3 Movie Recommendations for Your Next Night In

I don’t know if I’ve been in a weird mood lately or if the holiday season has me all nostalgic but I was craving a feel-good movie. Happily, I found two and they’re both teen, coming-of-age type movies. Just go with it.

I’m also sharing an edge-of-your-seat thriller that you have to watch. In fact, I’d recommend a double feature of the thriller and then one of these feel-good options. It would be the perfect movie night.

Love, Simon

Available on HBO

I’m putting this first because it’s probably the best movie I saw in 2018.

The movie is about a teenage boy named Simon coming out. But it’s so much more than that.

The movie is beautifully acted and truthfully, helped me understand what the experience of coming out might feel like. For Simon it was not just about not being accepted by his family or friends, it was about him processing his own feelings and being ready on his own terms. I hope this movie has helped many (I’m sure it has) and it certainly will help me to be a better ally.

The parents in this movie are really fantastic (played by Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel).

Feeling at the end of the movie: Oh wow. I think I can actually feel the happiness, physically, in my heart. FEELINGS. So many feelings. And happy tears (and I’m not a crier). But also, I really really hope that N and I are raising Ben in a home where he can explore any feelings he may have and know he’ll always be welcomed and loved.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

Available on Netflix

Netflix kept recommending this to me for months and I kept avoiding it because I thought it was in another language and then dubbed. It wasn’t. I should have watched it immediately (those recommendations are almost always right!).

I won’t give anything away that the trailer doesn’t but basically Lara Jean is a quiet teenage girl who loves reading romance novels but minimal experience with boys. She writes letters to the guys she’s “loved” and has them in a box in her room. They were not supposed to be mailed but someone sends them.

This is a really enjoyable coming-of-age story that’ll make your heart happy. It’s teen romance without feeling silly.

Feeling at the end of the movie: Awww.

Searching

We watched this on Black Friday with a very eclectic group of people (my mother-in-law, my brother-in-law’s in-laws, etc.) and everyone liked it. That tells you something right there.

Searching is about a man whose 16-year-old daughter goes missing. He begins to realize that he didn’t actually know her very well and uses her computer to dig into her life to find clues about what might have happened.

I’ve never seen a movie shown this way. I don’t know that one has ever been made like this. The entire movie is basically a recording of a computer screen. If that turns you off, don’t let it. It’s fantastic and you get used to it quickly but you do have to pay attention or you’ll miss something.

If you like Law and Order: SVU type shows or the podcast Serial, this movie is a must-watch.

Feeling at the end of the movie: Holy sh*t.

If you’ve watched a movie recently that you loved, please leave it below! We’re headed into cozy season and I see lots of movie nights in my future.