In case you’ve missed it, spring has sprung! So from now on, days are gonna get longer, the weather is gonna get better, and people are gonna get naked-er. And we’re a hundred per cent here for it. Spring is a time for transformation; after the winter blues, we’re eager to leave the house, embark on adventures, have outdoor picnics, start planning our summer vacation and schedule of music festivals… But for those who still want to get cosy under a blanket, we thought it might be a good idea to celebrate the Spring equinox by handpicking ten movies that give spring vibes — be it because people bloom, because of incredibly beautiful landscapes, or just because they feel spring-y somehow. So here we go.
Booksmart
Olivia Wilde’s debut as a filmmaker was brilliant. We loved it! So what better way to start this list than with her 2019 hit Booksmart? In it, Amy and Molly, a couple of besties who’re about to graduate high school, realise they’ve probably overworked and not enjoyed their teenage years as much as they should’ve. So they promise each other a wild night out — and it is.
Past Lives
There is a sense melancholy, of unfulfilled wishes, of re-thinking in Celine Song’s Past Lives (2023), that it’s almost impossible to not think of Spring. You take a look back at how the year has started, you’re shaking off the moodiness associated with winter, and you see a bright life ahead that makes you rethink your past decisions. Just like Nora (played outstandingly by Greta Lee), the main character, who’s caught in-between past and present, regret and self-affirmation.
Big Fish
Probably, one of the most underrated movies by Tim Burton. His fans praise him because of his dark, emo style, but Big Fish (2003) breaks away from that. The enchanting landscapes, the stellar cast (Ewan McGregor, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi, and even a little came by Miley Cyrus), and the emotional plot make it a perfect watch to celebrate the new season.
Raw
Before her Palme d’Or-winning film Titane (2021), French director Julia Ducournau debuted with Raw (2016), a gruesome horror movie where Justine, the character, raised a vegetarian, develops a taste for human flesh when she steps into the mad world of the Saint-Exupéry Veterinary School. Mad initiation tests, vicious traditions, and a total descent into madness make this unsettling film one of the most striking watches in recent years.
Flow
Even if spring brings in better weather, it’s also a time of heavy rains. And in Flow (2024), the Oscar-winning film by Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis, there’s a lot of that. But there’s also this curious spirit of exploration, the sense of companionship and community, and beautifully animated landscapes that spark our imagination. If you didn’t watch it last year, now is the time to do it, because this film is just a joy.
Spring Breakers
Harmony Korine is a genius, especially when it comes to encapsulating the zeitgeist in his films. In the late ‘90s, he captured the hopelessness in Gummo; now, he’s ready for the streaming era, the class war, and the obsession with video games in Baby Invasion (2025), whose trailer just dropped. And in between these, he made the seminal Spring Breakers (2012), a time of Tumblr girls, vivid coloured-hairstyles, recklessness, and Disney-Channel-stars-turned-bad-girls (aka Selena Gomez).
The Florida Project
Oscar-winning director Sean Baker has been making indie movies for quite a while, but it’s only now that most of the world is catching up. Before Anora (2024), the director already explored broken families and growing up in the margins in The Florida Project (2017), where we follow the day-to-day life of Moone, a child of a single mother who struggles to make ends meet and lives in a budget motel along one of the commercial strips catering to the Walt Disney World tourist clientele outside Orlando.
Marie Antoinette
Arguably one of the best movies by Sofia Coppola and one of the best interpretations by Kirsten Dunst, Marie Antoinette (2006) follows the life of the polemic Queen of France, the last monarch in the country. Her ingenuity as a young girl living the dream (the dresses, the wigs, the shoes, the balls and social events, the cakes), paired with a horrible husband who thought of himself as a God (aka le Roi Soleil), made her life a rollercoaster of experiences (living her cottage-core fantasy included).
Dreams
Akira Kurosawa was, undoubtedly, one of the best filmmakers in the world. His epic movies tackle history, war, philosophy, love, and every other aspect of human lives. In 1990, after five decades behind the camera, he released Dreams, an exquisite movie that felt so different from what he had done previously. It was based on his dreams, an exploration of the oneiric world and the subconscious. The result is an incredibly visual movie that bewitches the viewer and transports them into the unknown.
The Holy Mountain
Speaking of fever dreams, Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain (1973) is one of the most visually striking movies ever, and one that stays with you for a long time. Known for his study and development of psycomagic, a spiritual system, the Mexican director released this highly acclaimed film in Cannes. It awakens the senses and activates your yearn for wandering and exploration, just like the character, who goes from one surrealist scenario to the other as he meets seven wealthy and powerful people (each representing a planet in the Solar system)s who are looking for the Holy Mountain.