"I Was Dreading Watching It, But Now It's My Comfort Movie": People Are Sharing The Movies They Reluctantly Watched But Now Absolutely Love

Editor's Note: BuzzFeed does not support discriminatory or hateful speech in any form. We stand by the LGBTQ+ community and all fans who found a home in the Harry Potter series and will work to provide a safe space for fans. If you, like us, feel impassioned about trans rights, learn more or donate here.

We recently asked members of our BuzzFeed Community, "What's a movie that you truly had zero interest in seeing — or heck, maybe you actively didn't want to see it — but, after you watched it, you ended up loving it?" and you better believe movie lovers came through with some A+ stories of times they were (happily) proven wrong!

TV Land

So, with that in mind, here are just a few of the movies shared:

1.The Hunger Games franchise

"I went through the Twilight era so I thought, 'I'll skip this one, thanks.' I watched the first one on Netflix when it went on there, and I ended up binging the rest of the movies and reading all of the books."

—nevl

You can watch the trailer here:

2.West Side Story (2021)

"Honestly, the remake. I had no interest in seeing it whatsoever. Bored one Saturday night, I saw it on Disney+ and was like, 'Okay, it’s got a few Oscar nominations, I’ll give it a go. It became my new favorite film, and I had the soundtrack on in the car for months afterwards. I was on maternity leave at the time, and it became my comfort film and escape from the real world while my baby napped. And Rachel Zegler as Maria? *chefs kiss*"

—claireo4f1a2eac4

You can watch the trailer here:

3.Gladiator (2000)

"I figured it would just be senseless bloody fight scenes, but it was such a good movie and it had a great story. Yes, lots of fighting and blood, but way more than that. The story of a good man fighting for honor and those that he loved, as well as straight up revenge. Loved it."

—fayecothren

You can watch the trailer here:

4.Kung Fu Panda (2008)

"My friends’ son picked it, and I wasn’t enthusiastic to see an animated film. It was so good that I saw the next two in the theater by myself."

—baobaopanda

You can watch the trailer here:

5.EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: The Story Of Fire Saga (2020)

"I'm not a Will Ferrell fan, but one night there wasn't anything exciting to watch so we gave this a go, and I mean it when I say it's a near perfect movie. Two years later, and I still listen to the soundtrack regularly and have researched it 10+ times."

—theresag46c7a972a

You can watch the trailer here:

6.Argo (2012)

"I’ve never liked Ben Affleck and the title gave no clue as to the type of movie it was, so I always swerved when I saw it was on TV. I can’t even remember how I came to finally watch it in the end, but it is INCREDIBLE."

—lauramartin1

You can watch the trailer here:

7.District 9 (2009)

"I don’t tend to like alien movies that much. I don’t know why, they just always creep me out. I watched this one expecting nothing, but absolutely loved it! I loved the half-documentary style, and how much I ended caring about the prawn character Christopher. It's such a great film and I didn’t even want to watch it."

—jenniferh4e24263bc

You can watch the trailer here:

8.Date Night (2010)

"I'd never heard of it before. I was hanging out with some friends, and we decided to go see it because it happened to be playing when we showed up at the movies without any plans. It ended up being one of my favorite movies, and I still love it all these years later."

—beckichino

You can watch the trailer here:

9.Upgrade (2018)

"It's such an underrated movie. I went into it just to watch something to pass the time, but I think it's an absolute action masterpiece. The fight scenes are really well put together with realistic gore. Overall, it's a fun watch."

—yuandre

You can watch the trailer here:

10.The Harry Potter franchise

"I talked forever about never wanting to see these movies because I didn’t want to be 'basic' or whatever my dumb brain thought I was going to be if I liked them. I watched the first one for fun one day, loved it, and still regret not watching them all earlier."

—sha-ray-ray

You can watch the trailer here:

11.The Notebook (2004)

"I’m a red-blooded American dude with much of the 'baggage' that label entails, so I was dragged kicking and screaming to see this at a time when I would’ve preferred a visit to the dentist during a novocaine shortage. Then, I saw it, and goddamn, y’all. Goddamn that beautiful, immaculate, perfect film."

—thorin

You can watch the trailer here:

12.Thor (2011)

"It took me YEARS to finally watch the first one. I just didn’t get the Norse mythology and couldn’t wrap my head around how it all fit into the Avengers franchise. Fast-forward several years later, and I’ve become a pretty intense Marvel nerd and Thor is one of my favorite characters."

—micahdr

You can watch the trailer here:

13.Guns Akimbo (2019)

"It starts off wild and just gets more out there without any restraint by the minute. Definitely not a dull moment. It's as if someone was dared to fit as much goofball, over-the-top violence they could in a span of 95 minutes, and Daniel Radcliffe is absolutely hilarious in it."

—yuandre

You can watch the trailer here:

14.Prey (2022)

"That '80s action genre never really interested me, so I’ve never seen any of the original Predator movies. I saw the trailer for this one day, and assumed it was just another cash-grab remake. I ended up putting it on for white noise while reorganizing my room one day. WELL DAMN, WAS I WRONG! By the end of the movie, my blood was pumping and I wanted to join in that victory cry, too! I still haven’t watched any of the other Predator movies, but I’ve watched Prey four times now because I keep recommending it to people when we’re looking for something to watch."

—sapphire96

You can watch the trailer here:

15.Despicable Me (2010)

"My kids were younger, and I was dreading having to see this. Wrong! It's become one of my favorites, and I'm so glad I was 'forced' into watching it. Now I can watch it over and over, and enjoy every moment. If anything, now I’m forcing them to watch it!"

—moraleslp

You can watch the trailer here:

16.Titanic (1997)

"I was 14 and didn’t want to go, but somehow it became this big outing with my family and closest friends. I loved it, and we returned to see it in our other native language for a total of three times while it was still in theaters! Then, we got the VHS as soon as it was available and watched it as a family many times after!"

—gemininorthnode

You can watch the trailer here:

17.The Lego Movie (2014)

"The only reason my sister and I went to see it was because we chickened out of asking if we could see The Wolf of Wall Street (we were both still a few months from being 18). This was definitely more fun than seeing that, and it had a lot more thought put into it than we thought it would."

—hobbitgirl96

You can watch the trailer here:

18.Life of Pi (2012)

"All I knew was that it was about some kid stuck on a small boat with a tiger. It sounded weird and boring, but one night I decided to give it a look. It’s now one of my favorite movies. Visually stunning, gripping, and man, that ending hits hard!"

—aditson

You can watch the trailer here:

19.Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

"I was about 13 years old when it came out and it was only playing in a small independent film theatre. My mom made us go watch it, which I was very annoyed about because it seemed super uncool. I ended up loving the movie and telling my peers about it, but no one was interested because it seemed 'weird.' A few months later it got big and became everyone's favorite."

—itsyagal_al

You can watch the trailer here:

20.JoJo Rabbit (2019)

"First hearing about it, I thought the premise was bizarre and borderline offensive (I mean, a comedy/drama about Hitler? Ugh.) But holy moly, what a great movie! The cast is amazing and the story is unbelievably moving (grab those tissues). Sam Rockwell, Alfie Allen, and Rebel Wilson are hilarious. It instantly became one of my top five favorites."

—whedonist

You can watch the trailer here:

21.The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

"My brother kept pestering me to watch it, but I really wasn’t feeling it. After a bit, I finally gave in and now it's one of my favorite movies. It's absolutely hilarious with some incredible acting and overall it's just such a fun movie!"

—katiegillespie1

You can watch the trailer here:

22.The Lord of the Rings trilogy

"I knew nothing about it really, but my mom and brother were so excited to see it. I ended up going along expecting to hate it. How wrong I was! I remember at the end when the credits rolled, I turned to them and said, 'NO! What happens to Frodo and Sam and stuff?!' and they said I had to wait a whole year for the next installment! I fell in love with it then and there, and I've been a huge fan ever since."

—puss_pastry

You can watch the trailer here:

23.L.A. Confidential (1997)

"I don't know why I ignored it for so long, as 'crime drama' is my favorite genre. I saw it nearly 20 years after its release, and I was kicking myself for not seeing it sooner. A neo-noir, set in a post-war Los Angeles that has storylines partially based on real people and events? To me, it's a nearly perfect movie."

—zwood320

You can watch the trailer here:

24.Doctor Strange (2016)

"This was the very first Marvel movie I had missed in theaters. Honestly, it didn't appeal to me AT ALL. When it was finally streaming, my husband kept pushing me to see it, so I did, and I kicked myself so hard for missing it. It's now my favorite Marvel movie of all time."

—morgan_le_slay

You can watch the trailer here:

25.Mud (2012)

"The film with Matthew McConaughey. It looked like a typical drama, but ended up being an amazing film. I still love it to this day."

—pinkjadeybug

You can watch the trailer here:

26.Pitch Perfect (2012)

"It came out at the same time as the baseball movie Trouble with the Curve. When I bought tickets to Pitch Perfect, I thought I'd bought tickets to the baseball movie, but instead I watched an a cappella group sing for their lives, and I loved every second of it."

—suomynonaman

You can watch the trailer here:

27.The Hangover (2009)

"A bunch of us randomly picked it to watch at the cinema when we missed another film, and thank god we did because we thought it was hilarious!"

—nattyiscool

You can watch the trailer here:

28.Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)

"Over the summer, my aunt took me and my sister to see this movie. When I first saw the trailer, my instant reaction was that I’ll most likely fall asleep during this movie, because it looked really boring. I also thought it looked like an old person’s movie of interest. But when we saw it, it was not only hilarious, but empowering."

—dunbarkylee30

You can watch the trailer here:

29.Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

"100%. My boyfriend dragged me to it with his friends, and I was pissed. I was like, 'Ugh, not another Marvel movie.' From the first scene, I was hooked, and I ended up loving the MCU thereafter."

—abigailsulpizio

You can watch the trailer here:

30.And finally: the Star Wars franchise

"Not me, but my mom! When the original Star Wars came out, all of her friends were like, 'Oh my god, go see this movie, you'll love it!" So, of course, she refused to see it. But after a few months, she finally saw it — and, sure enough, she loved it. She became a lifelong fan and collector and convention attendee, and she would even dress up as Princess Leia. She passed that love on to me (my first word was 'Bacca' due to the constant Star Wars views at my home). She even took me to see Return of the Jedi when it first came out, even though I was only a few months old at the time!"

—invasivemage

You can watch the trailer here:

All right, you've read theirs, but now it's YOUR turn! Tell us a little about what movie exceeded your absolute rock bottom expectations to become one of your favorites — and a little bit about what won you over — in the comments below!

Some responses were edited for length and/or clarity.