The Moviegoer's Quarantine Binge List

Stuck inside for the foreseeable future, bored out of your mind? Spent the last hour scrolling through Netflix, trying to decide what to watch, and ended up rewatching The Office for the fourth time? Yeah, us too. That's why we've compiled a list of timely, binge-worthy movies for your quarantine. Whether you watch in self-isolation or over Zoom with a friend, these picks might help you make sense of these confusing times, or just let you escape for a moment.

28 Days Later

*Available for streaming on Hulu

Room

Feeling claustrophobic during quarantine? Take a leaf out of Joy’s book in Room. Kidnapped as a teen, Joy is forced to raise her son Jack in captivity, completely isolated from the outside world. But she manages to create a life for Jack in the dingy one-room-shed they share. The two make toys from egg cartons, exercise on a makeshift racetrack, and play games that Joy has adapted to their confined space. When (spoiler alert!) they escape, Jack finds his footing in a world grown infinitely larger, and Joy struggles to adapt to a world that’s changed without her. Room is an emotional reminder that love can bring light to the smallest of spaces and that adapting to change takes time — both timely messages.

- Hayley

*Available for streaming on Netflix

The Purge

*Available for rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime

12 Monkeys

*Available for streaming on Hulu

Contagion

I may have made the mistake of watching this movie right before everything went to shit in the world this year, but don’t you just love it when movies coincide with history? Contagion is exactly what it sounds like: A woman returning from a Hong Kong business trip dies suddenly after returning from the states, but not before she’s unknowingly kickstarted a deadly virus that begins to run rampant across the world. The film is uncanny to the current state of the world, and it highlights just how EASY it is for contagions to spread — be it a cough, sharing nuts at a bar, shaking hands with a business partner, kissing a loved one, the list goes on and on. Contagion is one of the most urgent films of 2020. It is well researched and gives its viewers an in-depth look at pandemics and just how a world can recover from one.

- Gaby

*Available for rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime

Bubble Boy

*Available for rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime

The Terminator Franchise (1, 2, and Dark Fate)

Running away from an unstoppable killer robot when you’re supposed to be social distancing is truly the worst-case scenario. However, since that scenario is currently impossible in the real world, the Terminator franchise may actually be a good way to get catharsis out of preventing societal collapse without the reasons behind that collapse hitting too close to home. The movies follow Sarah Connor, her son John, and some robot friends as they fight to stop robot enemies and the impending Judgement Day, when the machines will take over and start the apocalypse. The films feature copious amounts of violence, ground-breaking special effects, some of the best action scenes the medium has to offer, strong and iconic characters, and human kinship in the face of terrifying uncertainties. Definitely give them a watch.

- Hannah

*All three (recommended) films are available to rent or buy on iTunes or Amazon

Eli

*Available for streaming on Netflix

It Comes at Night

It Comes at Night follows a family that is quarantined in their home after society has been overtaken by a mysterious illness. They do not know how this virus is spread or how to avoid it, so they rarely leave their house, the only unsealed entrance being the red backdoor. There is a great sense of hopelessness and paranoia as the family tries in vain to continue their everyday lives while in constant fear and completely separated from civilization.

*Available for rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime

Five Feet Apart

*Available for rent on Amazon Prime

Train to Busan

A rapidly spreading, dangerous virus, cities on lockdown, restricted travel… hit a little too close to home? Train to Busan is a fast-paced Korean zombie thriller centered around a father and daughter who find themselves stuck on a train surrounded by the rabid, flesh-eating undead. Themes of class stratification and familial ties shine through the gory plot. Give this harrowing flick a watch and catch the sequel this summer (that is, if movie theaters reopen in time).

- Hayley

*Available for streaming on Netflix.