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The Guardian
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Guardian writers on their ultimate feelgood movies: ‘Radical in its own way'
'Feelgood' movies are often thought of as big-hearted romantic comedies, comforting classics, or childhood favourites that still hold up decades later. In our series, My feelgood movie, Guardian writers reflect on their go-to flick, and explain why their pick is endlessly rewatchable. This list will be updated weekly with further picks. Want more options? Here is our earlier list of the 10 best escapist movies and 52 comforting, rewatchable titles. Director: Paul Feig Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne and Jude Law Why our writer loves it: 'Spy is radical in other respects: it remains the only major Hollywood spy film that features a middle-aged woman as the lead. I know because every so often, in search of a feelgood film, I rewatch what can be inelegantly described as 'female-fronted spy comedies' … [p]rojects like these are few and far between; I guess Hollywood does not think there's enough of an audience for them. To that I say: join us. The delights are profound; the sense of freedom intoxicating; the costumes and the gadgets and the intrigue sexy and absurd and larger-than-life – and an exciting new adventure, that great siren song to the desk-bound, is always just around the corner.' (Rebecca Liu) Read the full review Spy is available on Hulu in the US and Disney+ and Netflix in the UK and Australia Director: Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci Starring: Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci and Marc Anthony Why our writer loves it: 'Big Night doesn't yield over much to anxious tension on the one hand or madcap hijinks on the other. This, to me, is what makes it feel so good. There are real stakes to this meal for these characters, but co-directors Tucci and Campbell Scott care enormously that you have a good time at their party. They never want you to refill your own glass.' (Andrew Holter) Read the full review Big Night is available to watch on Hoopla in the US and to rent digitally in the UK and Australia Director: Chris Smith Starring: Mark Borchardt, Mike Schank and Tom Schimmels Why our writer loves it: 'I feel buoyant and inspired every time I watch the film. It's such a beautiful example of how much talent exists out there in the world, in unconventional places, that never gets a shot or a look in.' (Daniel Dylan Wray) Read the full review American Movie is available to rent digitally in the US and Australia and on Amazon Prime in the UK Director: Wong Kar-Wai Starring: Brigitte Lin, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung Chiu-wai Why our writer loves it: '[T]he quirky romantic comedy also manages to be his most joyous and uplifting offering.' (Rebecca Liu) Read the full review Chungking Express is available on Max and The Criterion Channel in the US and to rent digitally in the UK and Australia Director: Wes Anderson Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray and Olivia Williams Why our writer loves it: 'I am elated each time I watch this poignant, wise and wildly funny film – and, yes, there is a happy ending.' (Rebecca Liu) Read the full review Rushmore is available on Hoopla in the US or to rent digitally in the UK and Australia Director: Richard Ayoade Starring: Craig Roberts, Sally Hawkins and Paddy Considine Why our writer loves it: 'It might be a curious choice to name a film that traverses a troubled home life, too-much-too-young sexual experiences, and bullying as my 'feelgood' movie, but within its equally dark and peppy 97 minutes is a story about writing your own rules. Adapted from the Joe Dunthorne novel, Submarine is touching, sweet and, crucially, very funny.' (Sophie Williams) Read the full review Submarine is available to watch on Amazon Prime in the US and UK and to rent digitally in Australia Director: Gurinder Chadha Starring: Georgia Groome, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Karen Taylor Why our writer loves it: 'That's the magic of Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging for our generation. It reminds us of the joyous madness of our school days, when everything was awkward, messy and packed with heart.' (Anya Ryan) Read the full review Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is available on Hoopla and Kanopy in the US or to rent digitally or on Amazon Prime and Paramount+ in the UK Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet Starring: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz and Rufus Why our writer loves it: 'After completing several good deeds, Amélie falls in love with the elusive Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), a sex shop employee who likes to collect strangers' photobooth pictures … Although Amélie's kindness might be the apotheosis of whimsy, it's radical in its own way – a quiet protest against the indifference and self-interest that seem to rule city life.' (Katie Tobin) Read the full review Amélie is available to rent digitally in the US Director: John Guillermin Starring: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen and William Holden Why our writer loves it: 'Among the many reasons I'm long overdue for therapy would be that I consider a feature about a bunch of people trapped in a burning skyscraper a feelgood movie. But there it is: the stunning effects (which hold up to this day), the sprawling, larger-than-life cast and accompanying who-will-make-it-to-the-end? suspense, the earnest, cheeseball dialogue – whenever I feel anxious or down, something about The Towering Inferno offers solace.' (Matthew Hays) Read the full review The Towering Inferno is available to buy digitally in the US and rent digitally in the UK Starring: Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru and Harry Carey Jr. Directed by: John Ford Why our writer loves it: 'Wagon Master's great appeal lies in the feel of the thing. 'Be gentle', Travis encourages a restless horse, and that spirit pervades the film. It is Ford's gentlest picture and arguably his most beautiful, both on the surface and beneath it. The film is a plea for tolerance – most of its characters having just been run out of town – that is augmented by a thousand perfect details in word and image: the dialogue spare and true, Ford's camera going to a square dance and focusing first on the wooden planks shifting in the dirt.' (Rick Burin) Read the full review Wagon Master is on Tubi in the US and on BBC iPlayer in the UK Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss Directed by: Steven Spielberg Why our writer loves it: 'What makes a film 'feelgood'? If it's not a romcom, or otherwise setting out to impart warm fuzzies, familiarity plays a big part. I've seen Jaws so many times that watching it now truly feels like sinking into a warm bath.' (Elle Hunt) Read the full review Jaws is available to rent digitally in the US and is on Amazon Prime in the UK Starring: Stars Nancy Allen, Bobby Di Cicco and Marc McClure Directed by: Robert Zemeckis Why our writer loves it: 'Even at the height of their parasocial hijinks, Zemeckis never treats girlhood obsession with a hint of mockery or condescension. Rather, it's an affectionate celebration of what it means to be a fan – its heady thrills and innate universality – as hilarious as it is relatable. I wasn't born anywhere near the 60s, but every time I rewatch I Wanna Hold Your Hand, I feel like I missed out on all the fun.' (Miatta Mbriwa) Read the full review Starring: Hilary Duff and Adam Lamberg Directed by: Jim Fall Why our writer loves it: 'Nostalgia clouds the mind but I do think this movie is genuinely funny … While the film is undeniably a trite tableau of teen movie cliches, it avoids the harshest and grossest ones that were popular at the time. No one is mocked for having an eating disorder or stalked oh-so-romantically. It is aspirational in the silliest sense – while other movies might've inspired you to flirt like this or dance like that, nothing in The Lizzie McGuire Movie could be copied: you're either in danger of being mistaken for an Italian pop star or you're not. This means it didn't make 11-year-old me feel bad about herself, and it still makes adult me feel good.' (Amelia Tait) Read the full review The Lizzie McGuire Movie is available to watch on Disney+ in the US and UK Starring: Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea Directed by: Preston Sturges Why our writer loves it: 'Sullivan's Travels reminds us there's something inherently incorruptible about clinging to the scraps of happiness we're given.' (Alaina Demopoulos) Read the full review Sullivan's Travels is available to rent digitally in the US and UK Starring: Tony Hancock Directed by: Robert Day Why our writer loves it: '[T]there is something rather wonderful about seeing Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock in full and living colour, operating at the height of his powers, the man who his writers described as 'the best comic actor in the business'. And of course the film is a wonderful portal to a vanished world, a net-curtained Britain just on the cusp of its transformation by 60s pop culture. Lucian Freud called The Rebel the best film ever made about modern art; well, he should know, but for me it's more than that – there's an extra joy in remembering the hours I spent tittering at it with Dad as we lolled on the three-piece suite back in my gormless teenage years. If anything makes me feel good, it's that.' (Andrew Pulver) Read the full review Starring: Paul McGann and Richard E Grant Directed by: Bruce Robinson Why our writer loves it: 'The tape went back to Blockbuster. I bought my own. I took it to college and watched it drunk and sober, with friends and alone, in halls and in my desperate pit of a house. Through early adulthood, into fatherhood, on DVD then streaming. To watch Withnail is to discover it again.' (Martin Pengelly) Withnail and I is available on Max and the Criterion channel in the US and on Channel 4 in the UK Read the full review Starring: Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan Directed by: Nora Ephron Why our writer loves it: You've Got Mail 'may be naive and soppy, but as a single person it keeps me optimistic that genuine connection may still be found by logging on to your computer (or unlocking your iPhone)'. (Alim Kheraj) Read the full review You've Got Mail is available on Hulu in the US and on Now TV in the UK Starring: Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan Directed by: Rob Reiner Why our writer loves it: 'I sometimes ask myself whether I should love When Harry Met Sally as much as I do. I mean, isn't the film a bit reductive when it comes to gender? Maybe. Yet at the same time, it's a romantic comedy that's actually romantic and actually funny, something few romcoms can boast today. But the reason it's my feelgood film is because I discovered it at a time when I needed it most.' (Henry Roberts) Read the full review When Harry Met Sally is available to rent digitally in the US and UK Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Amitabh Bachchan Directed by: Karan Johar Why our writer loves it: 'Scenes from this movie are seared in mind and I often quote its lines in my daily life – such is its hold on me. I am a complete sucker for the drama, the music, the pageantry, the familiar (though outdated) movie tropes, the costumes, the sets – after all, I grew up watching Bollywood movies (SRK is the love of my life, he just doesn't know it). It is a heaping dose of nostalgia that instantly uplifts my mood and restores my spirit, no matter how in the doldrums the world around might seem.' (Tasneem Merchant) Read the full review Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is available on Netflix and Amazon Prime in the US and UK Starring: Michael Keaton, Glenn Close and Robert Duvall Directed by: Ron Howard Why our writer loves it: 'Perhaps it's all just borrowed nostalgia for the half-remembered 90s, to remix James Murphy's lyric. But I see it as a feelgood film that makes you feel good because it never shouts about it; there's no need to force joy, it's just there in all that messy exuberance. The maddening life happening relentlessly, the people at work in the loud city, the thrill of chasing down a story – this is what is actually joyful.' (Larry Ryan) Read the full review The Paper is available to rent digitally in the US and UK Starring: Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore Directed by: Frank Coraci Why our writer loves it: 'One thing I love most about The Wedding Singer is the soundtrack that includes You Spin Me Round (Like a Record), Blue Monday and Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. Barrymore sings a bit of 99 Luftballons into her oversize headphones. Sandler gets to perform his own compositions: Somebody Kill Me ('I was listening to the Cure a lot when I wrote this') and Grow Old With You – the latter he performs on a plane to stop Barrymore from marrying the evil Glenn. The ending features a brilliant cameo from 1998 Billy Idol playing 1980s Billy Idol, who wakes from his booze-addled slumber to shove Glenn in the airplane toilets. ('Excuse me, sir. I have to serve the beverages.')' (Rich Pelley) The Wedding Singer is available to rent digitally in the US and on Amazon Prime in the UK Read the full review Starring: Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried and Pierce Brosnan Directed by: Phyllida Lloyd Why our writer loves it: 'Mamma Mia! isn't a movie – it's a holiday. It's a film so divorced from subtext and intricacy that its only ask for viewers is to bask in the Greek sunshine as the sounds of Abba wash over them … It was never meant to be taken seriously; it's a film without pretense. Much of what he complains about is precisely what makes Mamma Mia! the perfect cinematic comfort blanket.' (Jeffrey Ingold) Mamma Mia! is available on Max in the US and on Now in the UK Read the full review Starring: Divine, David Lochary and Mary Vivian Pearce Directed by: John Waters Why our writer loves it: 'The will to create a movie for the specific purpose of appalling anyone unaware of its true meaning turned Pink Flamingos into the ultimate litmus test. You either got its sick jokes or you didn't. But those who did got something far more lasting than a laugh. We got a one-way ticket to an underground populated by parallel dissidents, an entire community of the unruly and free. That's a lot to gain, which is why, even decades after I first saw Pink Flamingos, I return to it whenever I need to be reminded there's a universe of possibilities out there not reflected in the world we know now.' (Jim Farber) Read the full review Starring: Meryl Streep and Albert Brooks Directed by: Albert Brooks Why our writer loves it: 'Life-affirming' is perhaps an overused adjective, but few movies have successfully illuminated the human condition as well as this one. Fear is commonplace in our daily lives, but Albert Brooks's film might hold the key to ridding the worries of anxiety-ridden people such as myself. As the new year often brings about feelings of regret and unease, Defending Your Life is the warmest hug you can receive.' (Oliver Macnaughton) Defending Your Life is available to rent digitally in the US and the UK Read the full review Starring: Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant Directed by: Roger Michell Why our writer loves it: 'What is so wonderful about the film is how effortless it all seems. The story isn't complex; there are no gunfights or CGI raccoons; the greatest jeopardy in the film involves Grant having to catch Roberts before she goes back to America – a problem that reads as plausibly insurmountable in 1999 but today would be remedied with a few WhatsApps. But, despite the illusion of effortlessness, getting everything right in this way is deceptively tricky. Has a single romcom ever managed to marry all of the necessary elements – cast, script, timing, an intangible magic – so perfectly? (No. The answer is no.)' (Ralph Jones) Notting Hill is available on Netflix in the US and Channel 4 in the UK Read the full review Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Modine Directed by: Jonathan Demme Why our writer loves it: The movie is a long list of quirky pleasures, including a 'starter kit of premium 80s college rock (New Order, Pixies, the Feelies), well-placed family dog reaction shots, and an FBI agent who dresses himself like Wallace in the Wallace & Gromit shorts. Few of the laughs in the film feel like punchlines or payoffs to some heavily orchestrated joke. Demme's approach is more low-key and breezy, cruising confidently on the assumption that his DayGlo gangland will be fun enough without him having to push too hard. He catches a rhythm and does the mambo Italiano. It feels like your feet never touch the floor.' (Scott Tobias) Married to the Mob is available on Hoopla, Kanopy and Pluto in the US and Amazon Prime in the UK Read the full review Starring: Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker Directed by: Brett Ratner Why our writer loves it: 'Rush Hour taps into something that stirred my heart then and now: an ease settles into the two actors, Chan and Tucker's joviality feeling so genuine that the east-meets-west tropes evolve into characters who have something real at stake, and who are also having fun.' (Tammy Tarng) Rush Hour is available on Netflix in the US and Amazon Prime in the UK Read the full review Starring: Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and Martin Short Directed by: Charles Shyer Why our writer loves it: 'Why do I come back to this film again and again? As a girl and younger woman I was emphatically against marriage (though I've since softened) and watched it more as a comedy horror than anything aspirational. The only aspect of the Bankses' life I'd want is the kitchen. And yet watching Franck and the family put on their ridiculous show makes me want to be part of it. I love ritual, and ceremony, and Steve Martin, and Martin Short, and Diane Keaton.' (Laura Snapes) Where to watch: Father of the Bride is available on Hulu and Disney+ in the US and on Disney+ in the UK and Australia Read the full review Starring: James Woods and Louis Gossett Jr Directed by: Michael Ritchie Why our writer loves it: 'Diggstown is the perfect feelgood movie – a breezy but exciting genre mashup with enough of a hangout vibe that you can have it on in the background, but also enough stakes that you will inevitably end up giving it your full attention.' (Zach Vasquez) Where to watch: Diggstown is available on Amazon Prime Read the full review Starring: Cher and Christina Aguilera Directed by: Steve Antin Why our writer loves it: 'Many of those who panned Burlesque on its release would feel punished by this cosmically appointed choice of comfort movie. A sequined patchwork quilt of all manner of backstage musicals and melodramas from various eras of Hollywood – starring, in a naked reach for cross-generational gay fandom, dual divas Christina Aguilera and Cher – the film inspired critical comparisons to A Star is Born, Cabaret and Showgirls, most of them unflattering. It made $90m at the global box office: not a flop but not a palpable hit either, least of all for a film where the feather budget alone could have funded a modest indie drama. Antin, whose long but scattered pre-Burlesque career ran the gamut from acting to screenwriting to stunt work to producing Pussycat Dolls reality shows, hasn't directed another film since. The world, by and large, hasn't mourned.' (Guy Lodge) Where to watch: Burlesque is available to watch on Netflix in the US, on Sky Cinema in the UK and ABC iView and Amazon Prime in Australia Read the full review Starring: Chris Rock and Bernie Mac Directed by: Chris Rock Why our writer loves it: 'I've come back to this film so many times after the election for laughs, only to wind up seeing the whole picture as a clearer allegory for Kamala Harris's defeat than Obama's victory. Like Harris, [Chris Rock starring as Mays Gilliam, a small-time politician turned presidential hopeful] was a party sacrifice, offered up to make a certain loss look less bad on the cards, thrown into the fray at the 11th hour, plugged into a humming campaign apparatus, and touted as a history maker. It really makes you think about how close comedy is to horror.' (Andrew Lawrence) Where to watch: Head of State is available to stream in the US on Freevee, Tubi, Paramount+ and MGM+, in the UK on Paramount+ and on Amazon Prime in Australia Read the full review Starring: Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon and Paul Bettany Directed by: Brian Helgeland Why our writer loves it: 'To me, watching a feelgood film is an intensely nostalgic exercise. That's because whenever a film is special or timely enough to take up lodging in your heart, rewatching it is also an act of remembering an old version of yourself. A Knight's Tale is shaded by the genuine sadness of Ledger's death only seven years after its release, but when I watch it I also remember the way it used to make me feel, as a girl who loved the jousting because her older brother did, all the while secretly cherishing an action film for being so brazenly sentimental.' (Francesca Carington) Where to watch: A Knight's Tale is available on Amazon Prime in the US and available to rent digitally in the UK and Australia Read the full review Starring: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz and Jennifer Connelly Directed by: Robert Rodriguez Why our writer loves it: 'My feelgood movie for when humanity lets me down is Alita: Battle Angel, a movie where much of humanity hangs out in a city-sized junkpile. And though I don't press play with this aspect particularly in mind, it's nice to imagine a future where things have gone terribly wrong (that just seems realistic at this point) yet unforeseen triumphs still emerge from the tech-nightmare garbage heap. There are plenty of more time-honored films that take a more direct path to temporary bliss, including sci-fi movies better-equipped to restore faith in humanity.' (Jesse Hassenger) Where to watch: Alita: Battle Angel is available to watch on Hulu in the US, on Netflix and Disney+ in the UK and on Disney+ in Australia Read the full review Starring: Wendy Hiller, Roger Livesey, Pamela Brown Directed by: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger Why our writer loves it: 'I Know Where I'm Going! offers up such portentous moments of mystical and romantic significance lightly, alongside comical asides and colourful eccentricity. It's a disarming strategy, which tends to leave the audience every bit as bewitched as (the film's main character) Joan. In this corner of the universe, anything might be possible, even an ancient curse.' (Pamela Hutchinson) Read the full review for I Know Where I'm Going! Where to watch: I Know Where I'm Going! is available to watch on Tubi, Amazon Prime and the Criterion Channel in the US and is available to rent digitally Australia and in the UK and watch on BBC iPlayer Read the full review
The Guardian
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Full of delightful surprises': why Spy is my feelgood movie
It has a plot and a cast that seem cooked up during a hallucinatory fever dream. It shouldn't work, but it does – and so splendidly, too. In Paul Feig's comedy Spy, Melissa McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, a timid CIA desk agent who gets sent out into the field by her fearsome boss (Alison Janney) after the death of her slick Bond-like colleague, Bradley Fine (Jude Law, in a rare comedic turn). The cast is full of delightful surprises. Rose Bryne is a stiletto-clad Oxford-educated villainess with quips so brutal that she makes Regina George look like Barney. Peter Serafinowicz does a game turn as an – admittedly very pre-#MeToo – cringey Italian pervert figure named Aldo ('like the shoe store found in American malls'). And in the film's most magnificent twist, Jason Statham parodies the hard-as-nails action leads he's played over the years as a hard-edged buffoon with 'a habit of doing things that people say I can't do: walk through fire, water-ski blindfolded, take up piano at a late age'. That's not even to mention whatever it is that's going on between English comedian Miranda Hart, who stars as Susan's best friend and co-conspirator, and American rapper 50 Cent, who plays himself. I was first introduced to McCarthy's charms in another Feig feature, the 2011 comedy Bridesmaids, then hailed as a vital intervention in the major debate, considered legitimate and interesting at the time, about whether women were funny. Bridesmaids proved the affirmative. There were gross-out gags: who could forget Maya Rudolph's diarrhea-ridden bride-to-be, festooned in her custom designer dress, running through a busy street before giving up to let loose among the cars, the sacred commingling with the literally shitty profane. Then there were the nuances of girl-world jockeying: the self-cannibalising competition involved in organising a bachelorette party, or showing up to a fancy party in your best clothes, only to be asked by the insouciant rich girl whether you had just 'come from work'. Among this cast of funny women, McCarthy was a scene-stealer. As Megan, she first appeared as someone Hollywood would at best ignore or at worst despise: she was plus-sized, she was unglamorous, she dressed in clothes that – to borrow a joke from Spy – made her look like 'someone's homophobic aunt'. But McCarthy delivered a magnetic performance of a woman who was foul-mouthed, sexually confident and utterly self-possessed. Far from being a figure of pity, McCarthy made Megan a figure of admiration. Those comic gifts are given more space to roam in Spy. McCarthy's Susan Cooper is a meek middle-aged woman stuck in a fossilised routine, unappreciated at work and unseen in life. She watches her younger, thinner colleague get served faster at the bar, basking in the glow of the kind of male attention Susan's never had in her life. Jude Law gives her a hideous necklace with a grinning cartoon cupcake, which says: I like you, but I do not respect you. It is Susan's invisibility, and the fact that people will underestimate her at every turn, that grants her a chance to go on a mission. Just follow the target from a distance, her boss tells her. Inevitably, Susan breaks the rules. My love for spy films began in the 2000s with cartoon Totally Spies, which follows a trio of high school girls in California who spend their time shopping, partying and undertaking high-flying missions for an international organisation. I was drawn to the boundlessness of their lives, their glamorous escapades, their incredible gadgets and total competence. That quickly led me to McG's Charlie's Angels films (great fun, dodgy accents) then later the classics: the Hitchcocks, the Bonds, the Le Carré adaptations. The spy films I returned to most, though, were the comedies that embraced the high camp of the genre, understanding that these stories were as total a fantasy as those about being saved by a perfect prince. I was also drawn to the stories about women, because the appeal of the genre is, to me, indelibly tied to gender. In a world that reminds girls that danger may be lurking around every corner, and asks women to embrace a kind of harried, self-sacrificial domesticity, the female spies in these films were a perfect on-screen foil. Spy – it's in the name – is both a satire and homage. There's a high-powered gadget lab with cars that look like smooth, expensive spaceships, and a sardonic gadget master to match. There's a high-stakes poker game; a dangerous drop-off in a bumping club; a high-speed car chase through a European city. These tropes are both indulged and subverted to fun, frothy effect. And Spy is radical in other respects: it remains the only major Hollywood spy film that features a middle-aged woman as the lead. I know because every so often, in search of a feelgood film, I rewatch what can be inelegantly described as 'female-fronted spy comedies': Charlie's Angels 1 and 2, the recent reboot of Charlie's Angels, as well as the fun Mila Kunis-Kate McKinnon buddy comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me. Projects like these are few and far between; I guess Hollywood does not think there's enough of an audience for them. To that I say: join us. The delights are profound; the sense of freedom intoxicating; the costumes and the gadgets and the intrigue sexy and absurd and larger-than-life – and an exciting new adventure, that great siren song to the desk-bound, is always just around the corner. Spy is available on Hulu in the US and Disney+ and Netflix in the UK and Australia
Grazia USA
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Grazia USA
Sydney Sweeney's Upcoming Projects: What's Next for the Rising Star?
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 05: Sydney Sweeney attends the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 05, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images) From her Emmy-nominated turn in Euphoria to producing her own breakout hits, Sydney Sweeney has firmly stepped into her power as one of Hollywood's most in-demand talents. 2025 is already shaping up to be a major year in her career, with a mix of completed films, highly anticipated roles, and buzzy projects in development. Here's a look at what's officially coming — and what's still cooking — for the multi-hyphenate star. Sydney Sweeney's Upcoming Projects: Echo Valley – June 2025 Sweeney stars opposite Julianne Moore in Echo Valley , a suspenseful mother-daughter thriller set on a rural Pennsylvania horse farm. Written by Mare of Easttown creator Brad Ingelsby and directed by Michael Pearce, the film follows Claire (Sweeney), who arrives at her mother's home covered in blood, triggering a gripping emotional reckoning. Echo Valley debuts in select theaters on June 6, 2025, followed by a global release on Apple TV+ June 13. The Housemaid – December 2025 Adapted from Freida McFadden's bestselling psychological thriller, The Housemaid casts Sweeney as Millie, a live-in employee who discovers chilling secrets inside her employer's mansion. Starring alongside Amanda Seyfried and directed by Paul Feig, the film is slated to premiere on December 25, 2025 — positioning it for potential awards attention. Scandalous! – In Development Sweeney is set to portray Old Hollywood screen siren Kim Novak in Scandalous! , a biopic that explores Novak's real-life romance with singer Sammy Davis Jr. The relationship, which took place in 1957 during the height of the Jim Crow era, sparked controversy and made headlines across America. The film will be directed by Oscar nominee Colman Domingo, with no official release date yet confirmed. Barbarella – In Development Sweeney is also set to lead a reboot of the 1968 sci-fi cult classic Barbarella , with Edgar Wright attached to direct. While no production or release dates have been announced, Sweeney recently confirmed the project is actively in development and described it as 'a long process — but it's gonna be worth the wait.' Euphoria Season 3 – Expected 2026 Fans of HBO's Euphoria will have to wait a bit longer to see Cassie Howard back on their screens. While production began in early 2025, the release of Season 3 has officially been pushed to 2026 due to scheduling delays and creative rewrites. Sweeney shared her excitement about returning to the character, calling Cassie 'one of the most special characters for me' in a People interview. Split Fiction – In Development Also on the horizon is Split Fiction , a film based on the action-adventure video game of the same name. Sweeney will both star in and executive produce the project, which follows two writers trapped in a simulated world battling a corporate villain. Directed by Jon M. Chu ( Wicked , Crazy Rich Asians ) and written by Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the film is still in early development with no confirmed release window. Conclusion: Sydney Sweeney's upcoming projects are the perfect snapshot of a star who isn't just versatile — she's strategic. With prestige dramas, edgy thrillers, and genre-defining reboots in the mix, her 2025 and beyond is stacked with promise. Whether she's in front of the camera or behind it, one thing is certain: Sydney Sweeney is just getting started. topics: Sydney Sweeney, Sydney Sweeney Movie, New Films, movies, Film + TV
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Another Simple Favor's Ending Leaves A Huge Mystery, And I'm Already Hoping For A Third Movie
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Warning: massive spoilers for Another Simple Favor are about to be liberally poured. It's starting to really feel like summer in some parts of the world. There's nothing like a cold drink in your hand, a blessed event to celebrate, and a trail of dead bodies potentially triggering a mob war. All this and more is offered in director Paul Feig's 2025 movie schedule, offering Another Simple Favor, and the end result is a cliffhanger so twisted, I need to see more. Naturally, this means we'll need to talk big time spoilers involving Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, and a handful of other cast members involved in this Prime Video subscription booster. So if you're looking to learn more without spoiling the surprises, you can check out our Another Simple Favor review elsewhere. But for the rest of you fake true crime fiends out there, let's pour ourselves a martini, and get into what I think happened - and where it could lead! Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) has once again journeyed through hell at the hands of her own family. As it turns out, the woman also known as Hope McLanden had a secret triplet named Chastity (Lively), who, with their aunt Linda (Allison Janney), went on a murder spree during her destination wedding in Capri. When all is said and done, Chastity was responsible for killing ex-husband Sean (Henry Golding) and new beau Dante Versano (Michele Morrone); while Linda ices her sister/mother to triplets Margaret (Elizabeth Perkins). That last murder was in order to adjust to Charity going off script by disposing of Emily's angry ex-husband, as Dante was always the sole intended target. Amazon Prime Video: 30-day free trialIf you want to do yourself a simple favor, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime; which includes access to Prime Video. There, you'll easily be able to stream this Anna Kendrick/Blake Lively sequel, at your earliest convenience. However, if you want to grant yourself another simple favor, through acces to Amazon Originals like The Lord of the RIngs: The Rings of Power or The Boys. then you can stay signed up for $14.99 a month, or $139 upfront for an entire year! No family inspired schemes needed!View Deal With that fun new family member going to jail in the place of 'Emily,' Hope could be considered a free woman. That is, until this final ask from her mother-in-law, Portia Versano (Elena Sofia Ricci), transpired: I will keep your secret. … But my son is still dead because of you. However, I consider you to be part of the family now. And I expect a lot from family. So, because of this, I have a simple favor to ask of you. With that request, Portia passes a piece of paper to Hope, and we never see or hear what's on it. All that follows is the ladies clinking glasses, right before we cut to credits. That being said, I think Another Simple Favor ends with Portia Versano making Emily Nelson swear to kill her latest adversary, keeping this latest round of murder in the family. And to connect the dots, we have to walk through the wilderness of mirrors that preceded this finale. As it turns out, all three of the triplets born to Margaret McLanden (Elizabeth Perkins) survived! Hope (our current antihero), Faith (the sister killed in A Simple Favor's twisted ending), and Charity were all born happy and healthy. That third baby was apparently hidden by good old Auntie Linda from day one, thanks to some creative lying. With Linda telling Margaret that Charity died in childbirth, Another Simple Favor's big bad took an opportunity to raise a little bundle of joy of her own - all in the name of the con. Look, fineries like Blake Lively's pizza purse are expensive, and some people really like that sort of thing. Not Charity, though. Sheltered beyond belief, to the point where she has an unhealthy sexual obsession with her triplet, all that third McLanden wants is to be with Hope forever. Hence, the double homicide of the men in Emily's life, so she can keep her all to herself! And somehow…she survived this betrayal. Despite being set up as the woman we all love to hate, the person known to the world as Emily Nelson found herself doing something sweet in this seductive sequel. Admitted in her own confession to Stephanie, Hope/Emily shares that her marriage to Dante Versano was a cover for his relationship with a member of a rival family: Matteo Bartolo (Lorenzo de Moor). This 'small, beautiful thing in this fucked up world' was done to avoid a mob war, in exchange for an old friend helping Emily/Hope get out of prison. But even with all of that compromised by her sister fucker/stalker Charity, Another Simple Favor's head bitch in charge took pity. Knowing the horrific things that she went through, and seeing a way to tie up loose ends yet again, Hope doesn't kill Charity. She just has her arrested in her place, which some might think is an elegant solution to the problem. However, that does leave two dangling threads that Portia Versano is probably looking to tie up. And what better way than to ask Hope to finish the job with Charity, so as to cover up this whole incident, while getting revenge against Dante's killer? We've been talking a lot about what Another Simple Favor may have done for Hope McLanden's future. However, she's only the Moriarty to this potential franchise's Holmes, true-crime vlogger turned author Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick). So if we're really going to have a ballgame here, we need a reason to bring Stephanie into the picture, and there's a perfect three-quel worthy twist that's sitting in plain sight. If we're going to see A Simple Favor 3 take place, Stephanie is more than likely going to have to break bad. While Hope/Emily will naturally do the dirty work, Ms. Kendrick's astute crime solver will be needed to plot out this potential murder in such a way that both parties would get away with the results. Considering Blake Lively's recent post of support for Anna Kendrick, that looks like a good possibility. At least, that's if this supposed debunking of the alleged Lively/Kendrick feud holds up between now and when/if a potential sequel is pitched. It's not exactly the kind of story that allows its author to go to print unless some sort of unforeseen twist puts Stephanie so in the clear she can write without fear of incrimination. But maybe that's the best gift that Blake Lively's anti-hero could give her dear companion: a chance to live the adventure, rather than just document it. Did anyone else just hear the clink of cocktail glasses, or was that just me? Should you have answered 'yes,' you've probably just seen Another Simple Favor. But if you've somehow read this rundown without hitting 'Play,' that's alright. There's plenty of stylish murder and mayhem awaiting you on Prime Video, as that brand new sequel is now streaming for your pleasure.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I Waited Years For Another Simple Favor, But Come On, They Needed To Give Me A Better Explanation Than That
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Spoilers ahead for Another Simple Favor, look away if you haven't watched the mystery sequel! Sequels are a tricky thing, especially if folks loved the original. Rather than a sequel nobody asked for, Paul Feig's Another Simple Favor is something that fans like me have been waiting years to see. The follow-up mystery (which is streaming with an Amazon Prime subscription). But given the murderous way A Simple Favor ended, I needed a better reason why protagonists Stephanie and Emily ended up being besties again. The chemistry between Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively was a big reason why the first Simple Favor movie worked, but there was a lot of bad blood by the time its runtime was up. Stephanie slept with Emily's husband, and the latter attempted murder in response. But after a few quips and a martini, the two were somehow able to put that all behind them for Another Simple Favor. And I simply couldn't get over this turn of events while watching the sequel. Amazon Prime Video: 30-day free trialAnother Simple Favor is streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. You can try a trial for 30-days, thereafter pay $14.99 a month, or save 22% by paying $139 upfront for the Deal Obviously I know why this had to happen logistically. We needed the movie's two leads to be on each other's side once the bodies started stacking up during Emily's wedding in Capri. But I really can't imagine how homicide and adultery would end up being water under the bridge, especially with Lively's character literally going to prison after the event of the first movie. I wrote CinemaBlend's A Simple Favor review back in 2018, and I've spent years telling anyone who would listen just how great Feig's sassy mystery film was. I was pleased that a sequel was finally shot and heading straight to our homes on Amazon, but found that Another Simple Favor was lacking some of that same charm. And I assume I'm not the only one who found Stephanie and Emily's friendship strange the second time around. Critical response to Another Simple Favor hasn't exactly been glowing. Of course, Kendrick and Lively could end up paired as these characters for yet another entry into this burgeoning franchise. The ending of Another Simple Favor set up future adventures for Emily, who was living in hiding in Italy. She received a mysterious assignment from Elena Sofia Ricci's Portia, so it seems like the story could go just about anywhere in a threequel. We'll just have to wait and see how many folks tune into Another Simple Favor, and if Amazon decides to pull the trigger on a third installment from Paul Feig's franchise. The release came amidst Blake Lively's legal issues with Justin Baldoni, so we'll have to see whether or not any publicity is actually good publicity. Another Simple Favor is streaming now on Amazon as part of the 2025 movie release list. Despite my complaints about the sequel, I'd still totally watch a third installment.
