Making Sense of Retirement — 48 Nice Films About Retirement

Making Sense of Retirement — 48 Nice Films About Retirement

Films – like all artwork kinds – could be an effective way to discover vital themes in your life.  Right here is our checklist of flicks associated to retirement and getting older.  Whilst you ought to in all probability do extra to arrange for retirement than watching films, use the Boldin Retirement Planner or seek the advice of a monetary advisor for instance, you possibly can in all probability discover inspiration, solace, and a very good giggle in these movies.

movies about retirement and aging

How Films Assist Us Make Higher Monetary Selections

Tragedy with out Private Loss

In actual life, folks usually make main adjustments — retiring early, shifting, giving extra generously — after experiencing or witnessing a critical sickness or loss. Watching a tragic film may help remind you that life is fragile, time is proscribed, and planning with intention may help us benefit from the moments we nonetheless have.

Comedy Can Present Surprising Readability

Typically, humor is the most effective instructor. A superb comedy can spotlight how absurd and fragile our assumptions could be. Laughing at our personal lives helps disarm disgrace and encourages us to take a look at our personal habits with curiosity as an alternative of judgment. The outcome? Extra openness to alter.

Films Begin Conversations We Would possibly Keep away from

Watching movies with family members — particularly those who contact on life transitions, inheritance, getting older, or monetary hardship — can open the door to deeper discussions. A film night time would possibly result in questions like: “What would we do in that state of affairs?” or “Have we talked about our plan if one thing occurred?” These conversations, sparked by fiction, usually result in real-world planning.

Inspiration

Films may give you a glimpse into what life could be like and encourage you to make daring selections along with your money and time.

Greatest Films About Cash, Retirement, and Growing old

On this checklist you’ll discover the whole lot from animated movies to look at along with your children or grandkids, comedies, dramas, motion flicks and extra.

Begin a retirement film membership or simply begin watching by yourself! E mail us your recommendations!

Suggestions from the Boldin Group

Listed here are just a few choices highlighted by Boldin crew members:

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Future (2023): An getting older Indiana Jones groups up together with his goddaughter, Helena Shaw, to search out the highly effective Archimedes Dial—and race to cease a former Nazi-turned-NASA scientist from utilizing it to rewrite historical past.

Enjoying with FIRE: The Documentary (2019): A pair discovers the Monetary Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) motion and radically adjustments their spending habits to pursue a less complicated, extra intentional life—whereas questioning the norms of consumerism and conventional retirement.

Knives Out (2019): This tremendous enjoyable homicide thriller with plenty of twists touches on legacy.

Dad (1989): A workaholic son reconnects together with his getting older father after a well being scare, prompting a heartfelt journey by means of reminiscence, id, and what it actually means to be a household—reminding viewers that it’s by no means too late to rediscover function and connection.

Cocoon (1985): A swimming pool fountain of youth? These retirees discover one!

Up within the Air (2009):
A company downsizer who spends his life flying from metropolis to metropolis begins to query his indifferent way of life when surprising relationships drive him to confront what actually issues—connection, dedication, and that means past the subsequent flight.

The Intern (2015): A 70-year-old widower turns into a senior intern at a fast-growing trend startup, bringing surprising knowledge, calm, and perspective to a pushed younger CEO—and discovering function and connection within the course of.

St Vincent (2014): A grumpy, hard-drinking warfare veteran unexpectedly kinds a bond with the younger boy subsequent door, turning into an unlikely mentor and exhibiting that redemption and goodness can come from essentially the most stunning locations.

The Greatest Unique Marigold Lodge (2011): A British movie about retirees touring to India.

Knox Goes Away (2023): A hitman recognized with quickly progressing dementia tries to proper his wrongs and reconnect together with his estranged son—whereas racing in opposition to time and reminiscence to hold out one remaining act of redemption.

Nonnas (2025): A heartwarming true‑story dramedy starring Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella, who honors his late mom by opening Staten Island’s Enoteca Maria and hiring grandmothers—“nonnas”—from around the globe to serve conventional household recipes. The movie celebrates grief, cultural connection, and the facility of meals and neighborhood.

Toy Story 3 (2010): You could be shocked to be taught that this animated movie offers with many retirement themes. On this installment the toys’ boy Andy is now seventeen years outdated and headed to school. In consequence his toys are going through a sort of pressured retirement. (Nice selection with grandchildren.)

Up (2009): One other animated movie?  Sure – an exquisite one at that!A grouchy outdated man loses his zest for all times till a persistent 8 yr outdated enters into his world. (Nice selection with grandchildren.)

Thelma (2024): A 94-year-old girl groups up with a pal to reclaim her cash from a cellphone scammer, led by June Squibb in her first action-comedy function. It’s energetic, heartfelt, and refreshingly enjoyable—it celebrates older protagonists taking cost and staying resourceful.

Materialists (2025): A pointy, good comedy-drama—starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal—that investigates how wealth, standing, and marital objectives intersect as folks navigate visions of long-term happiness. It teases out the strain between emotional connection and financial worth in relationships.

Nonnas (2025): A heartwarming true‑story dramedy starring Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella, who honors his late mom by opening Staten Island’s Enoteca Maria and hiring grandmothers—“nonnas”—from around the globe to serve conventional household recipes. The movie celebrates grief, cultural connection, and the facility of meals and neighborhood.

 Acquainted Contact (2025): This shifting debut explores getting older, dementia, and id by means of the expertise of an aged former cook dinner in assisted residing. It redefines how we see getting older—not as decline, however as a significant transformation.

The Final Showgirl (2024): Center-aged Las Vegas showgirl Shelly faces the tip of her lengthy profession when her revue closes. The movie explores how id and life function evolve when long-assumed roles come to an finish.

The Blue Path (2025): A poignant Brazilian drama a few 77-year-old girl pressured into aged relocation who embarks on a journey by means of the Amazon to satisfy a remaining want. It’s a testomony to function and autonomy in later life.

Sentimental Worth (2025): A Cannes-awarded dramedy that includes Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård in a meditation on emotional inheritance, getting older, and the true price of {our relationships} and previous. It’s wry, elegiac, and filled with coronary heart.

The Life Checklist (2025): A grieving girl revisits her childhood goals after her mom’s passing. What begins as a sentimental journey turns into a deeper reckoning with id, loss, and rediscovery—positively a mirrored image on life function.

 Oh, Canada (2025): Richard Gere stars as a dying filmmaker documenting his life. Non-linear and introspective, it asks: what truths will we select to protect earlier than it’s too late?

F1 the Film (2025): Brad Pitt portrays an getting older former racing star making a comeback within the high-stakes world of System 1. It’s all about second acts, the lure of legacy, and chasing ardour later in life

Greatest Films About Cash, Retirement, and Growing old, from 2022 and 2023

The Fabelmans (2022): Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story grapples with selecting an unconventional life path, household breakdown, and the lengthy tail of our mother and father’ selections.

Knox Goes Away (2023): A hitman recognized with quickly progressing dementia tries to proper his wrongs and reconnect together with his estranged son—whereas racing in opposition to time and reminiscence to hold out one remaining act of redemption.

Residing (2022): A remake of Kurosawa’s Ikiru, this movie follows a bureaucrat who, after a terminal prognosis, tries to depart behind one thing significant. A quiet, profound exploration of remorse and redemption in outdated age.

A Man Known as Otto (2023): Tom Hanks performs a grumpy widower prepared to surrender on life till surprising friendships breathe that means again into his world. It’s a delicate reminder that even late in life, connection can spark renewal.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022): A darkly funny story of a friendship’s abrupt finish — and the existential fallout. It probes the distinction between residing a “good” life and leaving an enduring mark.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Future (2023): An getting older Indiana Jones groups up together with his goddaughter, Helena Shaw, to search out the highly effective Archimedes Dial—and race to cease a former Nazi-turned-NASA scientist from utilizing it to rewrite historical past.

Nyad (2023): Based mostly on the true story of swimmer Diana Nyad’s late-life try to swim from Cuba to Florida at age 64. An awesome real-life instance of getting older as transformation, not decline.

The Misplaced King (2022): A middle-aged girl turns into obsessive about proving the situation of King Richard III’s burial. It’s quirky and primarily based on a real story — about self-belief, reinvention, and rewriting historical past.

EO (2022, Polish): Informed by means of the eyes of a donkey (!) shifting by means of totally different human environments. It’s allegorical and poignant — a mirrored image on dignity, getting older, and the way we’re formed by forces past our management.

Greatest Retirement Films 2020 and 2021

Nomadland (2020): Frances McDormand performs a widow in her 60s who loses the whole lot within the Nice Recession and embraces a transient way of life. It’s a deeply reflective meditation on getting older with no security internet — and reimagining freedom in later life.

The Father (2020): Anthony Hopkins gained an Oscar for his portrayal of a person experiencing the erosion of reminiscence and independence. It’s a haunting, intimate have a look at getting older from the within out — and its emotional toll on households.

Minari (2020): A Korean-American household strikes to rural Arkansas in the hunt for a greater life. The movie subtly explores what it means to construct a future on your kids — and the way legacy is each monetary and emotional.

King Richard (2021): This biopic about Venus and Serena Williams’ father is mostly a movie about long-term planning, relentless perception, and what mother and father give as much as form their kids’s futures. It’s inspiring, but it surely additionally raises questions on management, imaginative and prescient, and id.

Driveways (2020): A quiet, missed gem. An aged veteran kinds an unlikely reference to a younger boy, exhibiting how small relationships can convey dignity and that means later in life. Reflective, heat, and human.

One Evening in Miami… (2020): This imagined assembly between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke digs into how every man balances fame, cash, activism, and long-term impression. Nice for reflecting on how we use our affect and sources.

The Dig (2021): Set earlier than WWII, this British drama tells the true story of a historic archaeological excavation. It explores what we go away behind — actually and figuratively — and who will get remembered. Quiet, poetic, and highly effective.

Supernova (2020): A pair confronts one companion’s early-onset dementia on a remaining highway journey. It’s a meditation on time, reminiscence, and what issues after we know time is operating out.

I Care a Lot (2020): Darkish, sharp, and satirical — this thriller follows a lady who exploits the guardianship system for revenue. Whereas exaggerated, it surfaces actual points round getting older, belief, and vulnerability.

Greatest Films About Retirement and Growing old — 2019

Ford vs. Ferrari (2019): Take pleasure in Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby, the primary American race automotive driver to win Le Mans. His second act, later in life, is his try to construct a automotive to win the race for Ford.

Ache and Glory (2019): Ache and Glory talks about creation, in regards to the issue of separating it from one’s personal life and in regards to the passions that give it that means and hope. In recovering his previous, Salvador finds the pressing have to recount it, and in that want he additionally finds his salvation.

Diane (2019): Rotten Tomatoes describes Diane as a, “superbly human portrait of a lady rifling by means of the wreckage of her life in the hunt for redemption.”

Gloria Bell (2019): Rising outdated isn’t simple for Gloria Bell…  Between associates being laid off, issues about retirement, and grownup kids navigating their very own troubled romantic paths, Gloria makes her means by means of center age with a courageous face, discovering short-term solace on the dance ground and, for a time, within the arms of Arnold (a powerful John Turturro), a current divorcé struggling to interrupt free from his ex-wife and two needy daughters.” is how Esquire describes this movie, starring Julianne Moore.

The Irishman (2019): Scorsese’s movie can also be a flashback-layered drama in regards to the passage of time, and the impression – or chilling lack thereof – that remorse, treachery and immorality have on a person’s soul.

Late Evening (2019): A washed up late night time host (Emma Thompson) rediscovers her ardour for reality telling.

Judy (2019): Stars Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland, 30 years after she first shot to international stardom in The Wizard of Oz. Whereas her voice has weakened, its dramatic depth has solely grown.

The Reality (2019): Catherine Deneuve performs an getting older French film star who, regardless of her momentary lapses in reminiscence, stays a venerable drive to be reckoned with.

Downtown Abbey (2019): The film continues the themes from the collection: each the continuity and breaking of custom inside a household.

Toni Morrison: The Items I Am (2019): This suave and intimate meditation on the legendary storyteller examines her life, her works and the highly effective themes she has confronted all through her literary profession.

Knives Out (2019): This tremendous enjoyable homicide thriller with plenty of twists touches on legacy.

The Farewell (2019): The Farewell humorously and poignantly captures sophisticated household dynamics after they uncover {that a} beloved grandmother solely has a short time left to reside.

Greatest Films About Retirement and Growing old — 2018

Tea with the Dames (2018): Be a part of Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Eileen Atkins and Dame Joan Plowright for a weekend within the nation to reminisce and share their entertaining ideas on artwork, getting older, and love.

Mamma Mia: Right here We Go Once more (2018): A enjoyable music-filled romp about how relationships solid prior to now resonate within the current.

The Spouse (2018): A portrait of practically forty years of marriage, secrets and techniques, betrayals and love. Starring Glen Shut.

What They Had (2018): The acquainted theme of the ache of Alzheimers’ and the way it impacts the household dynamic.

The Outdated Man & the Gun (2018): Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek ship heat charming performances.

Mirai (2018): An animated movie from Japan explores love handed down by means of generations. Frequent Sense Media says: “The kind of animated movie mother and father would possibly take pleasure in greater than children, this magical sibling journey is a dreamy, touching have a look at the significance of household ties and figuring out your private historical past.

Bumblebee (2018): Even Transformers can discover a second life after retirement.

2017

A Man Known as Ove (Launched in U.S. in 2017): Tailored from a well-liked ebook, this was an Oscar nominee in 2017. Ove, an ill-tempered, remoted retiree who spends his days implementing block affiliation guidelines and visiting his spouse’s grave, has lastly given up on life simply as an unlikely friendship develops together with his boisterous new neighbors.

Faces Locations (Visage, Villages) (2017): A portrait of an unlikely cross generational friendship between a 30 one thing road artist, JR, and older filmmaker, Agnes Varda.

Logan (2017):  A part of the X-Males franchise, Logan should face off in opposition to darkish forces and a villain from his personal previous on a live-or-die mission, one that can set the time-worn warrior on a path towards fulfilling his future.

Coco (2017): A Disney animated function that may be a vibrant, musical and joyful movie about questions of tradition, household, life and loss of life.

The Meyerowitz Tales (New and Chosen) (2017):  Bittersweet comedy and intergenerational story of grownup siblings contending with the affect of their getting older father.

Misplaced in Paris (2017): The New York Instances describes the type of the married administrators of this movie as “equal components Jacques Tati, Jerry Lewis, Wes Anderson and “Wallace & Gromit.”  Co stars the late Emmanuelle Riva as an 88-year-old right down to occasion.

Marjorie Prime (2017): Eighty-six-year-old Marjorie spends her remaining, ailing days with a computerized model of her deceased husband. A.O. Scott of the New York Instances describes this film as, “…an alternately stately and brisk story wherein the metaphor poses questions on mortality, loss and who our imagined “finest selves” would possibly prove to truly be as soon as they’re launched from our personal evaluation.

Downsizing (2017): We speak quite a bit about downsizing as a chance for retirement.  This film takes the idea to the acute. This movie was not terribly nicely reviewed, however entertaining sufficient with Matt Damon within the lead.

The Lovers (2017): Starring Debra Winger and Tracy Letts as getting older on a regular basis folks asking questions on intimacy and love.

2016

The 100 Yr-Outdated Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (Launched in U.S. in 2016): An Oscar award nominee, this movie is about Allan Karlsson who finds himself caught in a nursing residence after residing a protracted and colourful life. On his a centesimal birthday, he leaps out a window and begins an surprising journey.

Fences (2016): New York Instances Reviewer A.O. Scott has this to say about “Fences:” “What’s most exceptional about this movie is how totally — how painfully, how truthfully, how superbly — it solutions the query “What about my life?”

twentieth Century Girls (2016): Set in Nineteen Seventies Santa Barbara, this movie is a narrative about era gaps.

2015

45 Years (2015): A portrait of a protracted glad marriage in sudden disaster. There is only one week till Kate Mercer’s (Charlotte Rampling) forty fifth wedding ceremony anniversary and the planning for the occasion goes nicely. However then a letter arrives for her husband (Tom Courtenay).

Grandma (2015): A young person going through an unplanned being pregnant seeks assist from her acerbic grandmother, a lady who’s lengthy estranged from her daughter. Stars Lily Tomlin and Marcia Homosexual Harden.

Continual (2015): A house care nurse works with terminally sick sufferers.

I’ll See You in my Desires (2015): A widow and former songstress discovers that life can start anew at any age.  Stars Blythe Danner.

The Meddler (2015): Susan Sarandon stars as an getting older widow who follows her daughter to Los Angeles in hopes of beginning anew life.

The Intern (2015): A 70-year-old widower turns into a senior intern at a fast-growing trend startup, bringing surprising knowledge, calm, and perspective to a pushed younger CEO—and discovering function and connection within the course of.

2014

St Vincent (2014): A grumpy, hard-drinking warfare veteran unexpectedly kinds a bond with the younger boy subsequent door, turning into an unlikely mentor and exhibiting that redemption and goodness can come from essentially the most stunning locations.

Cyber Seniors (2014): Cyber ludite seniors uncover the world of the web by means of teenage mentors.

St. Vincent (2014): A comedy the place a hedonistic retired warfare veteran finds a second profession as a babysitter.

Birdman (2014): A washed up actor who as soon as performed a superhero tries to reinvent himself and reclaim previous glory by producing a Broadway play.

The Expendables 3 (2014): Even motion heroes battle to remain related as they age.

The Giver (2014): Your teenage grand little one has in all probability learn the ebook by Lois Lowry a few younger boy chosen to be taught from an aged  man in regards to the world.

Elsa & Fred (2014): It’s by no means too late for love — Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer.

2013 – 2000

Nebraska (2013): Growing old father and son embark on a highway journey.

The 100-Yr-Outdated Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (2013): A Swedish film in regards to the occasions of Allan Karlsson’s life following his excape from the outdated folks’s residence on his a centesimal birthday.

Armour (2012): Critically acclaimed German film a few couple of their 80s struggling after the spouse has had a stroke.

Quartet (2012): A house for retired musicians, directed by Dustin Hoffman.

The Artist (2011): Academy award successful film about early retirement in Hollywood.

The Greatest Unique Marigold Lodge (2011): A British movie about retirees touring to India.

Up within the Air (2009): A company downsizer who spends his life flying from metropolis to metropolis begins to query his indifferent way of life when surprising relationships drive him to confront what actually issues—connection, dedication, and that means past the subsequent flight.

Arthur Christmas (2011): Santa refuses to retire?  Grand Santa comes out of retirement?  A cute vacation film. (Nice selection with grandchildren.)

Late Bloomers (2011): Adjusting to retirement.

Toy Story 3 (2010): You could be shocked to be taught that this animated movie offers with many retirement themes. On this installment the toys’ boy Andy is now seventeen years outdated and headed to school. In consequence his toys are going through a sort of pressured retirement. (Nice selection with grandchildren.)

Purple (2010): Retirees save the world.

Up (2009): One other animated movie?  Sure – an exquisite one at that!A grouchy outdated man loses his zest for all times till a persistent 8 yr outdated enters into his world. (Nice selection with grandchildren.)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): A person who begins getting older backward.

Get Low (2009): Robert Duvall as a hermit needs to plan his personal funeral.

Is There Anyone There? (2008): A household turns their home right into a retirement residence and copes with their determination.

Freezer Geezers (2009): Comply with 83 yr hockey coach Ray Tuller and his crew as they take all challengers within the over 75 hockey league.  (A hockey league created by Charles Schulz, creator of Charlie Brown and Snoopy.)

Gran Torino (2008): Acclaimed film withClint Eastwood as a retired Korean warfare vet.

The Bucket Checklist (2007): Two terminally sick males attempt to accomplish the whole lot on their checklist earlier than they kick the “bucket.”

Younger at Coronary heart (2007): A documentary on a refrain of senior residents from Massachusetts who cowl songs by Jimi Hendrix, Coldplay, Sonic Youth, and different surprising musicians.

Away from Her (2006): After a forty five yr lengthy marriage, Fiona is admitted to a long run care facility for Alzheimer’s remedy.

The Pocket book (2004): A World Warfare II love story is delivered to life by means of the readings of a person, out of his pocket book.

The 5 Individuals You Meet in Heaven (2004): This touching film follows an 83 yr outdated retiree by means of his loss of life and into the story of 5 folks he meets within the afterlife.

Secondhand Lions (2003): A 14 yr outdated boy travels to reside together with his two eccentric uncles who’ve a sketchy previous and a seemingly countless provide of cash.

Calendar Women (2003): A real story primarily based on a bunch of older girls who turn out to be worldwide celebrities by taking all of it off for charity.

One thing’s Gotta Give (2003): Love after 50.

About Schmidt (2002): A retired insurance coverage salesman’s plans are altered and his life adjustments perpetually after the loss of life of his spouse and the approaching marriage of his daughter to a person he doesn’t like.

1999 and Earlier than

Tuesdays with Morrie (1999): An outdated scholar visits his retired professor who has fallen sick and learns what is actually vital in life.

Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993): Two retired males turn out to be finest associates and journey collectively alongside a path of recent insights into their lives.

Grumpy Outdated Males (1993): The title says all of it.  Stars Walter Matheau, Jack Lemmon and Ann Margret.  See additionally Grumpier Outdated Males.

Unforgiven (1992): Clint Eastwood as a retired gunman.

Fried Inexperienced Tomatoes (1991): Tales of girls gathering power for themselves by means of different girls.

Dad (1989): A workaholic son reconnects together with his getting older father after a well being scare, prompting a heartfelt journey by means of reminiscence, id, and what it actually means to be a household—reminding viewers that it’s by no means too late to rediscover function and connection.

Cocoon (1985): A swimming pool fountain of youth? These retirees discover one!

The Journey to Bountiful (1985): An aged girl yearns to interrupt free from her son’s small residence and return to her outdated life within the city the place she was born.

Misplaced in America (1985): Comedy from Albert Brooks about retirement gone improper.

On Golden Pond (1981): On this basic, Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn cope with what may probably be a final birthday spent collectively.

Getting into Type (1979): A comedy with George Burns, Artwork Carney and Lee Strasberg residing off Social Safety.

Harold and Maude (1971): A narrative of how two full opposites make their life glad collectively.

The Lion in Winter (1968): Who ought to inherit the throne from getting older Henry II?

The Lengthy Grey Line (1955): A retired military hero drastically influences generations of army leaders.

Shane (1953): Alan Ladd as a retired gunfighter.

The Quiet Man (1952): Retirement in Eire within the fifties.

Excessive Midday (1952): A person plans for his life as a retired marshal of a small city, however his plans quickly change.

As Younger As You Really feel (1951): A comedy a few man who after being pressured into retirement, pretends to be the president of his father or mother firm.

It’s A Great Life (1946): A very fantastic basic that follows a down-and-out George Bailey by means of the “what if’s” of life.

What’s Your Favourite Retirement Film?

Your Flip: Please share your favourite retirement-related film. E mail us !

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