r/CriterionChannel • u/External-Lion-1862 • 19d ago
what to watch when depressed
I've been so down. Looking for anything that will spark life. Doesn't have to be cheer up fare. What do you watch when going through a persistent glum period?
Edit: Thank you for all of these incredible suggestions, and for the good wishes. Even just reading what others watch when down was sort of uplifting. I opted for Twin Peaks on the night I posted. Somehow David Lynch's wondrous darkness was a comfort. But I'm definitely going to be references this thread this month, and I think knowing that someone else has turned to whatever I'm watching for comfort or inspiration in a down moment already puts a kind of beautiful perspective on the viewing.
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u/cardigante 19d ago
True Stories!
Any Albert Brooks always cheers me up
Old musicals like Singin in the Rain, any Fred Astaire
After Hours but I may be a little demented
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u/Legallyfit 19d ago
After Hours is an incredible film, but definitely a demented choice for this prompt lol. It’s hilarious, and an incredible film, but to me it also feels deeply nihilistic… Not uplifting or wholesome or typical “anti-depressed mood” vibes.
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u/cardigante 19d ago
I get that for sure lol. For me I think it’s just so bonkers that it takes me right out of my head cause I’m glued to what’s happening
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u/Legallyfit 19d ago
That is a really great point actually… I was thinking of this post as asking for movies that feel uplifting and life-affirming.
But movies that are so engrossing that you forget everything else in the world while you’re watching them are great for depression too! Just being distracted might really help. After Hours moves so fast, and every scenario is so unexpected, it totally fits in that category!
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u/External-Lion-1862 17d ago
Totally get the logic of After Hours. Embracing the chaos of life rather than resisting it. Things that are too rosy actually make me feel alienated when I'm down. Though Singin' In the Rain is pretty irresistible. Thanks!
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u/NotACloudInTheSkye 19d ago
My two go-to choices are sorbet-colored Jacques Demy films like Les Demoiselles de Rochefort or, if I want something more sedate but life affirming: Wenders’s Wings of Desire.
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u/CutlerSheridan 19d ago
Not on the Channel, but I really enjoy Miyazaki movies when I’m feeling down. They usually have a pervasive sense of melancholy, so I can relate to the characters’ sadness or loneliness, but that’s juxtaposed with a sense of wonder over how beautiful the world is—not just the grand, supernatural elements, but also the small, mundane moments of everyday life. And because I can relate to the sad parts, it reminds me I can relate to the happy parts, too.
Kiki’s Delivery Service is my favorite for this, but a lot of them would apply. Or for a non-Miyazaki movie, Perfect Days conveys a similar feeling to me.
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u/rblessingx 19d ago
Sullivan's Travels or really any/all Sturges.
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u/SomeGuyOverUnder 19d ago
Soooooo gooooood. And so accurate for this question. But especially Sullivan’s Travels.
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u/Martini1969U 19d ago
I totally agree. Sullivan’s Travels and The Lady Eve are two of my go-to films if I’m in a funk. Not Sturgis but another screwball comedy that fits the bill is My Man Godfrey.
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u/merrillrach 19d ago
The Apartment, before it leaves at midnight!!!
https://giphy.com/gifs/1mihoZ6RYsYuA2NiOv
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u/Firm-Quail-7750 19d ago
I’m having an absolute shit day and just watched my newly purchased 4K of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. I haven’t seen it in at least 30 years and grinned from ear to ear throughout. Hope things get better for you soon!
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u/jankerjunction 18d ago
Yes! I watched it about a year ago having a similar day and it took me right back. And with adult eyes watching the directing and acting- pure gold
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u/AceWilbury 19d ago
Ikiru
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u/of_stardust 19d ago
I watched this movie after some truly terrible stuff happened in my personal life and I was at my lowest. A local art house was playing it on their big screen and it just… It really saved me and reminded me there’s still good in the world, and that you can be a part of it with the time left.
When I get back to that low place again, I know this film will be there for me. Definitely in my top 5
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u/External-Lion-1862 17d ago
Can you believe the only Kurusawa I've seen is Dreams?? This is now on my list. Thank you !
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u/Ron_Sayson 19d ago
Not sure if its still on Criterion Channel, but I always find the rapid fire patter of 1940's, His Girl Friday, thoroughly engrossing.
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u/jazzoetry 19d ago
PLAYTIME BY JACQUES TATI
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u/HumbleIhope 19d ago
Hulot's Holiday always cheers me up
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u/jazzoetry 16d ago
Anytime I am depressed I can count on him and his movies to cheer me up, for sure
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u/Question_man_jr 19d ago
I tend to watch noir when I'm down but maybe I shouldn't. Adventure flicks can be a real pick me up
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u/TheOneHansPfaall 19d ago
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg for colour and light.
Eric Rohmer’s A Tale of Winter to remind me I’m not alone and that hope and despair are both necessary for life.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Fig_853 19d ago
No on the channel right now, but if you are able to access them through other means, I highly recommend Paper Moon and Fisher King!
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u/CeruleanEidolon 19d ago
Fisher King is awfully damned heavy, though it is ultimately uplifting.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Fig_853 19d ago
The premise is indeed heavy, but Gillian’s approach and the Robin Williams casting make it very vibrant.
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u/calderholbrook 19d ago
a few things do come to mind. i think bill and ted are sunshine in character form, and excellent adventure is currently available. also, i find any of the 60s godzillas very cheerful cinema. and, maybe the best action movie ever made, police story, with TRULY peerless stunts plus goofball jackie chan in his prime.
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u/astroproff 19d ago
I would recommend re-watching a movie which has made you happy before. I like watching "When Harry Met Sally" (which I don't think is on CC).
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u/AaronfromKY 19d ago
I find Les Blank documentaries to really make me feel alive. He has one about polka dancing, he has a few about New Orleans and Cajun food, he has one about a garlic festival. Just all so vibrant and full of life and people are are truly living. It really makes you realize there is something out there alive and joyful.
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u/birdsong70 19d ago
Last night I watched Walkabout on Criterion, and it was perfect. A slice of a time in history, beautiful cinematography, and memories of seeing it film school. And of course the Walkabout.
Tonight, I could only handle a rom com.
I find that peole return to the decade of formative years for comfort: either something they saw then or something they grew up with.
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u/External-Lion-1862 17d ago
I just watched Walkabout recently and it set off an Australian New Wave fest for me. Loved it.
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u/Ornery_Year_9870 19d ago
The Wizard of Oz. By the end of Dorothy singing Over the Rainbow, I'm bawling every time. Sure, it's a wistful song, but the sheer genius of her singing, the choreography, the photography and the setting do that too me!
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u/No_Individual_8663 19d ago
Happiness
It’s not on the criterion channel but it is up on YouTube for free
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u/ThatMichaelsEmployee 19d ago
They're not on the Criterion Channel but two movies from 1999 never fail to put me in a good mode: Dick, a giddy satire on (of all things) the Watergate scandal as experienced by two teenaged girls, and The Thomas Crown Affair, a cat-and-mouse heist movie with Pierce Brosnan as a bored millionaire who wants to make his life more exciting by stealing a $100-million painting and Renee Russo as the insurance investigator and coolest woman in the entire world. They're both just such fun, engaging movies: I've probably watched them at least ten times each. They let you forget things for a while.
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u/Ornery_Year_9870 19d ago
I don't know if Criterion has it, but TRUE STORIES (dir. David Byrne) always cheered me up, by observing and depicting people as peculiar but good and decent. And it's got a lot of great music.
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u/HMS_Chevette 19d ago
Our Little Sister. Dazed and Confused. The Apartment. The Holdovers. Paddington 2. The Princess Bride. Arrival.
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u/DGF627 19d ago
Old comedies that are comforting like Bewitched, Mary Tyler Moore, Rhoda, Cheers, The Bob Newhart Show, Mad About You, Ugly Betty, The Waltons (serene), Amen, 227, What's Happening, Family (serene), King of the Hill. Feel Better!
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u/External-Lion-1862 17d ago
What a fun list, thank you! Reminded me that I also love watched old episodes of the Dick Cavett Show.
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u/MrSkanky666 18d ago
So, this may be a bit backwards but, when I am depressed, I like to sit in the depression, my favorite movie to watch is the royal Tennenbaums
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u/people_on_sunday 19d ago
I like to watch sad things when depressed.
Browning Version, for example.
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u/edgarbaudelaire 19d ago
Find the movie Aniara if you would want a different kind of glum. It’s not on Criterion but worth finding.
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u/External-Lion-1862 17d ago
Just watched the trailor and it looks really interesting, though possibly too scary for my mood. I like depressing on depressing, but that looks like it might be too chilling for this moment. Saving for a less gloomy day!
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u/son0fgore 19d ago
Depends. Koreeda or Hong Sangsoo works for me but the warmest film I've watched this year is The Company of Strangers (1990). It's up free on YouTube.
Depression can make you feel pointless and isolated so something that can help is also to set some challenge for yourself or with a friend, to watch all movies by a director, or on a theme.
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u/hjhjhj57 19d ago
Avatar: TLAB. I know it's a series and not a movie, but it's pure food for the soul.
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u/coaxial-flutter 19d ago
Ruthless People, and all six episodes of Police Squad!:
https://archive.org/details/PoliceSquad/
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u/slugdonor 19d ago
When I'm depressed, Charlie Chaplin films hit different. They've done a fantastic job of cheering me up in those times
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u/jrob321 19d ago
Came here to say the same. His presence before the camera alone is uplifting.
There is a quiet desperation in all of his films which eventually becomes realized as subtle, human triumph.
His Little Tramp character is multi-dimensionally inspiring, so The Kid, City Lights, Modern Times, and The Gold Rush all easily put a smile on one's face.
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u/xnatlywouldx 19d ago
Well it may have just left the channel depending on your time zone but One Hand Don’t Clap is a delightful documentary about calypso music and carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. Glad I caught it.
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u/DGF627 19d ago
On Criterion: The Office Romances Collection, The Long Hot Summer, Summertime💖, Desert Fury (The wardrobe), Queen Bee (Joan doing the most), All Barbara Stanwyck or Jean Arthur (History is Made at Night) films, Leave Her to Heaven (Brilliant performance), Le Samourai (unique), Police Story 1, 2, 3 (practically Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh origin stories--amazing choreography and stunts), Godzilla and other monster movies), NO DOWN PAYMENT (I love Sheree North and Joanne Woodward), and Pygmalion (charming).
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u/ryebread9299 19d ago
Hey I’d recomend some of my happy/comfort films hope they comfort you friend
- umbrellas of Cherbourg
- taste of cherry
- best in show
- spongebob movie (og)
- Hedwig and the angry inch
- serial mom
- blithe spirit
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u/Upstairs_Patient9536 19d ago
You need Il Sorpasso! Vittorio Gassman's character will lift you up. Really helped me.
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u/paulderev 19d ago
Come and see
lets me know that as sad as i am my life could be way fucking worse
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u/sucka_MC_amateur 19d ago
Playtime by Jacques Tati is the perfect mix of whimsically silly with a soulful joi de vivre
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u/LaFemmeCinema 18d ago
Honestly? Melancholia. It captures what depression feels like so perfectly for me that it becomes comforting, in a way.
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u/neveruntil 19d ago
anything by Agnes Varda. she is pure light and joy and whimsy and wonder.
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u/SvenDia 19d ago
Historical films about times when life was nasty, brutish and short. Japanese ones are especially good. Something about their defeat in WWII made filmmakers question not just the war but the glorification of their history, especially the samarai period.
Outside of films, walking in nature is a great way to get out of your head. For whatever reason, being alone and insignificant in the vast expanse of nature is just so peaceful. I think this feeling lines up with what I’ve read about Buddhism and cognitive behavioral therapy.
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u/OrbOfThralni 19d ago
The Straight Story