50 movies that offer comfort in trying times

- Director: Charles Chaplin
- Metascore: 99
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Runtime: 87 min

Charlie Chaplin reprises his role as the Tramp in this classic, silent rom-com. The film follows the Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl and tries and fails to turn her life around. A singularly uplifting tale, the sweet final scene was referred to in 1949 by critic James Agee as "the single greatest piece of acting ever committed to celluloid."

- Director: Leo McCarey
- Metascore: 93
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 69 min

While anything from the legendary Marx Brothers is sure to cheer one up, "Duck Soup" is considered to be their finest work, though initially a box office disappointment. Set in the fictional nation of Freedonia, the film is a hilarious send-up of Mussolini-type leadership, and critic Daniel Giffin considered the political farce on par with Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" and Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove."

- Director: Mervyn LeRoy
- Metascore: data not available
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 97 min

Based on the Avery Hopwood play of the same name, this musical romp follows four showgirls struggling to find work during the Great Depression, when all Broadway shows have closed down. Perhaps, nothing more delightful or heartwarming than a story about a few broads scheming money out of wealthy men, the film also serves as a feel-good narrative during a similarly wide-spanning economic hardship.

- Director: Howard Hawks
- Metascore: data not available
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Runtime: 92 min

Anchored by the winsome chemistry of Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant, Howard Hawks' charming romantic comedy surrounds newspaper editor Walter Burns (Grant). Burns is unable to come to terms with the fact that his journalist ex-wife Hildy Johnson (Russell) is getting remarried. Grant's unwavering charisma—as he hilariously frames Hildy's fiance for one absurd crime after the other—is matched by Russell's wit, together which serves as the perfect balm.

- Director: Ernst Lubitsch
- Metascore: 86
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Runtime: 99 min

Showing that even the very worst of humanity can be lightened with comedy, this film, which satirizes the absurdity of Nazi ideology, was initially met with scorn. Released in a time of uncertainty post-Pearl Harbor, the film is another prime example of utilizing humor to add levity in times of darkness. It is heightened by Jack Benny's comedic timing and Carole Lombard's line delivery.

- Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
- Metascore: 99
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Runtime: 103 min

It's simply impossible not to smile from ear to ear while watching Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly, and Donald O'Connor click their heels and carry a tune about how much fun it is to stay up all night. It's sweet, vibrant, and utterly timeless. 

- Director: Akira Kurosawa
- Metascore: data not available
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Runtime: 143 min

Praised by Time Out magazine as "one of the triumphs of humanist cinema," this story of an unfulfilled bureaucrat searching for meaning before he nears the end of his life is a portrait of learning how to live even when all seems lost. The legendary Akira Kurosawa weaves an intimate tale of mortality with one of human kindness, urgent especially now.

- Director: Billy Wilder
- Metascore: 98
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Runtime: 121 min

In this famous Billy Wilder comedy starring Marilyn Monroe, two musicians disguise themselves as women and go on the run after witnessing a murder. The film is a joyous, funny, fast-paced delight, even with a warm message of inclusivity—shocking for the time period.

- Director: Stanley Kubrick
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 8.4
- Runtime: 95 min

As funny as it is politically biting, Stanley Kubrick's classic Cold War satire proves timely even 56 years later. While the film includes three—not one—of comic actor Peter Sellers' most enduring roles to date, its comfort can be derived from how it pokes fun at the absurdity of incompetent leadership and widespread panic.

- Director: Richard Lester
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Runtime: 87 min

Considered to be one of the most influential musical films of all time, this look at 36 hours with The Beatles at the height of their fame is a fun, comic delight. The Beatles themselves make for apt film subjects, capable of carrying the loose narrative with their charm as well as their music.

- Director: Jacques Tati
- Metascore: data not available
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Runtime: 155 min

French director Jacques Tati crafts a wonderfully aimless tale connected by six alternating, interlocking stories, all of which concern an American tourist and a Frenchman confused by modernity. The film is full of many neatly choreographed sight gags but is even more affecting in the way it captures the otherwise unseen beauty of soulless spaces.

- Director: D.A. Pennebaker
- Metascore: 77
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 78 min

From Jefferson Airplane to Jimi Hendrix, this exciting concert film documents the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival in California. It captures a show that has since descended into a mythical status and features not only great music, but once-in-a-lifetime performances, including Hendrix infamously lighting his guitar on fire on stage and breaking it in half.

- Director: Satyajit Ray
- Metascore: data not available
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Runtime: 115 min

A story about four urbanites from Calcutta who go on a holiday excursion to the wilderness proves an enduring one about the joy of simply being alive. The film, adapted from the Bengali novel of the same name, is a testament to the universality of human experience, and the beautiful contrasts between different ways of life.

- Director: Robert Altman
- Metascore: 80
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Runtime: 116 min

The film, which inspired the long-running television sitcom, Robert Altman's black comedy war film following a unit of medical personnel during the Korean War, is funny, gory, and subversive. The joy of the film comes from its embracing of excess and poking fun at the unpleasantness of war and humanity's ability to laugh at genuine horror as a way to cope.

- Director: Mel Brooks
- Metascore: 80
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 106 min

One of the most beloved comedies of all time, the jokes in Mel Brooks' hilarious spoof of "Frankenstein" hold up even 46 years on. Gene Wilder is a comic delight as the kooky Dr. Frankenstein, along with Peter Boyle as the mute, menacing Frankenstein's monster, all buoyed by equal measures of slapstick and sentimentality. It's a wholly likable film.

- Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
- Metascore: 93
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Runtime: 91 min

The British comedy troupe's enduringly uproarious take on the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is an absurd hoot from start to finish. The film will keep one laughing at all the same gags even after the umpteenth viewing, and its jokes are as absurd as they are wonderfully infectious.

- Director: Carl Reiner
- Metascore: 61
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Runtime: 94 min

In Steve Martin's first starring role in a feature film, director Carl Reiner's comedy classic follows a loveable doofus who leaves home after discovering he's not Black like the rest of his adopted family. This absurd premise kicks off a hilarious misadventure, that is both crude and good-natured, even accompanied by a sweet romance subplot.

- Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
- Metascore: 78
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 88 min

The humor of "Airplane!" is timeless, in a film meant to parody the disaster flicks of the time period. It's a nonstop bombardment of slapstick, visual gags, puns, and surreal and obscure humor, all coalescing into a cohesive and unparalleled comedic tour de force.

- Director: Jonathan Demme
- Metascore: 89
- IMDb user rating: 8.6
- Runtime: 88 min

Chronicling one show off their "Speaking in Tongues" tour, the Talking Heads carry all 88 minutes of this film with their catchy tunes and frontman David Byrne's eclectic choreography, in Jonathan Demme's hailed concert film. It's a lively, energetic glimpse at the Talking Heads performing at their very peak, their presence on stage a simple statement on the joy of being alive and making music.

- Director: Robert Zemeckis
- Metascore: 87
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Runtime: 116 min

With its pitch-perfect combination of sci-fi, romance, comedy, and action, the classic misadventure of Doc Brown and Marty McFly is still just as captivating for kids and adults in 2020 as it was when it spent 11 weeks at #1 at the box office in 1985. There's something in it for everyone, a quintessential feel-good film that finishes its fast-paced, nearly two-hour runtime with an energetic musical number.

- Director: Rob Reiner
- Metascore: 77
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Runtime: 98 min

Perhaps, the comfort of this film is equally matched by how quotable it is, Rob Reiner's beloved comic fantasy about a farmhand falling in love with a princess is still as sweet from the first watch to the next… and the next, and the next one after that. It's playful metatextual framing, genuinely engaging adventure narrative and sharp sense of humor combine to create something as unique as it is inviting.

- Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
- Metascore: 80
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Runtime: 155 min

In this love letter to the magic of cinema, a filmmaker looks back on how his affection for movies was forged from when he was a child. Already anchored by warmth and nostalgia, the film features a famous "kissing montage" at the end—in which 50 romance scenes are spliced together.

- Director: Hayao Miyazaki
- Metascore: 86
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Runtime: 86 min

Hayao Miyazaki's animated fantasy film follows two young girls who befriend a large, woodland spirit they name Totoro. Though light on story, the film exudes humanity in its loose narrative, which relies more on appreciation for experience and situation. The film's animation is equally beautiful to behold.

- Directors: Charles Crichton, John Cleese
- Metascore: 80
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Runtime: 108 min

A perfect blend of comedy and heist thriller, this British-American film follows an eclectic group of diamond thieves in their quest to double-cross one another as they search for their hidden loot. The film is a smart, hilarious crowd-pleaser with a little something for everyone, and offers a sweet romance as well.

- Director: Rob Reiner
- Metascore: 76
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Runtime: 95 min

The popular film starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan as a man and woman who meet by chance and embark on a cross-country drive follows them through over a decade of happenstance encounters in New York City. Perhaps the quintessential American rom-com, with Nora Ephron's sharp screenplay and the warm chemistry between Ryan and Crystal, the film has continued to win hearts for over three decades.

- Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 84 min

It would be remiss to offer a list of comfort films that doesn't include at least one animated Disney mainstay, and "Beauty and the Beast" certainly belongs there with the best of them. Part of the Disney Renaissance period, the classic family film has romance, lovely musical numbers, and elegant animation. The familiar tale is simply a sumptuous feast both for the eyes and the heart.

- Director: Harold Ramis
- Metascore: 72
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 101 min

One of Bill Murray's very best, his existential comedy about the necessity of human kindness has cemented itself as the poster child for all time-loop films that came after it. It's spiritual themes on the nature of self-improvement and how one should live their life are matched equally by its enduring humor and romance between Murray's character and Andie MacDowell's.

- Director: Wong Kar-wai
- Metascore: 77
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Runtime: 102 min

This Hong Kong comedy-drama tells two separate stories about two lovesick policemen and the women they fall for. A hypnotic experience centered on love and loss, the film conveys a message about the inevitability of change and the passage of time, and that these human experiences are for the better. While melancholic, it harkens hope for the brokenhearted.

- Director: Richard Linklater
- Metascore: 77
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Runtime: 101 min

Richard Linklater's shamelessly romantic drama is often referred to as one of the best modern romance films, though it has less of a focus on plot and more on watching two gorgeous young people fall in love. The joy of "Before Sunset" comes from allowing the viewers to spend a short, intimate time with Jesse and Celine before they must leave each other forever, but to have known one another is a beautiful thing.

- Director: Amy Heckerling
- Metascore: 68
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Runtime: 97 min

The modern take on Jane Austen's "Emma" imagines a world through the eyes of Cher Horowitz—a rich, popular, spunky Beverly Hills teen who befriends the new girl and attempts to give her a permanent makeover. Still endlessly quotable in 2020, the film is funny, romantic, and full of eclectic characters and unforgettable outfits.

- Director: Roberto Benigni
- Metascore: 59
- IMDb user rating: 8.6
- Runtime: 116 min

A Jewish father uses his wild imagination to shield his son from the reality of their internment in a Nazi concentration camp, in this Italian comedy-drama. Though some have taken offense to its lighthearted approach to such a dark subject, its humor should not be used to overlook its haunting poignancy. It delicately balances sadness and warmth, offering a look at hope in the face of unimaginable horror.

- Director: Mike Judge
- Metascore: 68
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 89 min

This cult hit satire of software company office workers in the 1990s is a sympathetic look at the mundane trappings of white-collar office jobs, and the people who make them up. Its spoof of the realities of many—even now—is both comforting and affirming, especially given the film's success. Aside from also being so wryly funny, to know other people are out there suffering in crappy jobs offers a unifying catharsis.

- Director: Agnès Varda
- Metascore: 83
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 82 min

Agnès Varda's documentary follows people who scour fields for forgotten produce and the use that they make out of that which has been cast aside. Varda's curiosity, empathy, and passion for both film and life embolden this odd subject material into something both rich and life-affirming.

- Director: Christopher Guest
- Metascore: 78
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Runtime: 90 min

Following five eccentric contestants in a prestigious Philadelphia dog show, Christopher Guest's mockumentary film is winsomely funny and bolstered by a talented cast who improvised nearly the entire thing. The film is both quirky and occasionally surreal, finding much of its comedy in the uncanny similarities between the dog owners and their dogs, and the bizarre interactions between dog owners.

- Director: Mark Dindal
- Metascore: 70
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Runtime: 78 min

This animated buddy-comedy film from Disney is classic feel-good fare for the whole family, nothing very ambitious or daring but simply energetic, quirky, and wonderfully amusing. Many who loved "The Emperor's New Groove" as a child still sing its praises to this day, the lasting hilarity of villain characters Kronk and Yzma providing fodder for internet memes.

- Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
- Metascore: 70
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Runtime: 124 min

A story of two childhood friends who aspire to be professional basketball players, this sports film also doubles as a romance. Friends Quincy and Monica eventually fall for one another despite their disparate paths to success, and the dreamy love story is as warm and exciting as the game itself.

- Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Metascore: 69
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Runtime: 122 min

The endlessly charming titular character finds her knack for helping others by happenstance in this French romantic comedy. The film depicts a whimsical version of Paris and the embodiment of whimsy in Amelie, as she finds the cure for her isolation in a romance with a handsome stranger. The film is the cinematic equivalent of a hug.

- Director: Mira Nair
- Metascore: 77
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Runtime: 114 min

Named by IndieWire as the best romance of the 21st century, this Indian film depicts a series of romantic entanglements over the course of one Punjabi wedding. Though weaved through an otherwise turbulent family drama, the joyous depictions of love provide an intimate look at each of the characters and culminate in a traditional arranged marriage.

- Directors: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Runtime: 100 min

This Disney-Pixar animated favorite follows a young clownfish who gets separated from his dad and their journey to finding one another again. Funny, quotable, and heartwarming to a fault, the film is also a lavish, colorful, and fast-paced buddy-comedy that remains undeniably human despite starring sea creatures.

- Director: Richard Linklater
- Metascore: 82
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Runtime: 109 min

When a musician is fired from his job and hard up for cash, his attempt at becoming a fifth-grade substitute teacher turns into him recruiting the class as his new band. Jack Black's energetic performance leads this comedy film from Richard Linklater. It's both funny and endearing, illustrating a heartwarming narrative of finding meaning in teaching kids.

- Director: Adam McKay
- Metascore: 63
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Runtime: 94 min

Adam McKay's Will Ferrell-led spoof of the 1970s Action News format was a hit when it released 16 years ago and still proves just as absurdly funny now. Will Ferrell as the goofy, sexist newsman Ron Burgundy runs away with things, but he's bolstered by an equally hilarious cast including Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and Christina Applegate. Its infantile humor and dabblings in the surreal prove a lasting concoction.

- Director: Andrew Stanton
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 8.4
- Runtime: 98 min

Carrying a prescient pro-environmental message, the Disney-Pixar film about a lonely trash compactor robot bound to uninhabitable Earth offers a message of optimism for the future. Though largely bereft of dialogue for much of the runtime, its romance between WALL·E and EVE (a robot that arrives on Earth to scan it for plant life), decadent visuals, and charming antics all coalesce into a humanist portrait of hope in the darkness.

- Director: Wes Anderson
- Metascore: 83
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 87 min

Wes Anderson's stop-motion animated adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic children's tale, about a cunning fox with a thieving problem, is a relentlessly charming cinematic feast. It's a romance, a heist thriller, a family drama, and a comedy, with even a couple of music and dance numbers thrown into the mix. Playful and cute enough for kids to enjoy and smart enough for adults, Anderson adeptly creates a family film with no age limit.

- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Metascore: 83
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Runtime: 126 min

This Scorsese film about an orphaned boy who lives in a train station in 1930s Paris is the director's successful foray into family fare and acts as a love letter to the magic of cinema. The film feels like looking through the wide-eyes of a mystified child, embodying all the joy and wonder of watching your favorite film for the first time.

- Director: Richard Curtis
- Metascore: 55
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 123 min

A time-traveling romance is about as sappy as you can get, and the chemistry between leads Rachel McAdams and Domhnall Gleeson helps this tear-jerker to be the cinematic equivalent of a comfortable blanket. Following a man who uses his god-given time-travel abilities to improve his love life, the film is both beautifully shot and unabashedly sentimental.

- Director: Laurie Anderson
- Metascore: 84
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Runtime: 75 min

This documentary essay film from avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the director's loss of her beloved dog, Lolabelle, as well as the memory of her late husband Lou Reed, among an array of other meditations. Through the artist's lyrical ruminations, she paints a touching portrait of life and death.

- Director: Taika Waititi
- Metascore: 81
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Runtime: 101 min

Taika Waititi's comedy-drama about a troubled foster kid on the run in the New Zealand bush with his cranky foster uncle is filled with offbeat humor and heart, all carried by Julian Dennison and Sam Neill's unmatched comedic chemistry. Referred to as the master of "happy sad cinema," Waititi adeptly balances jokes with genuine human sorrow, proving that sadness and happiness can and should coexist.

- Director: Paul King
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 103 min

The sequel to the 2014 live-action "Paddington" film proved a surprising and joyous hit. The good-natured, marmalade-loving little bear sees the best in everyone, even when he gets wrongly accused of a crime he didn't commit. The Paddington films serve as a reminder of the importance of kindness and are both an all-around delight for viewers of any age.

- Director: Malcolm D. Lee
- Metascore: 71
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Runtime: 122 min

Led by a stellar breakout performance from Tiffany Haddish, this raunchy comedy flick about four girlfriends and their trip to New Orleans is the rare studio comedy with jokes that work all the way through. Not only is the film brought to life by its terrific cast and its willingness to double down on the jokes, but it comes with a genuinely moving narrative about friendship as well.

- Director: Morgan Neville
- Metascore: 85
- IMDb user rating: 8.4
- Runtime: 95 min

The documentary about the inimitable Fred Rogers is impossible to watch without crying at least once, and it serves as a reminder of the goodness that exists in the world. The film examines Rogers' life, his philosophies, and the impact he left as a whole, which was far-reaching to the children who grew up with him. Fred Rogers was a kind man who wanted everyone to be neighbors—an evergreen ideology, now more than ever.