As the characters of Game of Thrones so often put it, winter is coming, ushering in frigid nights, shorter days, and relatively limited time spent outdoors with friends and family.
While most people might miss the chance to bask in the rejuvenating heat of spring and summer, winter also affords us a chance to catch up on movies that have long evaded our attention. Not only that, but it also provides an opportunity to rewatch some familiar classics we hold near and dear to our hearts.
From suspenseful whodunits to claustrophobic horror films, from family-friendly musicals to hyper-violent revenge epics, here are some of our favorite winter-set movies to enjoy this balmy season.
We’d like to preemptively apologize for getting any Frozen song stuck in your head for the duration of the day. Yet even then, the fact that you’re probably humming “Let It Go” or “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” right now is perfectly indicative of Frozen’s unparalleled popularity on par with The Little Mermaid in the ‘80s or Aladdin in the ‘90s. Between its impressive vocal performances, stunning visuals, and sweeping score, Frozen has enough endearing warmth to appeal to audiences of all ages, leaving little reason to wonder about its iconic status today.
Facing the blustery winter weather is difficult enough, but what if the person you were trapped inside with was actually a shapeshifting alien bent on total assimilation of the Earth? Such is the haunting premise behind John Carpenter’s sci-fi masterpiece, The Thing. A landmark entry in ‘80s body horror, The Thing also succeeds as a first-rate mystery film that keeps viewers guessing throughout. As popular today as it was egregiously ignored back in the summer of ‘82, The Thing has since acquired a well-deserved cult following from cinephiles across the globe, thanks in large part to its suspenseful atmosphere, intriguing narrative, and an ending as bleak and ice-cold as the film’s Antarctic settings.
Borrowing plenty of inspiration from the aforementioned Thing, The Hateful Eight sees legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino cross-pollinate elements of a whodunit mystery with a vintage Spaghetti Western film. Mixing together Agatha Christie, Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah, and Carpenter’s The Thing, The Hateful Eight finds eight wholly disparate characters resting under the same roof as a whiteout blizzard rampages outside. As much The Murder on the Orient Express as it is The Wild Bunch, The Hateful Eight makes for a predictably memorable (and nauseatingly gory) entry in Tarantino’s illustrious filmography, appealing most directly to fans of Tarantino’s earlier work on Reservoir Dogs and Django Unchained.
On the surface, serving out a stint as winter caretaker for a scenic Colorado hotel seems like an easy job, right? Well, as The Shining eloquently illustrates, such a position comes with its own set of difficulties, including regular encounters with the enigmatic ghosts residing in the hotel’s hallowed halls. The last movie you should watch when you’re faced with rapidly rising snow drifts outside your front door, The Shining’s cerebral approach might prove a tad slow for some viewers. For most, however, the film’s glacial pace builds to an increasingly unnerving atmosphere – one that prioritizes palpable psychological unease over cheap jumpscares.
There’s the average winter-levels of cold – and then there’s so-cold-they-only-way-to-survive-is-by-climbing-into-the-hollowed-out-carcass-of-a-horse levels of cold. As one of the most riveting films of the 2010s, there are many reasons to watch 2015’s The Revenant in its entirety, from the chameleon-like performances of its main cast to its realistic portrayal of a grizzly bear attack. No matter the exact reason you tune in to watch this award-winning Western revenge film, The Revenant delivers a hearty dose of action, suspense, and drama in the course of its two-and-a-half hour runtime, leaving viewers just as out-of-breath and exhausted as Leonardo DiCaprio’s rugged survivalist, Hugh Glass.
A far cry from the gritty atmosphere of The Thing, The Revenant, or The Shining, Happy Feet makes for a far lighter viewing experience than most other films we’ve outlined thus far. Relying on top-tier animated visuals, a comparatively approachable story, and plenty of infectious musical dance numbers, Happy Feet proves entertaining enough to appeal to a wide demographic of viewers, warming our hearts even as it showcases the stark landscape of Antarctica.
Nope, we’re not talking about the equally terrific FX series of the same name. Instead, we’re discussing the preceding 1996 Oscar winner made by the acclaimed filmmaking duo, the Coen brothers. Quite possibly the siblings’ finest film, Fargo comes packed to the brim with the brothers’ signature penchant for vivid characters, quirky dialogue, and plot twist-heavy narratives. Weaving together the stories of several wholly different characters, Fargo excels as a snowy crime comedy the likes of which viewers rarely have a chance to see, setting the wackier tone of the Fargo TV series by a good ten and a half years.
