Summer is the perfect time of year to spend a hot evening drinking some colorful alcoholic beverages and closing off your day with a typical summertime movie. The kind of movie where you feel like you’ve gone on a short holiday just watching these amazing sceneries and settings come to life while the characters are going through all sorts of shenanigans. Something about it just brings a smile to everyone’s face, and we’re here to give you some inspiration for the coming months.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
This movie has an eccentric family move from New Mexico to Califoornia so the daughter can join the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. It’s essentially a road trip through the United States which I can imagine is on most people’s bucket lists, and the movie also stars the always amazing Paul Dano and a sublime Steve Carell so there’s that.
The Kissing Booth 3 (2021)
Sometimes, all you need is a mediocre romcom to get the summer vibes going. Apparently there’s 3 Kissing Booth movies and I have to admit I’m not sure if you’ll be able to follow the overarching plot if you haven’t seen the first two, but I’m willing to guess the convoluted plot line isn’t the selling point of this movie trilogy.
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
This one’s plot doesn’t have much in the department of unexpected storylines, since it’s basically about an Asian couple where the guy invites the girl over to Singapore for a wedding and it turns out he’s actually part of a rich family and his family doesn’t approve of her. That said, if you want to dream away on a trip through Singapore, this is the perfect movie for that.
National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
If silly comedies are more your thing, this Chevy Chase classic is one of the best that you can imagine. It’s another typical “family does a road trip through the United States” movie, so the plot and setting are nothing you should be overly excited about. The execution is probably one of the most perfect ones.
Palm Springs (2020)
In a tried-and-true setup for good movies, this movie has two people that are in a location they’d rather not be (read: a wedding while they’re single) reliving the same day over and over. Think Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow, but withouth either Bill Murray or aliens. And having Palm Springs as a backdrop location isn’t the worst thing to keep watching over and over and over.
Mamma Mia (2008)
Nothing says “summertime vibe” like a musical, doesn’t it? Well, unless the musical you’re watching is the Rocky Horror Picture Show. But this musical based on ABBA’s music has a very endearing story where a girl tries to find her real father which is apparently either previous James Bond, the guy from Kingsman or that weird professor from Thor. It’s also got a lot of Greek islands in it so it’s almost like going on an actual family vacation.
Call Me By Your Name (2017)
You can’t have a summer movie list without having a coming of age story in there. Everyone’s probably already seen The Breakfast Club a dozen times by now, so this more recent movie is a decent enough replacement suggestion. It’s set in Italy so you know the atmosphere is going to be amazing, and it’s also based on a book so it’s not written by an underpaid Hollywood hack.
Dirty Dancing (1987)
If musicals aren’t your thing, you could always go for a classic dance movie. Dirty Dancing has some of the most iconic soundtracks, scenes and Patrick Swayze hip movements in cinematic history, so this would definitely be a good movie to get some summer vibes from.
