As COVID-19 takes over all of our regular lives, many of us are left with an abundance of extra time on our hands. This time is perfect for catching up on some must-watch movies! As a bit of a film nerd myself, I have a list about a mile long of movies I need to watch. This is the best time to get some of those out of the way. So, here are some different types of movies, with “sentence synopsis,”  that I think you should check out over your quarantine!

Feel Good “Coming of Age” Films (Mostly 80s)

Pretty in Pink (PG-13) – This 1986 cult classic focuses on a girl’s journey through love and the social cliques of high school.

Breakfast Club (R) – A teen comedy-drama that questions the social cliques of high school, and brings a group of seemingly polar opposite students into a friendship. 

The Goonies (PG) – An old-fashioned adventure film riddled with the troubles of adolescent life. 

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (PG-13) – This film follows the mischievous games of a highschooler while also dealing with some more serious underlying themes.

Sixteen Candles (PG-13) – This movie is full of teen angst with love and a good old happy ending.

Booksmart (R) – A film that questions the stereotypes of high school and asks teenagers to go outside their comfort zone.

Quarantine Horror

The Descent (R) – This film follows a group of friends who go cave diving and soon learn they are not alone.

28 Days Later (R) – A “zombie” movie that follows a man after he wakes up twenty-eight days after a deadly disease has ravaged the planet. 

The Thing (R) – This is a true classic monster movie that follows a research team after a being that can take the form of any living thing attacks the group.

Us (R) – This movie follows a family who must fight against a gang of doppelgangers, but everything is not quite what it seems. 

The Witch (R) – A bone-chilling film that follows a protestant family that has been banished to live at the edge of a wood. 

Pontypool (PG-13) – This film follows a disc jockey who reports from his radio station as claims of a deadly virus from the outside world come in. 

Movies That Might Make You Think a Little Too Deeply 

The Truman Show (PG) – A film about a man whose entire life is filmed for television without him knowing, but he soon begins to question everything. 

Parasite (R) – This film follows a low-class family as they slip through the ranks of the upper class, but not everything is as it seems.

Inception (PG-13) – A group of people that can enter others’ dreams, and plant ideas in their minds through this, tries to go through with a dangerous mission.

Donnie Darko (R) – A boy who struggles with mental illness receives messages from an unknown source about the end of the world.

Looper (R) – Time travel is in full swing in the future, and a hitman succeeds in his job through this, but soon the tables turn. 

Romantic Movies That Are a Bit More Than Just Romance. 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (R) – After a breakup a man learns that the love of his life has had a procedure to make her forget him, and so he undergoes the same procedure and slowly begins to forget the woman he loved.

Four weddings and a funeral (R) – A man and woman’s paths continuously cross, and the man soon comes to believe that they are meant to be together.

Casablanca (PG) – A woman and her husband must flee the country, but she knows an old lover that may be able to help them.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (PG-13) – A boy must fight the girl he loves’ army of evil exes, while discovering what a relationship truly is.

High Fidelity (R) – A man with a poor understanding of relationships is broken up with and goes on a journey of understanding what love means in order to win back his girlfriend.

Beautiful Animations 

Fantastic Mr. Fox (PG) – After 12 years of marital bliss, Mr. Fox breaks his promise to his wife and raids their human neighbors’ farms, endangering his family and community. 

The Secret of Kells (PG) – A boy in 9th century Ireland tries to help his village from being attacked by the vikings at all costs by searching for the Book of Kells.

Isle of Dogs (PG-13) – In a world where all canines have been exiled to “Trash Island,” a boy travels there in search of his dog, setting off an epic journey to change the fate of society.

Spirited Away (PG) – After a girl’s parents are turned into pigs by a witch, she must work at the witch’s bathhouse to find a way to free herself and her parents and return to the human world.

Coraline (PG) – A girl finds a secret door in her new house that leads to an alternate world that mirrors her own, but something is amiss.

Just Some Movies to Make you Laugh

The Big Lebowski (R) – The Dude and The Big Lebowski team up after Lebowski’s wife is kidnapped.

Zombieland (R) – A group of unlikely friends come together after the world has been taken over by zombies.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (PG) – This comedic fantasy film follows King Arthur on his quest to find the Holy Grail, all while in the midst of a modern-day murder investigation.

Clue (PG) – Based on the popular board game, a dinner party turns into a “who done it” murder story.

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (PG) – Two boys who are in a band discover that their music is the foundation of a perfect society in their future through a time machine, but that will not happen if they fail their History class.

Nacho Libre  (PG) – A man who works as a cook at the Mexican monastery that he grew up in decides to raise money for the children by becoming a luchador.

Documentaries You Can’t Miss

Planet Earth (PG) – This documentary shows the wonders of nature in incredible high resolution.

Man on a Wire (PG-13) – This follows the story of a man who performed acrobatics and walked a tightrope between the Twin Towers.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor (PG-13) – A man learns to forgive and love his family after connecting with Mr. Rogers.

Exit Through the Gift Shop (R) – This documentary follows the infamous graffiti artist known as Banksy.

The True Cost  (PG-13) – A film that reveals the ethical issues of the fashion industry.

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck  (N/R) – An in-depth examination of the famed Nirvana singer’s childhood, music career and death.

The Classics

Vertigo (PG) – An ex-police officer who has an intense fear of heights is hired to prevent an old friend’s wife from committing suicide.

Pulp Fiction (R) – A cult classic that follows the interlacing of multiple stories throughout, including two hitmen, a struggling boxer, and a pair of armed robbers.

Citizen Kane (PG) – A reporter is assigned to decipher newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane’s dying words, but his investigation gradually leads elsewhere.

Psycho (R) – A secretary on the run seeks shelter at the Bates Motel and meets a young man with an interest in taxidermy and a difficult maternal relationship.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) (G) – A UFO lands in Washington, D.C. that sets off a series of events.

Action for Your Lazy Day

John Wick (R) – A legendary assassin returns from retirement after the death of his wife.

The Matrix (R) – In a dystopian future, humans are unknowingly trapped inside a simulation of reality, and a man tries to uncover the truth, along with the others who have been freed from the simulation. 

The Dark Knight (PG-13) – A vile criminal who goes by the name of “Joker” throws Gotham into Chaos and Batman along with his allies must fight to stop him.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG) – The epic tale of an archeologist who tries to beat a band of Nazis to a religious relic that is central to their plans of world domination. 

Mad Max: Fury Road (R) – A warrior in a post-apocalyptic world tries to lead the wives of the tyrant to freedom while being chased by his evil henchmen.

Big Trouble in Little China (PG-13) – An ancient Chinese prince and Chinatown crime lord kidnaps the fiance of Jack Burton’s best friend and they must fight to get her back.

There are plenty of films and series to explore over this time that you may learn something from! So stay inside, stay healthy, and watch some movies!