Although I will forever be a bookworm and would rather pick up a book than scroll through a streaming service trying to find the next movie I should watch, some films have caught my eye. This is mainly because they are adapted from some of my favourite books and bring the character and setting to life in a way beyond my wildest imagination.
Below are some of the best book-to-movie adaptations I’ve ever watched, ranging from movies based on classic books to more modern fiction novels.
1. Room
In this film, directed by Lenny Abrahamson, Joy Newsome (Brie Larson) and her five-year-old son Jack live together in a shed they call “room.” In reality, they are held captive by a man they refer to as “Old Nick,” who abducted Joy years prior to the start of the movie.
Based on the 2010 novel by Emma Donoghue, the movie similarly follows the plot line of the book, with a few changes: in the novel, the point of view is completely through Jack’s eyes, while the movie follows a more omniscient point of view.
2. Hidden Figures
The movie Hidden Figures is based on the biography of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly, which details the experiences of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, African-American mathematicians who worked for NASA as “computers” during the 1960s.
The movie highlights the discriminatory experiences the women faced in their workplace, such as being subjected to segregation laws and facing passivity from their superiors, all while being the intellectuals behind the launch of the astronaut John Glenn.
As someone who loves learning about the experiences of others, I found this movie inspiring and hopeful for women who choose to pursue careers in STEM.
3. Coraline
Many would be shocked to find out that the classic childhood movie Coraline is actually based on the 2002 children’s novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman.
The film keeps the same whimsically dark elements present in the novel but tweaks them a bit to make the cinematography enthralling for children.
One of the most fascinating features of the movie is that the entire production is claymation — all of the characters and settings are completely made out of clay, and the film was shot using stop-motion recording. Knowing all the time and effort that went into making this fantastical film makes viewing it all the more exciting.
4. Pride and Prejudice
I am such a devoted fan of Jane Austen that when I first heard there’s a movie adaptation of the beloved romance novel Pride and Prejudice, I was skeptical of it being any good. I stood corrected, however, because the 2005 movie adaptation featuring Keira Knightley as the headstrong Elizabeth Bennet brought the novel vividly to life.
I especially enjoyed how the film kept the setting and characters as period-accurate as possible, as I’m not too intrigued by movie adaptations of classic books that take on a more modern spin. I’ll never forget the gorgeous ballroom scene early on in the movie and the tension that begins to brew between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.
If you’re a book lover but looking to change how you consume your literary tales, I suggest you check out the movie adaptation of some of your favourite books!