47 Best Warm Movies to Watch

Foreign

Best Film

90% Vouch

Faces Places

What happens to genius and complex filmmakers once they reach old age? Agnès Varda at 89 is one example. She maintains an interest in the same deep questions but portrays them in a casual way – basically tries to have a little more fun with things. She finds a friend in JR, a young artist with a truck that prints large portraits. Together they go around French villages (the French title is “Visages Villages”), connecting with locals and printing their photos on murals. Their interactions are researched, but not worked. In fact, they are deeply improvised. Because of this and because the movie is structured in an episode format, it will completely disarm you. And when you least expect it you will be met with long-lasting takes on mortality, loss, but also gender, the environment and the evasiveness of life and art.

Documentary

Foreign

Best Film

91% Vouch

93% Users

On Body and Soul

On Body and Soul is the impeccably crafted winner of the 2017 Berlin Film Festival. Two strangers have the same dream every night, they meet as deer in a forest and eventually fall in love. When they run into each other in real life and search for the love they experience once unconscious, their introverted personalities as well as their surroundings add variables that make it hard to establish that same connection. This unconventional love story is beautifully and passionately made by Hungary’s best director, who had taken an 18-year break from making movies. When you watch it you will realize that her break was probably the only way someone could so creatively and tenderly make something like On Body and Soul.

Romance

Foreign

Slow

Best Film

91% Vouch

77% Users

After the Storm

A quiet, smart and well-crafted movie by the much celebrated director Hirokazu Koreeda. Like his other work, notably Like Father, Like Son and Nobody Knows, it addresses family dynamics and how they surface. Once a successful writer, Ryota is now a private detective who spends the little money he makes on gambling instead of paying child support. His ex-wife and son are increasingly alienated by his behavior, until one day, during a storm, they all find themselves trapped in Ryota’s childhood home. Subtly touching on notions of inter-generational bond and tension – this is the kind of movie of which you’ll remember flashes long after you watch it.

Prime

ICYMI

Good Movie

80% Vouch

78% Users

Up in the Air

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a corporate axman, he comes in a fires people when the managers are too afraid to do it themselves. The nature of his work requires a lot of flying, short lived meetings in transit zones and he absolutely loves it, and he has a certain goal in mind. When the company tries a new approach to corporate downsizing he has to change his way and view of life. It’s full of cynicism and warmth. If you are familiar with Jason Reitman’s previous work, you’ll feel right at home, if you don’t : Get to it!

Comedy / Drama / Romance

2009

Good Movie

79% Vouch

93% Users

Night on Earth

An absolute delight of a gem starring a young Winona Ryder as well as an amazing cast. Arguably Jim Jarmusch’s best film, it tells the story of 5 different places at night from the perspective of cab drivers and their passengrs: Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki. It’s really hard to pick a favorite among the stories, from a messy tomboy having to deal with a busy businesswoman, to a blind woman in Paris making a frustrated driver from Ivory Coast go insane. But look out for Helmut and Yo-Yo, from the New York story. I’ve rarely seen anything in film as fun as their story.

1991

Good Movie

78% Vouch

78% Users

Secondhand Lions

This forgotten gem is the perfect family movie. It stars Michael Caine and Robert Duvall as the two eccentric uncles of Walter, a shy city kid (played by Haley Joel Osment). When Walter moves in with his uncles in rural Texas, he first has a hard time adjusting to his new surroundings. However his routine is changed after he starts hearing local gossip about his uncles, and reminiscence spurs in all three an incredible eagerness for adventure. Secondhand Lions has gathered impressive cult following in the past few years, and rightfully so. Its fast-paced, entertaining yet substantial storyline shines a light on the amazing performances by the cast, and offers a surprising mix of funny, heartwarming and sad. Look out for the flashback scenes.

Drama / Family

2003

Good Movie

71% Vouch

84% Users

Tramps

Danny (Callum Turner) is a young man struggling to make ends meet in New York. His brother, spending the night in jail, urges him to take his place in a small heist. His job is simple : He would meet Ellie (Grace Van Patten), she would drive him to take a briefcase, and then to a train station where he would exchange the briefcase with a woman holding a green purse. You’ve probably guessed what might go wrong in a plan like this: another woman with another green purse. Danny makes the trade quickly and, being the nervous guy that he is, storms off only to find later that he had taken the wrong briefcase. This is how Danny and Ellie’s little adventure begins as they track down the woman with the green purse throughout New York.
Tramps is a simple romantic comedy filled with genuine charm that will make you fall in love with the characters, and maybe even the two first-time actors that portray them – as they slowly grow closer to each other. The lively soundtrack and engaging writing are all the more reason to watch this lovely little film.

Comedy / Romance

Best Film

91% Vouch

88% Users

Blue Jay

Shot in black and white to be the best dialogue-driven, character-study film it can be; Blue Jay stars Sarah Paulson and Mark Duplass in a cozy, slow-burning film. Their characters, respectively Amanda and Jim, are former high-school sweethearts who run into each other in their hometown 20 years later. They talk, they get coffee, and then beer and jelly beans, until they find themselves to Jim’s mother’s house. As they familiarize themselves again, and the movie moves forward, it abandons its romantic chops to become a truly heartfelt and real film. A revelation of a movie.

Good Movie

71% Vouch

72% Users

Don’t Think Twice

Another slice-of-life story full of mild humor and affection from American comedian/director Mike Birbiglia. The members of the popular improv troupe The Commune are sent into crisis mode after one of their own becomes famous overnight. While the film is focused on the ins-and-outs of the improv comedy world (it rules, rituals, and rivalries), the story will be familiar to anyone who’s struggled with failure or shifting power dynamics when one of your friends becomes far more successful than you. A well-observed, bittersweet little film.

Comedy / Drama

Best Film

95% Vouch

89% Users

Captain Fantastic

A couple decides to raise their six children in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest, far from modern culture. They teach them how to raise and kill their own food, how to live in nature, but also give them classes on literature, politics, and music. The family drills boot camp-like workouts and climbs rock faces to create physical endurance. Then the wilderness adventure comes to an abrupt halt with a telephone call, and the family enters the world — with hilarious and sorrowful results. Emotionally raw and honest, with terrific performances by Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay and the entire cast of “children.”

Prime

Comedy / Drama

Good Movie

71% Vouch

87% Users

Hachi: A Dog's Tale

A college professor (Richard Gere) provides a home for the abandoned Akita he encountered at the train station, against the wishes of his wife (Joan Allen). As a bond develops between dog and master and tragedy suddenly strikes the family, a true act of devotion is displayed by the pup. Based on a supposedly true story which played out in Japan in early 20th century, Lasse Hallstrom’s Hachi finds beauty in its simplicity without being overly cloying and gets empathetic, frankly really strong performance from Gere.

Drama / Family

2009