10 Films to Watch While Self Isolating: With this state of emergency leaving us stranded in our homes and without a job (like how I’ve been living for the past eight years), it seems there’s nothing left to do but kick back and calm down with some movies to take our minds of this global pandemic. Here are my top 10 suggestions and what better film to start with to calm your nerves than Threads.
This British made-for-TV film was released when nuclear apocalypse fears were in vogue. This film came about so that Britain could one-up the United States with who could make a more depressing nuclear apocalypse film, releasing it a year after America’s own made-for-TV film The Day After. Of course, the gloomy Brits won because a nuclear apocalypse is bad enough, but it’s even worse in wet weather.
These two films would make a fun double feature, or even a triple feature along with The War Game, another made-for-TV film … these kinds of films were restricted to television, as they would’ve given audiences heart attacks if played on the big screen.
The Soviet Union also got in on the nuclear devastation genre, with the Chernobyl disaster likely intensifying it. Take a look at two of Russian director Konstantin Lopushansky’s films, Dead Man’s Letters and Visitor to a Museum, for a more Eastern European kind of gloominess (the most appropriate kind of gloominess).
And if you’re more keen on a nuclear apocalypse film set behind war-room doors, Fail Safe will be the film for you, showing the diplomatic intricacies between the men that most of our civilisation rely on. It plays out like Dr Strangelove, but even funnier.
Another List of Feel Good Films To Watch While Self Isolating
But in the real world nowadays, our fears have moved away from a nuclear holocaust and more towards a more domestic threat (ie coughing humans, bats) and Contagion is the film to accentuate/assuage those fears. I likely don’t have to recommend this film right now, as more people seem to be watching it now than when it came out. How strange that they made a documentary about something that hadn’t happened yet.
And if it’s tips on how to keep your cool when self-isolating, then look no further than The Shining. A much less stressful and more calming film than the others, The Shining is a comfy watch as we view the slow descent into cabin fever madness. Perfect for those who feel snow-bound as well.
If a giant hotel is too agoraphobic for you, then how about just a single room? And if being snowed-in seems too logical of a reason to stay inside, how about … no real reason at all? The Exterminating Angel ponders this as its ensemble cast don’t leave their party because, well, because director Luis Bunuel says so. Perhaps by the end of our corona-virus isolation, we’ll feel just like these characters, inexplicably not leaving where we’ve so comfortably found ourselves stuck.
And finally, Last Night is a rare kind of apocalyptic film, showing a far calmer side of when we anticipate total global destruction. Whether it’s having one last Christmas family dinner in July, or going through your sex-minded bucket list, or just trying to find someone to carry out a suicide pact with. It focuses only on how the civil members of society plan out their final days, with all the murderous, looting, bus-tipping hooligans in the background. It’s hard to tell which one of these kinds of people make up the majority of our civilisation, but Last Night is a friendly reminder of what we might forget about the apocalypse – Canada is part of it as well.
So enjoy these relaxing films as you keep yourselves cooped up and away from human contact. Don’t take them for granted, they just may be the last movies you ever watch. These are my recommendation for films to watch while self isolating, I would suggest you to watch the video essay.
