Pretty Good Movies About Loneliness
Loneliness is a symptom of the human condition, one that transcends social class and culture. Perhaps that's why movies about loneliness have proven so universal and timeless. An audience that seeks out movies about pain and isolation doesn't necessarily want to be entertained so much as moved. Ironically, acknowledging loneliness in others can make us feel more connected.
Whether a movie's protagonist evolves to form a bond with another character, or ultimately decides that he or she is doomed to a life of solitude, a strong story about loneliness should make the audience feel understood, or just feel, period. The following movies offer a fresh, poignant look at the complexity of loneliness and have earned praise from the public.
- 1367 VOTESPhoto: 20th Century Fox
The ultimate survival movie, Cast Away earned Tom Hanks an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in 2000. Hanks portrays Chuck, an engineer who, after surviving a downed plane, must find a way to survive on a deserted island.
Aside from the challenges of finding food and tending to his wounds, Chuck grapples with overwhelming loneliness and memorably befriends a volleyball as a coping mechanism. Chuck's isolation from society is underscored when he returns to his old life, only to find that his girlfriend has moved on and started a family. Castaway reminds us to savor the life we have - and those in it.
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- 2205 VOTESPhoto: 20th Century Fox
One Hour Photo delves into the loneliness of voyeurism. Sy (Robin Williams) develops photos at a one-hour photo in a chain store and becomes obsessed with a particularly loyal customer family. As he discovers the secrets and lies embedded in the family's history, he begins to follow and harass its members as he sees fit.
After a disturbing climax, we learn that Sy's unsettling personality traits are the result of his own troubled childhood. Although the film is unsympathetic towards Sy, it analyzes the extent to which loneliness can upend a person's life and gives us insight into a troubled mind.
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- 3187 VOTESPhoto: Warner Bros.
Equal parts behavior analysis and cautionary tale, Her examines the effects technology has on our interpersonal relationships, society, and mind. As Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) embarks on a romantic relationship with an operating system (Scarlett Johansson), we feel his aching disconnect from the actual people around him - and it feels frighteningly familiar.
Although it's an extreme allegory of our current obsession with social media, Her draws on the very real loneliness of our technological time and underscores the importance of human connection. If watching Her doesn't make you crave conversation with a real person, no movie will.
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Fight Club is about a lot of things - frustration, depression, and schizophrenia, to name a few - but it's really about one man's crippling loneliness. When we first meet The Narrator (Edward Norton), he is posing as a support group member, desperate to feel human emotions and connect with people. Soon after, he "meets" Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), the dissociated personality with whom he becomes "very close."
The creation of Tyler gives The Narrator the freedom to express his basest and most vicious desires, but also the opportunity to experience one thing missing in his life: friendship. While the fight club they form is about anarchy and aggression, it's also largely about giving the lost, frustrated outcasts of society a community of their own.
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- #8 of 252 onThe 200+ Best Psychological Thrillers Of All Time
- 5132 VOTESPhoto: New Line Cinema
When Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) retires from his job, he's left feeling purposeless. Soon after, his wife passes suddenly, leaving him with questions about his identity and future.
As Schmidt grapples with family problems and unearthed secrets about his wife's past, he writes letters to Ndugu, a young boy he sponsors in Tanzania. At the end of the film, it's a simple crayon drawing from Ndugu - a small gesture from a kid he has never met - that makes Schmidt feel loved.
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- 6119 VOTES
The BFG is a fantastical story about a young orphan girl, Sophie (Ruby Barnhill), who befriends a Big Friendly Giant (Mark Rylance). The two embark on a journey to defeat a group of evil, man-eating giants and save humanity.
The movie aims to capture the imagination and beauty of a child's mind. While other protagonists turn to darkness and vice, Sophie's loneliness results in a beautiful, vibrant quest.
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- 774 VOTESPhoto: Universal Pictures
Although dark in its themes, The Lonely Guy offers a comedic and refreshing look at loneliness. Larry Hubbard (Steve Martin) is a greeting card writer (and far from the last writer protagonist we'll see here).
After his girlfriend leaves him, Larry writes A Guide for the Lonely Guy, which becomes a huge success. Unfortunately, he still struggles with - you guessed it - loneliness. If you're looking for a somehow lighthearted explanation of depression, try The Lonely Guy.
- 8103 VOTESPhoto: Focus Features
Broken Flowers tells the story of Don Johnston (Bill Murray), a former Don Juan who, upon receiving a mysterious letter, sets out to meet the purported mother of his child. To find her, Don must check in on four old girlfriends and figure out who wrote the letter.
He's forced to confront his mistakes, regrets, and the many flaws in his personality. The director, Jim Jarmusch, has said that the film is about "yearning for something that you're missing and not necessarily being able to define what it is." Sounds pretty lonely.
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- 964 VOTESPhoto: Cannon Film Distributors
Barfly is the semi-autobiographical story of Charles Bukowski, and follows the aimless, bleak life of Henry Chinaski (Mickey Rourke), a heavy drinker and writer. Henry has talent, but he just can't seem to dig his way out of his hole. He falls for Wanda (Faye Dunaway), a fellow problem drinker, and the two briefly find solace in each other.
Henry catches a glimpse of a potentially better life when he meets a book publisher, but he ultimately decides that he belongs in his desolate, small world. Barfly tugs at your heart strings and shines a light on the lonely souls who remain uncelebrated by our society.
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The Loneliest Whale
Photo: The Loneliest Whale - 11112 VOTESPhoto: Sony Pictures Releasing
Barry Egan's (Adam Sandler) desperation is painful to watch, but that's exactly what makes his transformation so satisfying. As a man who is mocked by his own family, Barry is made to feel like there's no one in this world who loves him.
When he meets Lena (Emily Watson), he changes for the better and finally starts standing up for himself. Punch-Drunk Love assures us that human connection is possible, but it requires bravery and, quite often, patience.
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- 1275 VOTESPhoto: Paramount Pictures
Mavis (Charlize Theron), the depressed ghost writer for a young adult book series, leads a life void of compassion.
When she receives a birth announcement for her high school boyfriend's baby, she travels to her hometown intent on ruining her ex's marriage and winning him back. This fails and she humiliates herself, but she makes an unexpected friend along the way. Young Adult is a story about selfishness just as much as loneliness, and acknowledges how the two can be intertwined.
- 1384 VOTESPhoto: Paramount Pictures
Up in the Air's protagonist, Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), is the personification of loneliness. His life's work is traveling around the country, laying off employees on behalf of their companies.
He has a strict philosophy that denies any need for human relationships or material items, but when his young, ambitious co-worker Natalie (Anna Kendrick) is tasked with accompanying him on the road, she challenges his world view. Up in the Air tells the story of a man completely cut off from love, who finally decides to take a chance on the people around him.
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- 1464 VOTESPhoto: United Artists
Few things are as isolating as high school, except maybe the summer after high school for those with no plans for the future. Enter Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson), two best friends and outcasts who focus their restless, teenaged energy on a lonely middle-aged man, Seymour (Steve Buscemi).
When Seymour posts a personal ad in search of a woman he recently met, Enid and Rebecca decide to respond and toy with him. As Enid forms a strong bond with Seymour and takes a deep interest in helping him with his love life, her friendship with Rebecca falls apart. Nobody really gets what they want in the end, but they all learn the fragility and value of each other's feelings - and of connection in general.
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Another story about an isolated writer - but this one's quirkier than the others. Gloria (Anne Hathaway) is a problem drinker who, after getting dumped and kicked out of her apartment, moves to her hometown to drink away her sorrows.
When she discovers that she has inadvertently materialized as a monster in South Korea, she must reconcile her broken relationships and confront the toxic people in her life in order to make the bad magic stop.
- 1635 VOTESPhoto: IFC Films
Factotum, also co-written by Charles Bukowski, is a reinterpretation of his book by the same name, which focuses on very similar themes - as well as plotting and characters - as Barfly. If possible, the message of Factotum is even more depressing.
Barfly ends with the protagonist, Henry Chinaski, toasting to his emotionally broken yet consistent bar family, whereas Factotum concludes with a speech about how loneliness is inevitable, yet better than pursuing your dreams. At least Factotum pays tribute to one of the most poetic - albeit loneliest - scribes of our time.
- 1749 VOTESPhoto: Paramount Pictures
The stop-motion movie Anomalisa offers a glimpse into the life of a lonesome customer service expert as he travels to a work convention. To the protagonist, Michael Stone (David Thewlis), it appears as though everyone, including his wife and son, has the same uninspiring face.
However, when he meets Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a young woman at the convention, she has her own unique face, and Michael is drawn to her voice. Although Michael returns to his life of monotony and pain, his contact with Lisa has moved him. Portraying loneliness in a uniquely artistic way, the movie features a bedroom scene you won't soon forget.
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Buzzard
Photo: Oscilloscope LaboratoriesBuzzard follows the trials and tribulations of Marty (Joshua Burge), a depressed outcast who pulls small-time cons as a form of protest against The Man. Marty doesn't quite fit in at work, or in society, and grows increasingly paranoid toward those around him.
After scamming the bank where he temps, Marty goes on the run, leaning harder into his isolated, dark view of the world. Buzzard is a stylistically distinctive descent into one lonely man's psyche.
- 1936 VOTESPhoto: Strand Releasing/Axiom Films
Tony Takitani examines a man named Tony (Issei Ogata) who grieves both his father and his wife. The story initially follows Tony's father, Shozaburo Takitani (also played by Issei Ogata), who is imprisoned during World War II, and later circles back to him, implying that loneliness and pain are cyclical.
The movie ends with Tony attempting to reach out to someone, but failing.
