoy the two love interests in the movie and I felt like Sabrina deserved more. But minus those points, the movie was very similar to Roman Holiday where it felt like I was on vacation while watching the movie. Sabrina as a character might be my favorite; she is so sweet and kind but also strong and responsible in the movie, which I admire.
The last Hepburn movie I have recently watched was probably the most popular, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Despite being one of Hepburn’s most popular movies, a lot of people hate this movie. So I went into this movie with low expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised. Breakfast at Tiffany’s follows a free-spirited young woman named Holly. Holly loves expensive things and often has rich older men buy things for her. But she struggles with commitment and often finds herself in difficult situations with these men. That is until she meets Paul, a struggling writer who lives in her apartment building. Holly befriends Paul, and as their friendship blossoms, they learn more about each other. Paul learns about Holly’s difficult past, and Holly learns about Paul’s money struggles. But as their friendship turns into romance, Holly self-sabotages herself for fear of being put in a cage while Paul struggles to connect with Holly. For them to be together, Holly has to learn how to change her thinking when it comes to love.
I personally loved this movie; I loved the plot and the romance as well. It was hard for me to connect with Holly, but I felt like I could understand her thought process. Holly also has a cat who she loves dearly, which I think is really sweet. The outfits in this movie are incredible and the soundtrack is one of my personal favorites. The ending of this movie felt more emotional than the other movies of Hepburn’s, and I felt like it had a more important lesson.
If I had to rank these four movies from best to worst, I would say Breakfast at Tiffany’s is my favorite, followed by Charade, Roman Holiday and then Sabrina. But all of these movies I truly enjoyed, and I cannot wait to watch more of Hepburn’s less popular movies.