The 30 Coziest Films to Watch from the Comfort of Your Home, from ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ to ‘When Harry Met Sally’

[Editor’s note: this list was originally published in November 2023. It has since been updated with new entries.]

November and December are always months to hunker down indoors, surf your TV and streaming platforms, and find some cozy movies to enjoy. But this November, with decidedly uncozy things to watch on cable news, now more than ever is a time to chill out, relax, and revisit a classic comfort film to put your mind at ease and your worries to the side.

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The cozy film is an oft-overlooked and arguably under-appreciated genre, usually lumped into a Venn diagram of classic rom-coms, campy noirs, and coming-of-age tales. Well, the defining traits of a cozy film — aside from chunky sweaters — is just that intangible feeling that all will be right in the world. The plots aren’t too complicated, the aesthetics are warm, and the characters seem to exist to just hang out onscreen alongside the viewer.

While some of the more snobbish among us may look at cozy films as pat and mawkish (and they can be, if executed incorrectly), the fact of the matter is that making a movie that feels soothing is far more difficult a task than its really given credit for. Many of these movies need to have sharply written characters and a delicately executed tone in order to have the desired warm blanket effect that they’re going for. A sense of comfort doesn’t necessarily translate onto a lack of depth, and the best cozy films have the same level of craft and care put into them than your big epics or weighty historical dramas.

Cozy films are a staple of any a holiday season, as the horror movie marathons of October give way to family gatherings to watch domestic classics in November and December. With an election year comes an even greater need for movies that can successfully get you off of Twitter for an hour or two. Regardless of how the shockingly tight 2024 election race turns out, we likely won’t know the result until a few days in — so now is the time to relax and take care of yourself rather than doom-scroll. And watching the perfect cozy movie could do you just the trick.

So, as America braces itself for an election week to remember, find yourself a cozy movie to watch. Below, see our IndieWire picks for the films we deem cozy in addition to being pillars of their respective genres. Snuggle up, turn it on, and indulge in the safety of a sweet story just about being human. Read on for 30 of the best cozy movies of all time. Entries are listed in chronological order.

Additional editorial contributions from Samantha Bergeson and Alison Foreman.

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