The 25 best summer movies that will take you on a warm, sunny holiday

We look at the best summer movies 💎to transport you somewhere sunny𝄹

(Image credit: Sony)

It’s almost biblically unfair that we’re stuck inside during these warm summer days. Sure, you can sit six feet from your friends down the park or in a pub garden, but in any case, this is likely to be a prett𒀰y quiet summer.

To make you feel like you’re not missing out, we’ve put together a list of the best summer movies that’ll make you feel like you’re really there, enjoying the outdoors or on holiday in northern France somewhere, enjoying a cocktail with your feet dangling in a pool, without a care in the✤ world. Of course, they might also make you incredibly jealous as, after the credits roll, you're transported back to that darꦕk living room with the hours ticking away until you have to start working from that very same stodgy sofa, but that’s a risk you’re going to have to take. But, for at least a few hours, let these – our selection of the best summer movies – take you away.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

(Image credit: USA Films)

David Wain’s 2001 cult classic Wet Hot American Summer is the best gift you can give yourself on a long afternoon sitting inside. Set in 1981, the film follows a group of camp counsellors on their last day as they attempt to have one last romantic fling before they go home. Of course, it isn’t that simple – a parody of camp movies, Wet Hot American Summer descends into chaos, madness and absurdity as some characters prep🍌are for a talent show while others attempt to pre𓂃vent the end of the world. Starring future huge names like Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper, the film is full of very familiar faces and very worth a watch, even if it’ll make you furious that you aren’t in the woods somewhere.

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

(Image credit: Fox)

Of course, many of us haven’t had a truly carefree summer since we were a lot younger and didn’t have jobs or responsibilities. In Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, 12-year-old scout Sam sneaks away from camp to meet up with his penpal Suzy. With little regard for the panicking of the adults they left behind, Suzy and Sam embark on adventures, having their first kiss, fishing, dancing, and generally avoiding all of their earthly cares. While the real world catches up to them eventually, in Wes Anderson’s hands, Moonrise Kingdom feels like a genuine escape to watch. Wit♏h its soft pastels, big bodies of water and abundant trees, you’ll put “camping” on your post-lockdown bucket list.

Magic Mike XXL (2015)

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Of all the films on this list, Magic Mike XXL perhaps has the purest, hedonistic summer energy. Retired stripper Mike (Channing Tatum) has hung up his tearaway pants to run a furniture business when his former colleagues, the Kings of Tampa, invite him to roadtrip to Tampa for a stripping convention. From there, it has all the hallmarks of a go-big-or-go-home Florida summer: MDMA, sex, big mansion parties, and finally, a great big final bang of a stripping performance by the lads. If that wasn’t enough, there’s also a pool party and a 4th of July celebration. Magic Mike 🦹XXL is sweaty, fun, and will make you crave a wet hot American summer–if only.

Booksmart (2019)

(Image credit: Annapurna)

Again, what better way to escape than to live vicariously through teenagers who have their whole lives to go to work and be boring? In Olivia Wilde’s 2019 directorial debut Booksmart, two bookish high school seniors, Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) realise they missed out on some classic high school experiences in their obsessive pursuit of Yale. ꦐFeeling left out and realising that other classmates still got some partying done, Amy and Molly decide to go to a graduation party and fulfil all their desires. Things go awry, with serial killers, arguments and accidentally drugged strawberries, but the pair make up and Amy finds romance with a classmate. Booksmart is hilarious, enjoyable, and so sweet, even if Amy’s running off to Botswana on a gap year might make you jealous.

American Pie 2 (2001)

(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

For pure summer escapism, there is nothing quite like dipping back into the simplicity of the early 2000s. The second American Pie film, the last before things got a little bit too ridiculous, sees the gang heading off to a beach house for the summer, reluctantly inviting Stifler. Filled with all the dumb sexcapades you’ve come to expect, plus the necessary cameo from Eugene Levy’s eyebrows, American Pie 2 is a pure vacation from reality, not least of all because the humour is... outdated. But where you can stop yourself from cringing, you can find yourself on vacation by the beach, with nothing to do but drink and party and misbehave, if only for a couple of h🦩ours.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

(Image credit: Sony Pictures)

Sometimes blowing off all your responsibilities to run off on a trip is the worst possible thing you can do. In the second Tom Holland-starring Spider-Man movie, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Far From Home, Peter Parker is grieving the loss of Tony Stark after the evꦰents of Endgam🤡e. With a threat looming, Nick Fury plans to drag Parker back to work, but he essentially turns off his phone and runs off to Venice on a school trip for two weeks. While the events of the film aren’t really ideal summer holiday vibes, it’s a very relatable impulse – who among us wouldn’t like to turn their phone off and run to Europe? Plus, seeing all those gorgeous old buildings and canals on-screen, even if they’re being destroyed, will make you feel like you’re there.