Sunny with a chance of holiday vibes: must-see summer movies to stream

The festive season has snuck up on us. While the northern hemisphere battles blizzards, switches to snow tyres and slips down their driveways we’re hitting the beach, getting toasty in the sun and generally overindulging… no judgement here. Whether you’re popping the top button of your pants to digest or getting into buns out, sun’s out mode, feast your eyes on this selection of bright-eyed and summer-certified movies now streaming on Showmax.

Palm Springs (2020)

Palm Springs is hot, damn hot… making this a California resort city where people go only to float on an inflatable pizza slice in the middle of nowhere with a cocktail in hand. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for Nyles… he’s stuck in a time loop where he’s forced to relive the same 24 hour period Groundhog Day style. From making the perfect wedding speech to experimenting with inconsequential hedonism, he’s living the dream again and again.

While it’s a blast, never-ending time loops can become a bit of a chore as Nyles discovers before another wedding guest inadvertently gets caught up in his daily routine. Stretching the bounds of time, love and philosophy with Sarah, buddies turn into budding romance as Palm Springs ramps up the summer fun and college-humour nuttiness. Starring Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti and the inimitable JK Simmons, this is one sunny adventure you don’t want to miss!

Summerland (2020)

Gemma Arterton is one of those actors who seems to mature like a summer wine. You could say she puts the “summer” in Summerland, a wartime romance drama about womanhood, love and friendship. Did we mention summer? Set during the Second World War, a reclusive writer named Alice opens her heart to the world and her home to a young evacuee from London named Frank. Arterton plays opposite Lucas Bond and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as her true love Vera, whose first name is Gugulethu owing to her South African dad’s influence.

Summerland echoes The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for its seaside, writer and war backdrop with a healthy dose of humour as well as touching and uplifting drama. Love, magic and hope mingle in this sun-dappled and deeply emotional story about enduring in the most trying times. From flying planes to remembering old flames, the beautifully filmed Summerland is a simple, relaxing and sentimental film about overcoming prejudice.

This Beautiful Fantastic (2016)

Jessica Brown Findlay is probably best known as Lady Sybil Crawley in Downton Abbey, playing opposite Tom Wilkinson and Jeremy Irvine in airy This Beautiful Fantastic. While the UK isn’t known for its blue skies, this romance comedy drama has an uplifting and summery Amelie quality as a daydreamer discovers an unlikely friendship with the old bastard next door. Aspiring to be a children’s author, Bella finds solace in her books, an enigmatic soul whose love for space cakes is only dwarfed by the promise of a new romance with Billy.

When her cantankerous neighbour makes an official complaint about her shoddy garden, it becomes incumbent upon her to haul out the weed whacker and machete. At this point it could have become a slasher movie, but luckily for those with green fingers, it decides to avoid hacking anything but shrubberies. While first-world problems abound, This Beautiful Fantastic is a charming, light and pleasant cup of tea of a romance drama.

Minari (2020)

Minari is one of those sweltering coming-of-age summer dramas where you can feel and hear the call of the cicadas. Echoing the animated world of Hayao Miyazaki, this live-action film centres on a pursuit of the American Dream by a Korean-American family in 1980s Arkansas. The Oscar-nominated drama from Lee Isaac Chung is biographical in nature and largely set in nature as the Yi family acclimatise their free-range children to the great outdoors and farming.

A tender, heartfelt and humourous film, it features a strong collective of performances from Steven Yuen, Yeri Han, Alan S Kim and Will Patton with an Oscar-winning performance from Yuh-Jung Youn. Gently exploring their dysfunction and diligence from chicken sexing to water divining, Minari is so much more than the bitter and peppery riverside parsley it’s named after. While sweat and toil factor in, this slice-of-life drama is led by impassioned performances and some laugh-out-loud moments.

Midsommar (2019)

“Let’s go on a holiday to Sweden”, they said. Just as the words “What could possibly go wrong?” echo into the abyss, you begin to realise the breezy nightmare that is Midsommar. Inspired by The Wicker Man, Ari Aster’s follow-up to Hereditary is one of the most-talked-about horrors of the 21st Century. Granted we’re only two decades in, but it’s still an achievement based on what must surely be a horror revival amid films like The Invisible Man, Freaky and Doctor Sleep.

Starring Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor, this unconventional pagan cult horror mystery drama journeys with a couple who reluctantly agree to attend an idyllic mid-summer European festival. With guests dressed in white and adorned in flowers, the wedding setting and summer vibes quickly evaporate as brutal, cruel and unusual rituals take over. Turning into an escape from summer camp, this dark and twisted horror plays out in stark daylight.

Fool’s Gold (2008)

Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson are a sun-kissed couple who just seem so gosh-darn right together. Both able to switch from lightweight comedy romance into serious dramatic territory, their sex appeal, versatility and likability make them the equivalent of catnip for humans. They star together in Fool’s Gold, a summer adventure that finds a recently divorced couple reigniting the spark when a clue about a long-lost Spanish treasure resurfaces.

In the tradition of Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile comes a breezy, entertaining holiday romp of an adventure as action, comedy and good looks collide. If you’re looking to shift down a few gears into (N) aka holiday mode, Fool’s Gold is just mindless and enjoyable enough to get you there. Grab a pina colada with a slice of pineapple and one of those mini umbrellas, slip into your gown (or Speedo), kick your feet up and say “aaaahhhhhh” before hitting play.

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