The Best 8 Movies To Watch On Rainy Spring Sunday Afternoons
Ah, the rainy spring Sunday afternoon. So specific and yet so universal.
A time best enjoyed next to the bay window, wrapped in a cardigan, clutching a cappuccino. If not in possession of a bay window, it’s the perfect time to wistfully wish you had one. In fact, why not keep the regrets flowing and just ponder every lost love and road not taken that you’ve ever had? That’s what rainy spring Sunday afternoons are for. Melancholy. Nostalgia. The horrifying realization that you have to work tomorrow.
It is also the time to watch these eight movies.
Jane Eyre (2011)
What it’s about: The young governess Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska) takes a job under the watchful, brooding eye of Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender), whose waistcoat is big and full of secrets. A muted, pastel color palette provides the perfect backdrop for their bad romance to rupture and flourish.
Why it’s perfect for rainy spring Sunday afternoons: Jane and Mr. Rochester are melancholy for various reasons, mirroring your mood as you contemplate the Excel sheet awaiting you tomorrow morning. As a bonus, this is set in the mid-19th century, making you nostalgic for a time period in which you never lived. The realization that you are trapped in this dull, waistcoat-free present may make you sip your cappuccino all the more wistfully.
Anomalisa (2015)
What it’s about: A lonely, disenchanted author meets a woman who jolts him back to life. Next, a series of unlikely, amusing, and horrifying events conspire to challenge his sense of self and attitudes towards love. Written and co-directed by Charlie Kaufman, it’s both weird and wonderful.
Why it’s perfect for rainy spring Sunday afternoons: The surreal animation heightens the characters’ loneliness – and yours, as you wonder why you and you alone must bear the cross of going to work tomorrow. No one else on this planet understands your suffering.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
What it’s about: Joel (Jim Carrey) enlists the services of a tech team to erase all memories of his ex, Clementine (Kate Winslet). He realizes too late that he still loves her.
Why it’s perfect for rainy spring Sunday afternoons: It’s about a difficult relationship, so it’s suffused with melancholy. Meanwhile, it’s about a character regretting his past mistakes, so it’s also suffused with wistfulness. Incidentally, wistfulness and melancholy are what you’ll feel when you remember that you have a meeting with Karen from Finance on Tuesday.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
What it’s about: A dysfunctional family piles into an iconic yellow Volkswagen bus to take their daughter (Abigail Breslin) to her beauty pageant. Proust, Nietzsche, and Greg Kinnear’s infectious happiness lead the trip to the brink of disaster.
Why it’s perfect for rainy spring Sunday afternoons: The DeVotchKa soundtrack will make you instantly nostalgic for childhood. If that isn’t Sunday enough for you, then may I present Exhibit B: Paul Dano screaming existentially into the abyss.
The Boy and the Heron (2023)
What it’s about: A young boy moves to the countryside during World War II, longing for his late mother. Led into a mysterious, fantastical world by a talking heron, he embarks upon a stunningly animated journey of healing and acceptance.
Why it’s perfect for rainy spring Sunday afternoons: Sunday is a perfect time to let go of the past. You will never get your Saturday back. Cry and move on.
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
What it’s about: This adaptation of Amy Tan’s classic novel follows four interlocked stories about Chinese-American women and their immigrant mothers. Cultural identity and generational conflict combine to make a tearjerker for the ages.
Why it’s perfect for rainy spring Sunday afternoons: You’re already crying. Why not make that worse?
The Graduate (1967)
What it’s about: A recent college graduate (Dustin Hoffman) has no idea what to do with his life. Overwhelmed by societal expectations and the wishes of his family, he fools around with an older woman and falls for her daughter. The comedy still hits today.
Why it’s perfect for rainy spring Sunday afternoons: Its preoccupation with the waywardness of youth is beset by Sunday-esque ennui, while the ending is as gloomy as they come.
Ordinary People (1980)
What it’s about: A seemingly perfect suburban family unravels after one son’s suicide attempt, unearthing a Pandora’s box-worth of repressed grief and despair. The ending, while devastating, is hopeful.
Why it’s perfect for rainy spring Sunday afternoons: Rainy spring Sunday afternoons are the time for thought and reflection, and this movie will inspire both. For instance: Did you do your meal prep yet? Reflect on that.
