Spring: The Most Underrated Movie Season

The first warm breezes in spring ask my senses to wake up. I begin to notice the purply blue jacket hyacinth that popped through the grass and smell the distinct post-rainfall smell (I’ve learned there’s a word for this: “petrichor”) as the worms wriggle on the sidewalk. These movies enhance those vernal sensations, like the fresh feeling of opening up your window for the first time after a long winter. 

Moneyball 

I looked it up! Baseball season starts in March. When I think of this movie, I see swaths of manicured grass, I taste my salty tears, hear the crack of a bat, smell the sweat of a basement gym, and feel a jolt of terror at Philip Seymour Hoffman’s scary buzz cut. 

(Currently available on Paramount+ until April 30, 2025)

Kiki’s Delivery Service 

Spruce up your soul; this movie’s spring cleaning for your heart. Hearing the caw of magpies and the rustle of a lamplit sleepover helps me inhale and exhale slowly. 

(Currently available on Max)

Barb & Starr Go to Vista Del Mar 

Do you miss spring break? Truly, this is a vacation of a movie. The saturated blues and pinks of this movie complement Kristin Wiig and company’s silly humor. I treasure it in my heart. Be careful—if you’re sipping on your margarita, you’re liable to spit take. 

(Currently available on Hulu)

Annihilation

What’s scarier than a bear that screams and moans your friend’s death throes? The answer is this song emphasizing how a human meeting an alien would most likely go. 

Alex Garland recently talked about adapting the Annihilation book and said, “I will make a dream of the book. I’ll make an adaptation about the quality of experiencing the book as opposed to the text of the book.” Shame on me for not having read the book yet! 

The pitch of “a team of four women traveling through an iridescent bubble of unreality with big rifles” did not have me expecting a floral, poignant reflection on death and life. 

(Currently available on Paramount+)

Emily 

FEELINGS. Spring bubbles up nostalgia, new and old loves, and a yearning for stormy book-reading. Emily checks all of those boxes. Closing my eyes, I feel the rain pelting my face as I spot a lone candle in the tallest window (wuthering heights indeed!). 

(Currently available on Kanopy or Hoopla) 

The Prince of Egypt

This movie is an easy five star-film (I love and miss you, Val Kilmer), and Passover is an eight-day holiday in April. 

(Currently available on Peacock until April 30, 2025)

Swiss Army Man

Lush greenery. Daniel Radcliffe gushing forth water from his gullet, becoming a literal spring. Vulnerable revelations. Now this, is a spring movie! 

The line the directors told Paul Dano was “We want to make a film where the first fart makes you laugh and the last fart makes you cry.” I mean, come on?! What more do you want? To know that it’s directed by the Daniels who made Everything Everywhere All at Once? Or—more importantly—directed the absolutely incredible “Turn Down For What” music video?? 

(Currently available on Kanopy)

Cha Cha Real Smooth

The yearning! The angst! The sultry whisper Dakota Johnson speaks in throughout the whole movie! I can now never hear “Tools” by Hovvdy without feeling a deep, deep sadness! 

(This one you watch in the spring when you wish it was summer.) 

(Currently available on Apple TV+) 

Coraline

“Isn’t this movie a fall movie? Like, Halloween time?” Pshh. Lest you forget, this movie is set in the springtime—matching yellow raincoat and boots and all. By the end, those red tulips sing.  

(Available to rent online) 

Mary Poppins

“Ain’t it a glorious day?
Right as a mornin’ in May
I feel like I could fly!” 

If that isn’t a springtime feeling, I don’t know what is. 

(Currently available on Disney+)

 

So, while you’re crunching on those iconic robin eggs this year, try pairing them with one of these cinematic delights. A hearty three cheers for themed movies!