New Year, New Me: 5 Movies to Inspire You to Change Your Life

January is the perfect time to make plans for the months ahead. After all, when else do you start a new life but at the beginning of a new year?

1. The Outrun, 2024

Rona, Saoirse Ronan's character, tries to piece together her life in solitude. Rona suffers from alcoholism and loses all sense of direction in her life. In desperation, the woman leaves noisy London for her native Orkney Islands.

At the edge of the world, she wanders through the fields, listens to music, and tries to stay away from the bars. Director Nora Fingscheidt based the film on Amy Liptrot's novel of the same name.

Despite its heavy subject matter, The Outrun is a meditative film with the sounds of a storm and harsh winds. Rona's odyssey offers the viewer a ray of hope: it is possible to find a way out of dark times – the main thing is to understand the past and give oneself a chance at happiness.

2. Julie & Julia, 2009

Julie is a writer who works in a call center. One day, the woman pulls herself together and starts blogging about cooking: flipping through the pages of Julia Child's famous book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julie immerses herself in the world of incredible dishes and escapes from the harsh reality.

She sets herself an ambitious goal: to cook 524 dishes in one year using the recipes of the great Child. Nora Ephron's warm melodrama can be an inspiration for many things – to cook wonderful desserts, to create your own blog, or simply to have the courage to finally do what you've long dreamed of doing.

3. How to Be Single, 2016

Alice tries to understand what it's like to be a lonely young woman in a big city. She breaks up with her boyfriend, gets a job, moves and starts spending more time at parties. A completely new way of life at first scares her, but then it gives Alice an answer to the question of what she really wants out of life.

Christian Ditter's comedy can help confused viewers understand themselves or at least encourage them to take risks – sometimes you have to stop listening to others, follow your heart and get out of your comfort zone.

4. Where'd You Go, Bernadette, 2019

It seems that Bernadette has the perfect life. A loving husband, a daughter, a successful career, a huge house – there are many reasons for happiness. But one day, the woman just disappears, or rather, she goes to faraway Antarctica.

Richard Linklater makes a comforting and truly inspiring movie about the consequences of depression and midlife crisis. Cate Blanchett's character is a portrait of millions of women trapped in routine, gray monotony and unbearable anxiety.

The director offers a solution to pressing problems – to feel the thirst for life again, it would not hurt to escape from the usual, to relax and be in a new environment.

5. Memoir of a Snail, 2024

Memoir of a Snail is a new animated film by Adam Elliot, the director of the equally heartbreaking Mary and Max. The movie tells the story of twins Grace and Gilbert, who were separated as children.

Grace, an adult single woman, recalls the past, a series of trials that befell her, everyday joys and great misfortunes. The director illustrates on the screen the difficult fate of the twins, who had to face a series of injustices.

Watching Memoir of a Snail is incredibly sad, but Elliot's brainchild turns into a therapeutic film about a postponed life: in the end, Grace learns an important lesson – it's time to stop being afraid of life, to get out of the cocoon and explore the world with curiosity.