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Hey All,

Need your collective brains again for another challenge.

I'm looking for suggestions for films with a theme about people being sad/repressed/"dead inside" who experience something extraordinary (ghosts/monsters/supernatural) and by the end come out better, more "alive people". Needs to be from the past few years, say from 2010 onwards.

A good example is Close Encounters of the Third Kind (a man is "awakened" fromt he mundanity of his life by the arrival of aliens), but looking for anything recent, particularly when it comes to genre films. But it's way too old.

Another is The Babadook, about a woman struggling with her life as a Mum, who is plagued by a malevolent spirit, but by the end triumphs and becomes a stronger, more alive person.

Need lots more recent examples!

Thanks!

How about Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World? Steve Carroll's arc in that one fits the bill.

Colossal? Anne Hathaway kinda grows as person from depressed, shitty alcoholic to a decent person through being a Kaiju.

Secret Life of Walter Mitty? Definitely dead inside at the beginning before traveling across the world.
Wanted? Meek guy who gets yelled at and cheated on becomes bad ass after becoming an assassin. Don't know if that's an emotional awakening though.
It's Kind of a Funny Story? Suicidal kid discovers friendships and love in the mental hospital.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Perks of Being A Wallflower
Her
Manchester by the Sea
Cake (the Jennifer Aniston one)
Beyond the Lights
Garden State

Not sure if I'm on the right track

Hmm, i like these challenges, but often i think that i have nothing else to offer, surely you have seen more than i...

What comes to mind (albeit not exactly what you're describing) is:

Awakenings (though too old and not supernatural)
Drag Me to Hell
Moon
It
Bubba Ho-Tep
Arrival
Shaun of the Dead
The Stepford Wives
Source Code

Maybe Beetlejuice might fit. It's definitely more on the spectacular side but the Maitlands (albeit being ghosts themselves) and Lydia have that character development.

And there's Groundhog Day, depending on how you view the time loop.

And who can forget the many versions of A Christmas Carol?

Thanks for these suggestions guys, although I did say films from 2010 onwards, and ones where some extraordinary (e.g. supernatural) event happens.

But some great suggestios in there!

Warm Bodies?

why does it need to be from 2010? Sometimes i can't tell if a movie is 2005 or 2015...

Would Don't Breathe qualify?

Ron Burgundy wrote:why does it need to be from 2010? Sometimes i can't tell if a movie is 2005 or 2015...

My guess would be $$$. If he's looking for funding it helps to compare a project to a recent success. In 2018, no one wants to hear a pitch that's Dirty Harry meets The Towering Inferno, although, as I type that, I realize that's probably how they pitched Die Hard.

Yep, John got it right.

Basically, we're pitching the director of A Dark Song's next feature, which is even stranger and more ambitious, so trying to help people understand where we're coming from.

JohnErle wrote:

Ron Burgundy wrote:why does it need to be from 2010? Sometimes i can't tell if a movie is 2005 or 2015...

My guess would be $$$. If he's looking for funding it helps to compare a project to a recent success. In 2018, no one wants to hear a pitch that's Dirty Harry meets The Towering Inferno, although, as I type that, I realize that's probably how they pitched Die Hard.

You kind of described Skyscraper.

And I bet the studios are all ears for anything that sounds like an 80's film. So dust off that pitch that's Vibes meets Vision Quest.