Movies to watch alone v.s. movies to watch with people
Graphic by Janet Xiong
From moving pictures in the 1890s to streaming movies today, cinema has come a long way.
According to the Science and Media Museum, the Lumière brothers were the first to present a movie to a paying audience with a device they made called the Cinematographe. This device was a camera, projector and film printer.
Watching movies is a common form of entertainment today, whether it be in the theater or on a streaming service. It also has many other benefits apart from entertainment. The California State University at Northridge writes that watching movies increases empathy and strengthens relationships and improves your mood, as well as overall mental health.
Watching movies does many of these things for me. A movie is an immersive experience. It’s an escape into the screen and into that world. It’s putting myself into the character’s shoes, viewing the world from their eyes, but also judging from the outside.
To heighten this experience, I believe some movies are better to watch alone and some are better to watch with others.
3 Movies to Watch Alone
“Waves” (2019)
This movie follows a suburban family as they navigate relationships, love and loss. The second half is heavy on the coming-of-age genre, and it feels like two movies put into one. With the complexity of this movie and its topics, I recommend watching it alone before you do with others.
This will allow you to reflect and sit with the emotions the movie leaves you with, which I think is important for this movie.
(Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence)
“Past Lives” (2023)
“Past Lives” is about two childhood friends who are separated after one moves to the United States. The two connect throughout the years until they are reunited 20 years later. It’s a story about longing and acceptance.
The movie is quiet and calm, which is the best kind to watch alone. It’s not gut-wrenching and I didn’t cry, but it leaves you with an emptiness and also an understanding of why things happened the way they did.
“About Time” (2013)
This movie follows Tim who finds out the men in his family have the power to travel back in time and change things that have happened which can then change how things are in the present. As much good as this power brings, it’s not as perfect as Tim thought.
“About Time” is a movie that will make you cry at the end, at least it did for me. But it also does so much more throughout the movie. It makes you feel giddy, embarrassed and disappointed. I highly recommend this movie to everyone.
3 Movies to Watch With People
“Bottoms” (2023)
“Bottoms” is about two loser queer friends who create a fake fight club to get with girls before they graduate. It’s funny and the good kind of stupid. It’s a feel-good, laugh indefinitely and shake your head kind of movie (which is the best kind to watch with your friends).
I watched it alone the first time, and I had a lot of fun, but I just knew I had to watch it with my friends. So, that’s what we did, and it was way better. We laughed, made jokes and copied the characters on screen.
“Little Women” (2019)
This book and movie is a classic which explains the multiple renditions of it. Personally, I like the 2019 film version the best, but I may just be biased to Timothee Chamalet and Saoirse Ronan.
“Little Women” follows the five March sisters starting in one house and branching out to different paths of life as they grow up. It’s wholesome, cozy and relatable.
I recommend building a fort with your friends and cuddling while watching the movie in dim lighting. This is so sweet and makes you appreciate the people you love in your life.
“Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani” (2013)
“Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani” takes the cake for my favorite Bollywood movie and is so fun to watch with your friends.
This movie follows Naina, an intelligent and sheltered student, and three other students, Bunny, Aditi and Avi, from her school. She is invited on a trekking trip by Aditi when she sees her in a store after school finishes.
On this trip, she bonds with them and falls for Bunny. But Bunny moves away to pursue his dreams and fades from their lives until years later, when he comes back to India for Aditi’s wedding.
“Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani” is perfect for dancing with your friends, hiding your blushing face in their chest and slapping them out of glee. I love this movie and I want you all to watch it, please.
Whether you prefer watching movies alone or with people, I recommend watching the ones listed where I listed them. Take a movie break and immerse yourself in a new world.