December 31st is an interesting day. For some, the promise of a new year evokes a warm and fuzzy feeling that calls for a bottle of bubbly and a night out. For others, it’s a time for reflection that requires something more low-key—perhaps a dinner with friends and family? A night to yourself? May we suggest a cocktail for the occasion? Either way, the choice is yours, dear reader.
Whatever your New Year’s Eve style is, I think we can all agree the morning after is when the real celebration begins. January 1st is meant for pure relaxation. So if you plan to chill out at home (or nurse a hangover) we’ve got you covered. Check out this list of New Year’s-themed movies to kick off another trip around the sun, all from the comfort of your couch.
Everything Everywhere All At Once
OK, so Everything Everywhere All At Once is not technically a holiday movie, but the film is, in many ways, a celebration of life—and what better way to ring in the New Year than to reflect on our existence? In this movie, Evelyn Quan’s (Michelle Yeoh) life turns upside-down when her universe collides with an alternate reality. With her newfound ability to navigate the multiverse, Evelyn tries to save the world, and learns a thing or two about life along the way.
Into The Dark: New Year, New You
If you’re looking to usher in 2023 with something sinister, check out New Year, New You. This holiday horror flick, starring Suki Waterhouse, follows a group of friends who have a reunion on New Years Eve and play a round of Never Have I Ever—that, of course, turns deadly.
The adventures of Carrie Bradshaw and co. continue in the Sex & The City Movie, which (if anything) is all about transformations. After Carrie’s fiancé Big ditches their wedding—hey, it’s not a spoiler if it happened in 2008!—the infamous writer decides to rebuild her life from scratch. The story begins in the fall and takes us all the way through a very cute New Year’s celebration, where Carrie learns that some of our most valuable relationships are with our friends.
Two brothers who run a commodities brokerage in Philadelphia try some light social engineering when they switch the identities of their employee, Louis Winthorpe III, played by Dan Aykroyd, and a hustler, Billy Ray Valentine, played by Eddie Murphy. Jamie Lee Curtis is there to help them sort it out and get even. Undeniably a classic comedy, this is also a holiday movie, because one of the film’s most crucial scenes takes place at a New Year’s Eve party aboard a train.
If its lead lovers meeting during December can make Carol a Christmas movie, then surely their first kiss happening on December 31st can make it a New Year’s Eve film. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 romance novel Salt, Carol stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as two women in 1950s New York who become enveloped in a forbidden love affair.
Few arcs capture the holiday’s spirit of hope quite like Sam Baldwin transitioning from a heartbreaking scene about talking to his deceased wife on New Year’s Eve to seeking new love on Valentine’s Day. This classic rom-com starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan will have you running to the Empire State Building to profess your feelings for the one you love.
When 21-year-old Tim Lake, played by Domhnall Gleeson, learns that he has inherited the ability to time travel and can do anything so long as it doesn’t alter history, his plan is simple: Get the girl. Of course, winning the heart of the love of his life, played by Rachel McAdams, proves to be the last of his worries as time unfolds.
Sure, watching Charlie Chaplin get stood up on New Year’s Eve is one aspect of The Gold Rush, but the slapstick charm of this classic silent film is perfect for reflecting on how times have changed. Not to mention, its silent nature makes for perfect background for a New Year’s Eve gathering.
When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
Probably the greatest romantic comedy of all time, When Harry Met Sally… defined the genre for a generation to come. The dialogue is whip smart; New York shines; Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal charm and delight. The New Year’s connection comes at the end during a New Year’s Eve party.
Jack Lemmon is a young man on the make who lets his company’s executives use his apartment for extra-marital affairs. After an office Christmas party, he finds his boss’s mistress, a young woman played by Shirley MacLaine, whom he knows from the office, at his apartment, where she’s tried to overdose on pills. They strike up a complicated relationship with multiple entanglements, both professional and personal. It’s a remarkable movie (and a Best Picture winner) that ends on New Year’s Eve.
This isn’t just one of the great New Year’s movies, this is one of the best dystopian thrillers in years. Forced to live on a train that circles the world in an endless loop, the back half of the carts, who live in squalor, decide to rise up under Chris Evans’s leadership and take down the wealthy upperclass who’re toasting to another year of splendor.
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
In this romantic comedy, Renee Zellweger’s Bridget Jones keeps a diary of a year of romantic misadventures. The movie begins and ends on New Year’s Eve, and it’s delightful as hell.
An Affair to Remember (1957)
A weepy romance classic featuring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr begins on New Year’s Eve, where the two main characters, engaged to others, promise to meet up in six months atop the Empire State Building. (If you decide to watch this one, considering following it up with Sleepless in Seattle, which references the movie.)
It’s a far cry from Ghostbusters, but when the movie came out in 1989—five years after the first one—audiences delighted in seeing Peter, Ray, Egon, and Winston back in action. The movie reaches its conclusion on New Year’s Eve, with a chorus of New Yorkers singing “Auld Lang Syne” in an attempt to defeat an evil spirit terrorizing the city.
The writer and director of this film—in which a group of friends meet at three different parties: on Halloween, a birthday, and New Year’s Eve—is Noah Baumbach, who made Kicking and Screaming, The Squid and the Whale, Margot at the Wedding, and others. It’s one of his earliest films and, as such, it’s rough and feels as low budget as it is. But the movie captures the rhythms and dialogue of young adults simply hanging out.
For a time in the 1960s, the Rat Pack could have released a two-hour film of themselves sleeping and it would’ve made money. Ocean’s 11, which inspired the 2000 remake, is better than that (the team’s 1964 effort, Robin and the 7 Hoods, is not) but it’s not a great film. This is a fun movie, however, with some of the 20th century’s greatest performers clearly having a great time—especially, you can tell, when the cameras aren’t rolling.
In this 1999 comedy, a group of people make their way to a New Year’s Eve party in New York in 1981. The best part of the movie—which features an ensemble cast, including Ben Affleck, Paul Rudd, Kate Hudson, Gaby Hoffmann, and Christina Ricci—is the setting: New York in the early ‘80s. That’s worth the price of admission.
This movie is not available to stream.
Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! (1986)
Charlie Brown frets over a book report, a New Year’s Eve party, and a red-headed girl. And unlike A Charlie Brown Christmas, in the end, nothing turns out well for Charlie Brown in this 30-minute special.
Bria McNeal
Associate Staff Writer
Bria McNeal is a Manhattan based journalist who is patiently awaiting B5’s revival.
