Winter is a time for snuggling up under the covers, enjoying a good cup of tea, and warming yourself by the fire (or electric heater). It’s also a time ripe with depression, isolation, and cabin fever. As the holidays come to a close, I find myself getting ready to bunker down and simultaneously hate and enjoy my time alone. My favorite pastime (and coping mechanism) for this season is to stay in my dark room, cuddle with my cat, and prevent a single thought from forming by watching a bunch of films.
Sometimes the films I choose are specifically because I need a good distraction or a pick-me-up; romance and comedy films often fall into this category. But some films, particularly ones that are set in winter, have characters, plots, and themes that are perfect viewing for this time of year because they’re not all sunshine and roses. Whether the characters are lonely and depressed, they’re facing the brink of insanity, or they’re simply trapped in a snowy hell, these films just hit differently in the winter. So if you’re in the mood to watch some wintery films and cry or ruminate over unresolved trauma, this list may be right for you.
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) dir. Michel Gondry
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of those films that’s so insanely good but I can rarely watch it because of how much it makes me cry. Eternal follows Joel (Jim Carrey) as he undergoes a procedure to erase all of his memories of his ex-girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet), who has done the same. The procedure is done while Joel is asleep in his apartment. As the procedure goes on, Joel is in a lucid dream-like state and re-experiences his memories of Clementine as they’re being erased in reverse chronological order. He eventually begins to re-experience the happy memories with Clementine and realizes he doesn’t want to forget her, so he must try and stop the procedure from inside his mind. Much of the film takes place in the winter to symbolize the bitter end of a relationship but the narrative is nonlinear to explore the nature of memory and love, and there are beautiful, surrealist sequences that make you feel like you’re right in Joel’s mind.
The film also explores heartbreak and how we can overlook the painful memories of a turbulent relationship in favor of nostalgia and longing. The ending can be looked at as hopeful or tragically ignorant of the reality of people, relationships, and whether or not we can truly change. I personally view it in a more hopeful way because I’m a romantic. Also, the character of Clementine is widely praised as a critique/deconstruction of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, which hadn’t even been coined as a term yet when the film came out. Even if you’re not going through a breakup, the film’s focus on its characters’ flaws could be the catalyst for self-reflection, a perfect activity for winter isolation.
“What a loss to spend that much time with someone, only to find out that she’s a stranger.”
2. Misery (1990) dir. Rob Reiner
Based on the novel by Stephen King, Misery follows famed novelist Paul (James Caan) on a writing retreat in Colorado. Instead of writing another sequel for his pulpy Victorian romance series about a woman named Misery, he’s written a completely different manuscript that he hopes will establish him as a serious writer. On the way home, Paul gets in a car wreck and is trapped in a blizzard. Presumably left for dead, he suddenly wakes up in a remote cabin with several broken limbs and learns he was saved by a nurse named Annie (Kathy Bates), who tells him she is his biggest fan and will nurse him back to health until the roads are safe. Thankful to Annie, Paul lets her read his new manuscript, which she hates. While caring for him, Annie reads Paul’s latest Misery novel and is horrified to discover that Paul killed Misery off, ending the series. In a rage, Annie burns the only copy of Paul’s new manuscript and demands he write a new sequel to bring Misery back. She also tells Paul that she never informed anyone of his rescue. Paul is trapped in her cabin and must write this new book or face Annie’s wrath.
The story itself (a man trapped in a cabin by an unstable murderess) is good enough on its own but what I love most about the film is its themes on writing and living up to expectations. The premise of being trapped in a cabin by an insane fan is the perfect metaphor for feeling hostage to your writing, whether it’s being boxed in by a certain genre, trying to please readers, or facing your own writer’s block. Interestingly enough, (minor spoilers), Paul creates his most critically acclaimed work while under threat and pressure from Annie, raising interesting questions about the methods writers can take to create our work. The novel was King’s response to feeling boxed in by horror fiction and his struggles with addiction that impacted his writing. The title itself, Misery, also refers to the emotional state writing can cause sometimes. If you want a great psychological horror set in a snowy remote cabin, watch the film; if you’re a writer, watch the film and read the book.
“And don't even think about anybody coming for you. Not the doctors, not your agent, not your family. 'Cause I never called them. Nobody knows you're here. And you better hope nothing happens to me. Because if I die... you die.” - a great quote when you think about the double meaning it has for feeling like you’re being held hostage by your fans while also knowing that your success and livelihood depends on them
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) dir. Wes Anderson
My first Wes Anderson film–I’ll love you forever. While Grand Budapest is a buddy adventure comedy-drama, its wintery landscape and exploration of loss and grief make it perfect for this list. The film follows Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori) as he recounts how he got his start at the famed Grand Budapest Hotel, a once popular and luxurious spot that has fallen into isolation and disrepair over the last decades. Beginning in the 1930s, Zero is a young war refugee escaping a fascist regime; he is taken in and employed as a lobby boy at the Grand Budapest by the concierge, Monsieur Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes). Gustave regularly has affairs with wealthy hotel guests, his most frequent one being with the woman who owns the hotel.
When this woman dies, she leaves Gustave a famous Renaissance painting, much to the anger of her son Dmitri, an agent of the fascist regime who refuses to let Gustave have it. Gustave and Zero steal the painting and hide it in the hotel but then Gustave is framed for the woman’s murder, prompting the two to go on the run. They must protect the painting and prove Gustave’s innocence before the fascist police and Dmitri and his henchmen catch them. While this is all happening, Zero begins a romance with Agatha (Saoirse Ronan), a pastry chef apprentice. As with all Wes Anderson films, underneath the quirks and comedy lies hard-hitting truths about relationships, grief, loss, and nostalgia, as well as found family during troubling times. The film’s characters offering kindness, love, and chivalry against a backdrop of rising fascism also comments on the nature of remaining gentle in a hard world. Most of the film is a fun ride and then the last 10 minutes cut deep, always sending me into a fit of tears.
“We were happy here, for a little while.”
4. Black Swan (2010) dir. Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky’s only good film (probably because he didn’t write it) Black Swan follows Nina (Natalie Portman), a young dancer with the New York City Ballet who lives with her controlling, overprotective mother. The ballet company is putting up a performance of Swan Lake and Nina is considered perfect for the lead role of the White Swan, with her delicate and innocent demeanor. But the lead role also requires the dancer to be the Black Swan, who is dark and sensual, qualities Nina’s dance director believes she doesn’t have and would be more suited towards newcomer Lily (Mila Kunis). Both Nina and Lily are talented dancers but while Nina is rigid and obsessed with perfection, Lily seems to have a natural uninhibition that Nina is jealous of. Nina gets the lead role but cannot get the right balance needed to portray the Black Swan, and fears she will be replaced by Lily. As the film goes on, Nina bends to the pressure to succeed and slowly loses her grip on reality.
Ballet is often associated with femininity and softness but the film’s icy New York City setting and dark lighting give us a feel for ballet’s dark underbelly. Even if you’re not a ballerina, anyone (but especially creatives) can relate to the pressure to be perfect and devote ourselves to our craft and its grip on our sanity. Another fascinating angle of the film is its symbolism of the Madonna/Whore Complex. Nina can perfectly portray the White Swan (the Madonna) because she embodies innocence and purity. The Black Swan (the Whore) represents growing into womanhood and becoming a sensual, sexual being. Nina’s arrested development at the hands of her abusive mother who infantilizes her makes it difficult for her to portray the Black Swan because she has not been allowed to explore that part of herself yet. Final Girl Studios on YouTube just made a great in-depth exploration of this theme in Black Swan titled “The Madness of Feminine Perfection | Explored Through Black Swan.”
“You could be perfect but you’re a coward.”
5. The Shining (1980) dir. Stanley Kubrick
As an adaption of Stephen King’s novel of the same name, The Shining is awful and I understand why King notoriously dislikes it, but as a film from Stanley Kubrick, it’s brilliant. The Shining follows Jack (Jack Nicholson) an alcoholic (but now sober) writer who takes a job as the winter caretaker of the remote Overlook Hotel. Jack brings his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and their telepathic son, Danny (Danny Lloyd) along with him; aside from phone calls, the family will have no contact with the outside world for the 6 months they are there. Jack is warned that a previous caretaker went insane and killed his family in the hotel; with this in mind, the hotel’s head chef, Dick (Scatman Crothers) tells Danny that the hotel is haunted and to be careful and let him know if he needs help, as the two share a telepathic connection that Dick refers to as “the shining.” As time goes on, Jack slowly descends into madness, Danny is affected by the ghostly environment of the hotel, and Wendy is distraught trying to do what she can to protect herself and her son. Jack Nicholson has rightfully earned immense praise for his performance and watching the isolation and madness envelope him in a tantalizingly slow, tense, building sequence is great. But for me, this is not Jack Nicholson’s film, this is Shelley Duvall’s.
Wendy is married to a man who was gentle and kind at first, someone she thought was an honest family man. But as the film goes on, the realities of Jack’s character are revealed. He’s an alcoholic who destroys anything in his path, which results in him hurting their son, and that is why he’s sober and taking the caretaker position in the first place. While his drunkenness exacerbates his worst qualities, even when Jack isn’t drunk, he talks down to Wendy and snaps at her for daring to care about him or ask simple questions. Trapped with Jack in the Overlook where the ghostly malevolence worsens as it feeds off the negativity of Wendy’s family, she is trapped with Jack at his complete worst, watching the man she loves completely turn into the monster they both feared was lurking under the surface. The film’s third act turns the beautiful wintery setting into a nightmare as Wendy tries to escape. Shelley Duvall, I’ll love you forever.
For a companion to this post, check out my essay “Hibernation and the Introvert.” Are there any films you love to watch during winter? Let me know! If you liked this post, you can leave a like and:
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I’m so ashamed to say I’ve only seen one of the movies on this list, but they’re all movies I really wanna see! I’m literally gonna devote myself to finally watching all of them this winter, especially now that those wintertime blues are hitting.
Misery is the only one I’ve seen (I also read the book and loved it. It’s my fav Stephen King book so far) but I hadn’t thought too much about its connections to writing! I got a little bit of it while reading the book, but you highlighted some things I hadn’t even thought of and now I wanna rewatch it! Might even reread it but I have so many books I need to read already lol. Starting with finishing The Shining (I stopped because Jack was pissing me off too much lmao).
Eternal Sunshine absolutely ruined me both times I watched it