With one of the most intense winter storms in recent history underway, Cornell students and community members alike find themselves forced to stay inside to escape the brutal conditions outdoors. On the bright side, some of the finest installments in cinematic history perfectly capture the oppressive power winter weather holds. If you’re looking for a perfect way to spend your time indoors, watch one (or more) of these wintry masterpieces.
The Holdovers (2023)
At a New England boarding school, a small handful of students are forced to stay on campus over Christmas break while being supervised by a difficult instructor played by Paul Giamatti. The Holdovers explores the difficulty isolation poses for its main characters, but ultimately presents a hopeful view that we can find unlikely connections and growth in even the most unwanted situations. Full of witty dialogue and ’70s charm, The Holdovers stands as a modern classic that is easily worth your time. Plus, the film features a performance from Darby Lee-Stack ’28, one of Cornell’s very own students.
The Shining (1980)
Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece follows a family’s experiences at the Overlook Hotel after patriarch Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is hired as winter caretaker. As mysterious forces inside the hotel begin to affect Jack’s sanity, his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny must fight to survive. With career-defining performances from Nicholson and Duvall and expert cinematography throughout, The Shining brilliantly portrays the effects of cabin fever taken to its extreme.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Without giving much away, I’m Thinking of Ending Things centers on a woman’s thoughts as she travels with her boyfriend to meet his parents for the first time. Though this seems like a standard premise fit for a rom-com or drama, the film works as a gripping psychological thriller in which the main character (played by Jessie Buckley) explores complex questions of identity, time and culture. Buckley, Jesse Plemons, Toni Collete and David Thewlis deliver unsettling yet beautiful performances. I will warn that the film is likely to disappoint many viewers. Writer and director Charlie Kaufman has been behind some of cinema’s most surreal and divisive films, and I’m Thinking of Ending Things is no different.
Fargo (1996)
Written by the Coen brothers and directed by Joel Coen, Fargo is a brilliant crime thriller with dark comedic writing. The film follows a man’s plot to have his wife kidnapped so he can steal a large portion of the ransom money from his father-in-law. When Police Chief Marge Gunderson ( Frances McDormand) begins to investigate the kidnapping, however, the plan starts to unravel. Boasting a talented ensemble cast and characters with fun Midwestern accents, Fargo is a winter classic like no other.
Groundhog Day (1993)
Does it ever feel like you’re living the same day over and over again? In Groundhog Day, newscaster Phil Connors (Bill Murray) gets trapped in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, during a blizzard. To his horror, he becomes trapped in a time loop, experiencing the same day in Punxsutawney no matter what he does. Murray and co-star Andie MacDowell deliver charming performances that make Groundhog Day a comforting classic comedy.
The Thing (1982)
In John Carpenter's cult classic, a team of American researchers in Antarctica encounters a creature capable of shapeshifting into its victims. Faced with this horrifying discovery, the researchers must determine which among them isn’t what they seem and kill the creature once and for all. The Thing features incredible practical effects that still hold up today. With a brilliant atmosphere of paranoia and confinement, The Thing makes for a brilliantly horrifying pick on a day of heavy snow.
Matthew Rentezelas is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at mmr255@cornell.edu.
