The connections we make with our friends are unique. Still platonic and yet deeply meaningful, the bond between friends has become one that more and more people are prioritizing — some even more than romantic relationships. And one can see why: Friendships teach us a lot about life, they teach us about ourselves, and, hey, they’re a lot of fun. With our friends, we can let go and be our wildest selves or shed our protective layers and show our vulnerabilities. Sometimes friendships are quiet and contemplative; sometimes they’re fiery and full throttle. In the end, though, the journey of a friendship, whether it’s long or fleeting, is a beautiful path.
With that, it’s no surprise that movies have often tried to capture just what makes friendships so special. From dramatic tearjerkers to raunchy comedies to animated films, the big screen is a wonderful medium to dissect this most crucial connection between two (or three, four, or more) people. Here are 17 films that do just that. So, cuddle up with a friend and enjoy!
The Best Man (1999)
Streaming on Hulu
Personally, I think this is about the worst group of friends ever, who are probably all better off just calling it quits. But this movie is so classic and so funny that you just can’t miss it. Life is good for Harper Stewart (Taye Diggs). He has a great girlfriend, he’s about to publish a guaranteed best-selling novel, and he just got invited to be the best man at his college friend turned NFL star Lance’s (Morris Chestnut) wedding to his other college friend, Mia. There’s just one problem. Harper’s current girlfriend is facing competition from his ex Jordan, and Jordan has just read an advance copy of the book, which contains secrets about Harper, Lance, and Mia that threaten to ruin the entire wedding.
Spirited Away (2001)
Streaming on HBO Max
In this animated Japanese film, after magic turns 10-year-old Chihiro’s parents into pigs, she meets a new friend, a boy named Haku, in the strange spirit world she finds herself in. Once there, Chihiro navigates the spirit realm, meeting friends and foes alike, until Haku finally helps bring her back to her parents.
Girls Trip (2017)
Streaming on Hulu
Four college best friends have drifted apart over the years, but in a bid to bring them all back together, Ryan (Regina Hall) — an ultra-famous lifestyle mogul — takes them all on a girls’ trip to the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, where she is the keynote speaker. Naturally, hijinks ensue once the friends (Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Tiffany Haddish, in a star-making turn) reconnect with their college selves a little too much, causing drunken, hilarious, and sometimes sexy chaos all over the Big Easy.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
Streaming on Hulu
This movie elegantly depicts the beauty and frustration of close friendship groups, and how those friendships can help people change their lives. High school freshman Charlie (Logan Lerman) doesn’t have any friends. But then two bright, cool, free-spirited classmates — Sam (Emma Watson) and her stepbrother Patrick (Ezra Miller) — welcome Charlie into their quirky and tight-knit friend group. Charlie goes from being a wallflower to learning about love, music, and art and developing his passion for writing. But Charlie’s trauma is hard to escape, and soon he finds himself having to face some painful memories and learn who he is without his friends.
Bridesmaids (2011)
Streaming on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime
This raucous comedy is about the friendship between bride-to-be Lillian (Maya Rudolph) and her childhood best friend and absolute train wreck of a bridesmaid, Annie (Kristen Wiig). Since falling on hard financial times, Annie’s life hasn’t been going very well — professionally or romantically. So, once her best friend gets engaged, she tries to be happy for her. But when Annie fears she’s being replaced by Lillian’s new friend Helen, who is filthy rich and has a seemingly perfect life, Annie tries to be the perfect bridesmaid, failing in ways that make for a series of hilarious scenes loaded with secondhand embarrassment.
The Toy Story Films (1995, 1999, 2010, 2019)
Streaming on Disney+
Pretty much every Disney movie is, in some way, about friendship. But Toy Story stands out because of its unique premise and endurance. With four movies and a devoted fan base that spans generations, this epic film series about living toys and the bonds they form with their humans and one another is one of the most tender, hilarious sagas out there. For more than 20 years, we’ve been captivated by the friendship and adventures of Woody the Cowboy, Buzz Lightyear, and their ragtag group of plush and plastic buddies. Once you watch the films for yourself, you’ll understand why.
My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)
Streaming on Netflix
In the Arizona desert, college best friends and one-time lovers Jules (Julia Roberts) and Michael (Dermot Mulroney) made a pledge: If they weren’t both married by age 28, they’d marry each other. Now, four days before her 28th birthday, Jules finds out that Michael is getting married to a preppy, rich 20-year-old college junior named Kimmy (Cameron Diaz). Naturally, Jules suddenly realizes that she’s been in love with Michael all along and vows to stop the wedding. Unfortunately, Jules is willing to do just about anything — no matter how cringey or grimy — to stop her best friend from walking down that aisle, even when Kimmy names Jules maid of honor. Everyone has strong opinions about Jules; they either love her or hate her. But regardless of how you feel, it’ll be hard to resist shedding a little tear at the sweet ending.
Frances Ha (2012)
Streaming on Hulu
Directed by Noah Baumbach and starring Greta Gerwig — who is now a formidably accomplished director herself — Frances Ha is about the titular character’s professional and friendship struggles, which intensify when her roommate and best friend, Sophie (Mickey Sumner), moves from their shared Brooklyn apartment to an expensive home in Tribeca, leaving Frances basically homeless as she couch-surfs between other friends’ houses. As Frances’ life gets worse, Sophie’s only seems to get better, which causes confusion and pain between the two separated friends.
Thoroughbreds (2017)
Streaming on Hulu
This film is strange, weird, and darkly hilarious. The friendship between childhood friends Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Amanda (Olivia Cooke) doesn’t really make any sense, but that’s what makes it so compelling. On paper, these upper-class Connecticut girls’ paths couldn’t have diverged further. Lily is a high-achieving boarding-school student with the perfect internship. Amanda is shunned by the entire town and seems to be disturbingly lacking in feelings or empathy. But the two friends rekindle their bond, eventually carrying out a plan that will change both their lives in surprising ways.
Booksmart (2019)
Streaming on Hulu
Academically obsessed best friends Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) haven’t had much fun during high school. But it’s for good reason. All the missed romances, hookups, and nights of partying are worth it. Why? Because they’re going to the Ivy League while their classmates are probably all headed for failure. But when Amy and Molly learn that the party kids have gotten into the same schools they have, they reevaluate their entire high school experience, leaving them committed to having one epically wild night together before graduation. This buddy comedy is raucous and hilarious from beginning to end, and it’s especially refreshing to take the genre out of its usual pattern of starring straight guys.
My Girl (1991)
Streaming on Netflix
Seriously, this is one of the most devastating movies you will ever watch. It traumatized an entire generation. Okay, I realize I’m not exactly selling it very well, but My Girl is devastating and wonderful. It’s about 11-year-old Vada, who mourns the mother she never met, since she died giving birth to Vada. But she has a good life, even if it is a little strange that she lives in a funeral home run by her father (Dan Aykroyd). Tomboyish Vada is different from the other kids, but her best friend, Thomas (Macaulay Culkin), is loyal and sweet. Vada’s coming of age is complicated by romantic feelings, but she quickly learns important lessons about love, family, loss, and friendship.
Blindspotting (2018)
Streaming on Amazon Prime
Collin (Daveed Diggs) has only three days of probation left before he’s a completely free man. But when he witnesses something dangerous, all that is put in jeopardy. With his wild and unstable best friend, Miles (Rafael Casal), Collin has to stay safe all while reckoning with the issues of race and class that have consumed their hometown of Oakland, California.
9 to 5 (1980)
Streaming on Hulu
This workplace satire follows three strong women (Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin) who are sick and tired of their narcissistic, overworking, sexist boss demeaning them. After some confusion involving rat poison and a stolen corpse, these three secretaries form a bond and decide to kidnap their boss and simply run the business themselves, making equitable changes regarding pay, childcare, and fair working hours. It’s a hilarious and silly movie, but it’s also an astute commentary on labor rights and gender equality. Also, Dolly Parton’s song “9 to 5” is an absolute classic, perfect for singing in the shower. This movie really has everything.
Mean Girls (2004)
Streaming on Hulu
Most of the friendships in this movie should not, under any circumstances, be emulated. But they are entertaining and pretty accurately capture how high school kids — and even best friends — treat one another. Mean Girls is one of director Tina Fey’s greatest triumphs, portraying awkward, homeschooled Cady’s (Lindsay Lohan) slow ascent — or descent, depending on your perspective — into the most popular clique of girls at her new high school, led by the vicious and beautiful Regina George (Rachel McAdams). In her quest for popularity, Cady might end up losing some true friends, and herself.
Waiting to Exhale (1995)
Streaming on Hulu
You know that classic meme of Angela Bassett in her lacy nightgown, standing in front of a burning car? That iconic scene comes from this movie, adapted from Terry McMillan’s best-selling novel. Four Black women friends in Phoenix, Arizona, bond over the hurdles in their lives, mostly with men. Bassett’s character is left adrift when her cruel, philandering husband leaves her for his mistress. But her other two friends, Savannah (Whitney Houston) and Robin (Lela Rochon), are longing for the married men they’re in love with to leave their wives and begin real relationships with them. Gloria (Loretta Devine) is tired of being neglected and lets herself fall for a new love. This movie is about how, in the face of being objectified and discarded by men who don’t see them, women hold themselves and their friends up, bringing joy and happiness even with tears and frustration.
Now and Then (1995)
Streaming on HBO Max
Four childhood friends — Samantha (Gaby Hoffmann, Demi Moore), Roberta (Christina Ricci, Rosie O’Donnell), Teeny (Thora Birch, Melanie Griffith), and Chrissy (Ashleigh Aston Moore, Rita Wilson) — reunite in their small Indiana hometown as Chrissy is about to give birth to her first child. As they come back together, each one so different from the others, a series of flashbacks takes us back to a formative summer in their lives, when the group became obsessed with solving a murder/ghost mystery. It’s a heartwarming movie, but it’s appreciated for the weight and depth it gives not only to childhood friendships, but to the complex interiority and strength of young girls.
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011)
Streaming on Netflix
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (which translates as “Life Will Never Come Again”) is a heartwarming buddy comedy that handles some pretty deep themes. Kabir (Abhay Deol) is getting married and, instead of a bachelor party, he takes his two childhood friends Arjun (Hrithik Roshan) and Imran (Farhan Akhtar) on a three-week road-trip adventure across Spain, with each friend choosing a fear-defying sport for them to do together. In Spain, workaholic Arjun meets and falls in love with Laila (Katrina Kaif), changing his perspective on life and love forever. Meanwhile, Kabir struggles with his impending nuptials, and Imran seeks out his biological father. In the end, the trip shows all three friends that life is too short and too precious not to seize the moment and go after what you want, and who you love.
Nylah Burton is a Chicago-based writer. Follow her on Twitter @yumcoconutmilk.
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