One of the biggest parts of the Christmas holiday is gathering with loved ones to watch a holiday movie together. When it comes to choosing a movie to watch, there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of options to choose from. But when it comes to the next holiday on the calendar, there aren’t quite so many options. Still, if you’re looking for it, there are plenty of movies that are perfect for a New Year’s Eve viewing. So, if your evening plans include watching a movie to say goodbye to the old year, one of these might be just what you’re looking for.
New Year’s Eve
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first. In 2010, director Garry Marshall released a romantic comedy movie called Valentine’s Day, featuring a large ensemble cast and several interconnected love stories all taking place on Valentine’s Day. The movie was a box office hit, and Marshall was quick to recreate the success a year later with a similar movie, this time set on New Year’s Eve. The movie follows eighteen (or so) different people looking for love in New York city on New Year’s Eve. Their stories intertwine with each other as the movie juggles all the different plot lines counting down to the final moments with the Time Square ball drop playing a major part of several of the love stories in the movie. Like Valentine’s Day, the movie was a failure with the critics, but a financial success, leading to a third movie with the same formula to round out the unofficial trilogy. (The third movie is Mother’s Day from 2016, in case you need something to watch on that day in a few months.)
When Harry Met Sally…
It’s been described as the ultimate romantic comedy, and still is a major movie in the genre today even having been released almost four decades ago. Striving to answer the question “Can men and women ever just be friends?” Several important moments in the movie take place on various New Year’s Eves throughout the movie. But perhaps the most important one is the ultimate declaration of love at the final New Year’s Eve party of the movie. If you’re looking for a romantic happy ending to close out the year, the New Year’s Eve party at the end of this movie can be the perfect way to end the old year, as well as the perfect way to welcome the new one.
New Year’s Evil
Ever since Halloween came out in 1978 it seems like every holiday gets its own slasher movie. You have everything from My Bloody Valentine for Valentine’s Day to Black Christmas for Christmas. New Year’s Eve has its own slasher movie with New Year’s Evil. The killer in the movie vows to kill one person for each time a new time zone makes it to midnight on New Year’s Eve, with the main character Diane being targeted as the final murder of the night when the Pacific Time Zone hits midnight.
The Gold Rush
For this one let’s go way back to 1925. One of the most famous sequences in the career of silent film star Charlie Chaplin is one where he puts two dinner rolls on the ends of a pair of forks and then simulates a pair of dancing legs with them. This sequence from the movie The Gold Rush, has long been cited as a highlight of Chaplin’s silent movie career, but did you know that the sequence takes place during a New Year’s Eve dinner? Watching the scene in the full context of the movie, the New Year’s Eve dinner plays a pivotal moment in the plot as well as the relationship between Chaplin and his love interest in the movie, Georgia Hale.
The Phantom Carriage
For the most avante-garde option on the list, let’s stay in the era of silent films. The movie The Phantom Carriage (1921) is a silent film from Sweden. The movie tells the story of the driver of Death’s carriage. Legend says that the last person to die each year will be forced to drive Death’s carriage the following year, picking up all the souls that die throughout the year. The movie uses the time frame of New Year’s Eve to reflect on mistakes of the past, as well as looking forward into the new year. An incredibly innovative movie for its time, The Phantom Carriage’s influence can be seen throughout film history in both its unconventional narrative structure and its atmospheric impact on the horror genre. Both this movie and the one before it are in the public domain and can be found online with a quick google.
The Poseidon Adventure
If you want to see a New Year’s Eve party that goes wrong, how about one that’s set aboard a sinking luxury cruiseliner. Released during a popular trend of disaster movies, The Poseidon Adventure takes the disaster genre to the ocean, setting the whole thing on a sinking ship as the passengers and crew scramble to escape. The original movie was released in 1972, but if you want something more modern, it was remade into a made for TV movie in 2005, and then had a theatrical remake as well in 2006. Both remakes also take place on New Year’s Eve, leading to three different New Year’s Eve parties that end with sinking into the ocean.
Y2K
The most recent movie on this list came out just a few weeks ago. Set on New Year’s Eve 1999, the movie imagines a world where all of our worst Y2K fears came true, and as soon as the clock hit midnight on New Year’s Eve, all of technology went out of control and began to attack mankind. The movie didn’t do very well in theaters, but the setup, and the style of humor the movie has are the perfect ingredients for a potential future cult following. Who knows? Maybe in a few years, this will be the perfect movie to watch on New Year’s Eve with a group of friends as you ring in the new year.
Y2K (2025) is currently in theaters.