Movies to inspire wanderlust from home
While globe-trotting travels remain largely on pause, we round up the films to evoke a sense of vicarious adventure from the comfort of your sofa
Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight
Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy puts destination at the heart of the romance between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy’s characters, Jesse and Celine. From Vienna to Paris to Greece, each film is dedicated to a couple of hours spent in its setting, showing the couple at three nine-year intervals of their lives.
Crazy Rich Asians
The 2018 blockbuster rom-com boasts locations as glittering as its cast, which includes Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan and Awkwafina. Based on Kevin Kwan’s novel of the same name, the action is set against the shiny backdrop of Singapore’s most envy-inducing settings.
The Motorcycle Diaries
Che Guevara’s radicalizing and history-making road trip across South America is dramatized in this epic biopic, based on his written memoirs. It documents the journey that 23-year-old Ernesto Guevara took with a friend, before he became the revolutionary and guerrilla leader. The trip had transformative power, as he traveled awe-inspiring landscapes while witnessing the extent of poverty and disease across the continent.
Lion
The multi-award-winning 2016 biopic is based on the true story of Saroo Brierley (played to critical acclaim by Dev Patel) and the powerful, emotional journey he takes to find his family, 25 years after being separated from them in India.
Girls Trip
Starring Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Tiffany Haddish and Jada Pinkett Smith as lifelong friends reconnecting on a wild trip to New Orleans, this raucous comedy brings female friendship to the big screen. It won’t only make you want to book a vacation, but also to call your closest girlfriends.
Roman Holiday
Rome has rarely been so romantic as when it was explored in black and white by Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. With Peck playing a journalist who turns tour guide for a princess who is looking for a little freedom from royal duties, the Italian capital and its famed sights provide a suitably seductive setting.
Eat Pray Love
Based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s biographical book of the same name, Eat Pray Love brings the benefits of post-break-up traveling to the big screen. Julia Roberts as Gilbert traverses borders, soul-searching and healing on a trip across Italy, India and Indonesia.
Thelma & Louise
Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon take to the open road as the iconic titular friends in this ’90s cult classic. The scenery for their fictional route, from Arkansas to the Grand Canyon, is as epic as the action – from sweeping greenery and lakes at the start to suitably dramatic desertscapes for the finale.
A Good Year
The sudden inheritance of an idyllic Provençal vineyard and chateau by London trader Max (Russell Crowe) serves as the backdrop and the plot for Ridley Scott’s 2006 romantic comedy. So dreamy-worthy is the locale, it will have you packing for Provence as soon as you can.
The Farewell
A different kind of voyage underlies Lulu Wang’s beautiful portrayal of a family coming back from the US to their hometown of Changchun in China, to say goodbye to protagonist Billi’s (Awkwafina) paternal grandmother.
Murder On The Orient Express
Train travel exudes high-octane glamour in both the 1974 and 2017 iterations of this Agatha Christie thriller – despite the lethal liaisons on board. The opulence of the means of transport is mirrored by the beauty of its trans-European journey.
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Wes Anderson aesthetic offers up fantastical escapism galore, as evident in the gloriously pink and stylized confection of The Grand Budapest Hotel, with Ralph Fiennes playing its committed concierge, Monsieur Gustave. Lose yourself in a plot of fascism and friendship, set against the fictional mountainous Republic of Zubrowka, and a delectable visual experience.
Catch Me If You Can
Steven Spielberg’s crime biopic boasts a starry line-up, led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Based on the life of Frank Abagnale, the multi-million-dollar con man who pretended to be a pilot, doctor and lawyer, the film includes appropriately jet-set locations including California, New York and Quebec.
Amélie
In this film about the art of escaping, the quintessential charm and romance of Paris is depicted by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Set in Montmartre, and shot in dozens of Parisian locales, a young waitress decides to make a difference by bringing joy to the people she knows.