13 Sun-Drenched Films to Watch Before Your Next Holiday
With a few notable exceptions, film releases in July and August tend to be Hollywood blockbusters rather than future classics—which makes it the perfect season to catch up on the best summer films ever made. Of course, there are all-time favorites, like Audrey Hepburn’s cinematic debut in Roman Holiday and Marilyn Monroe’s turn as a Prohibition-era ukulele player in Some Like It Hot. Just as good for whiling away a summer’s day, however, are cult hits, from Almost Famous (starring a curly haired, effervescent Kate Hudson) to Elle Fanning’s role as a Prada-clad 11-year-old who takes up residence in the Chateau Marmont in Somewhere. Read on for Vogue’s guide to the best summer films to watch now—featuring plenty of holiday wardrobe inspiration.
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Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection1/13The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Tom Ripley’s murderous streak aside, the Hollywood adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1950s-set novel features scene after scene of genetically blessed, phenomenally wealthy 20-somethings sunning themselves on the Sicilian coast, hosting dinner parties in geranium-filled courtyards, and sailing in the crystal blue Mediterranean. It also happens to be a veritable masterclass in holiday style.
Photo: Shutterstock2/13Mektoub My Love (2017)
With a runtime of more than three hours, Mektoub My Love is the cinematic equivalent of an endless summer. At the heart of the film is a quiet medical student Amin (Shaïn Boumedine) who returns to his home in the Mediterranean port of Sète, where he and his much wilder cousin Tony begin a series of affairs. Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, it features the same hypnotic, almost voyeuristic cinematography as Blue Is the Warmest Colour, along with plenty of throwbacks to hedonist 1990s culture.
Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection3/13Roman Holiday (1953)
It’s practically a moral requirement to include an Audrey Hepburn hit in any list of classic films. Shot in and around Rome, this romance stars Hepburn as Princess Ann, who runs away during a state visit to the Italian capital to experience la dolce vita on her own terms. Her welcoming guide? A reporter for the American News Service, Joe, played by Gregory Peck at his most charming. In case you ever wondered where the stereotype of tourists zipping around Italy on a Vespa comes from, here’s your answer.
Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection4/13Out of Africa (1985)
Set in eastern Africa at the turn of the 20th century, virtually every frame of Sydney Pollack’s adaptation of Isak Dinesen’s bestselling memoir is stunning. Meryl Streep does her best Danish accent in the starring role while clad in enviable linen suits and belted safari jackets—while Robert Redford takes a turn as a game hunter and amateur pilot. Even more notable than their romantic chemistry? The film’s dramatic aerial reviews of the breathtaking landscape in and around the Great Rift Valley.
Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection5/13Y Tu Mamá También (2001)
Before his masterful Roma, Alfonso Cuarón paid tribute to his native Mexico with the coming-of-age story Y Tu Mamá También. Set during the country’s rise of right-wing populism at the turn of the millennium, the drama follows a pair of teenage boys, Julio and Tenoch, on an impromptu road trip through the Mexican countryside with the wife of Tenoch’s cousin Luisa—searching for an illusory beach known as Boca del Cielo, or the Mouth of Heaven. Cue both boys falling for her—and the most complicated summer romance imaginable.