With the onslaught of finals and final projects rearing its ugly head, students are under an insurmountable amount of stress. When we look for comfort, it can always be found in a feel-good film. Here a few of my favorite comfort movies:

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

Based upon Shakespeare’s “Taming of The Shrew,” this film takes a ’90s perspective. It centers around the Stratford sisters, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) who desperately wants to date, and Kat (Julia Stiles) who is quick-witted and abrasive to everyone but, you know, in a feminist way. Unfortunately for Bianca, their overbearing father won’t let her date until Kat does. Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the new kid, decides he simply must be with Bianca and so they hatch a plan to hire the similarly harsh Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to pursue Kat. It’s a cult classic equipped with Ledger’s rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” and teenage betrayal. All that warm and fuzzy ’90s screen resolution is the film equivalent of chicken noodle soup.

Sleeping with Other People (2015)

Jake (Jason Sudeikis) and Lainey (Alison Brie) lose their virginity to each other in a one night stand. Twelve years later, they run into each other at a Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous meeting. Lainey is obsessed with an admittedly subpar man. Jakes suggests she text her fixations to him in an attempt to help her get over her heartbreak. They quickly become best friends but are often at odds with their attraction to one another. This film is a silly mutation of the friends-to-lovers trope we all know and love. Fast and pithy dialogue, “Sleeping with Other People” gives a refreshing take on sex, love and friendship.

The Lovebirds (2020)

Leilani (Issa Rae) and Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) are a couple on dire straits when they witness a murder. They try to solve the case, fearful that, as minorities, they may be framed. As if navigating the end of a relationship wasn’t enough. “The Lovebirds” is a crazy and cohesive combo of action and romantic comedy. The movie is placed throughout the course of the night where both characters make endless quips about the sketchy white people that got them stuck in this mess. It’s a surefire laugh with some grounded perspective.

Palm Springs (2020)

Nyles (Andy Samberg), boyfriend of the maid of honor, hits it off with Sarah (Cristin Milioti) and soon she is stuck in a time loop on the worst day of her life: her sister’s wedding. After drinking herself silly with Nyles, she becomes apathetic to the situation. They both begin to indulge in various hijinks and their company with each other. A production by The Lonely Island, it has everything you need from demented humor to existential dread. “Palm Springs” reminds us life could always be worse. You could live the rest of your days out at your sister’s wedding.

Heathers (1989)

Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) is in an inescapable clique of girls named Heather who prey on people’s insecurities. In an attempt to defy Heather Chandler (Kim Walker), their tyrannical leader, Veronica and her new boyfriend, JD (Christian Slater), inadvertently poison her with draino. In fear of what they’ve done, Veronica frames it as a suicide. JD finds too much satisfaction and begins to frame suicides of the school’s cruelest students. Veronica finds herself as a bystander yet again and tries to stop both him and the remaining Heathers from their inhumanity. “Heathers” is bright in color but dark in tone. Escape to a world of beautifully stiff clothes, big hair and indifference to the twisted. 

Saving Face (2004)

Wil (Michelle Kruseic) navigates her budding relationship with Vivian (Lynn Chen) as a closeted lesbian in a traditionalist Chinese American community. Wil soon finds out her widowed mother, Hwei-Ian (Joan Chen), is pregnant and has been banished to Wil’s apartment. In one scene, Vivian, who is a ballerina, urges Wil out of her adorably awkward shell where she teaches her how to gracefully fall. You’re sure to forget your troubles with this coming-of-age romance. It’s just too undeniably cute. 

While I’m sure you all are doing everything but absorbing your textbooks through osmosis, remember to take a break this week. Waste an hour or two. You deserve it.

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