5 Movies I Watch During the Holidays to Remind Myself I’m Allowed to Begin Again

Every year when December rolls in, people start shouting about resolutions, new goals, and the whole “new year, new me” nonsense. But if I’m being honest?

The holidays have never been about the fantasy of next year for me.

They’re about right now.

What hurts.

What I’m avoiding.

What’s unraveling.

What parts of me feel tired, stretched thin, or quietly begging for something different.

And in those tender reflective moments there are five movies that feel like soul companions to me. They may not all be traditional Christmas movies, but they hold the energy I need during seasons when life feels uncertain, off-plan, or nothing like I expected,

These films remind me that beginnings often show up disguised as endings.

They remind me that we are allowed to rebuild, reroute, and reinvent, even when the world doesn’t understand it.

Here are the five movies I watch when I need that reminder.

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1. Joy

This movie is for every woman who has ever carried the weight of an entire household on her shoulders while quietly losing herself in the process.

Joy is tired — not just physically, but spiritually.

She’s a woman who gave and gave and gave until there was nothing left for her own dreams.

And then one day, something inside her snaps — not in a destructive way, but in a finally remembering who the hell she is way.

What I love about this movie is that Joy’s transformation is not glamorous.

It’s not a Pinterest vision board.

It’s not a neat storyline tied up with a bow.

It’s messy.

It’s exhausting.

It’s full of people doubting her, dismissing her, and benefiting from her while she’s drowning.

And yet — she rises anyway.

She invents something the world didn’t ask for, fights for it when everyone tells her she’s delusional, and rebuilds her life in a way no one around her could even imagine.

This story holds a truth that hits me deeply:

When a woman remembers her own power, everything around her has to adjust.

Joy doesn’t wait for permission.

She doesn’t wait for validation.

She doesn’t wait to feel ready.

She steps into the arena — shaky, scared, unpolished — and she becomes the version of herself that was buried under years of being everything for everyone else.

This movie reminds me that:

Your potential is still alive under all the roles you’ve learned to play.

And your life can pivot the minute you decide to stop playing small.

2. The Holiday

There’s something about this movie that hits differently when you’ve spent years being the supporting character in your own life.

Amanda’s story resonates with me because she’s the woman who did everything “right.” The perfect job. The perfect home. The perfect partner. The perfect life on paper.

Except it’s not perfect — because she isn’t actually inside her life. She’s performing it.

What I love is that she tries to outrun her problems…literally, by escaping to a cottage across the world. But the truth is, you can’t outrun yourself. You show up everywhere you go.

But the part that stays with me the most is Iris.

Iris is the woman who loves deeply but rarely receives love back in a way that honors her. She bends, she accommodates, she over gives. Her heart is enormous, but her boundaries are nonexistent.

And then something shifts.

She chooses herself.

She stops begging for crumbs.

She becomes, in her own words, “the leading lady of her own life.”

And the moment she steps into that identity…love that actually sees her shows up.

Not because she was saved, but because she finally stopped abandoning herself.

Every time I watch this, I’m reminded:

Self-love is not a trend, it’s the turning point.

3. Eat Pray Love

This movie is a pilgrimage; not across countries, but back into yourself.

Liz's life dissolves in a way she didn’t expect. The marriage that was supposed to be forever ends. The identity she thought she’d wear for a lifetime no longer fits. She breaks apart… and then chooses to rebuild from the inside out.

What I love about this story is that she doesn’t chase answers. She follows curiosity. She follows desire. She follows the whisper that says, “There has to be more.”

Italy teaches her to taste her life again.

India teaches her to face her shadows and sit with herself instead of running.

Bali teaches her to let love in without losing herself.

And through all of it, Liz becomes a woman who doesn’t apologize for wanting joy, depth, wildness, connection, rest, or truth.

This movie reminds me:

 You can burn your whole life down and still build something beautiful from the ashes.

4. Under the Tuscan Sun

This movie feels like looking at the wreckage of your own life and whispering, “Okay. If this is where we are… then let’s begin from here.”

Frances thought she had her life mapped out — A → B → C,  until everything detonated under her feet. The divorce she never wanted, the betrayal she didn’t see coming, the emptiness she didn’t know how to fill.

She buys a villa in Italy when everyone thinks she’s lost her mind and honestly, that’s what reinvention often looks like. Irrational. Wild. Unexplainable. Necessary.

What I love most is that she doesn’t rebuild because she’s fearless. She rebuilds because she has no choice but to let go of everything familiar and open herself to the unknown.

This movie reminds me every time: 

When your life blows up, there’s nothing wrong with you but perhaps you’re being rerouted to something better for your highest good.

5. Little Women

This story is winter medicine . . . raw, tender, timeless.

Jo March is the embodiment of a woman who refuses to shrink. She’s creative, fiery, passionate, misunderstood, and unwilling to fit into a life that doesn’t honor who she is.

What I love about Little Women is that each sister shows a different path women are pressured into; marriage, motherhood, achievement, artistry, and each woman navigates those expectations in her own way.

But Jo’s truth hits me hardest: 

Are you living your life, or are you living the story you were told to play?

This movie speaks to every woman who's ever felt she had to choose between belonging and authenticity. Watching Jo reminds me that my voice, my art, my desires, and my truth are not burdens . . . they’re my compass.

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Why I Watch These Films During the Holidays

Because the holidays amplify truth. The real truth; the tender, aching, soul-deep truth we often ignore during the chaos of the year.

These movies help me slow down enough to hear myself again.

They remind me:

• I’m allowed to begin again, even here

• Reinvention isn’t dramatic . . .it’s necessary

• My power comes back the moment I claim it

• Healing isn’t linear, but it is holy

• I don’t need January 1st to rewrite my story

• Plot twists are portals, not punishments

And maybe most importantly:

These women may be fictional, but the lives they represent are real. Women like us exist everywhere . . . rebuilding, rising, returning to themselves.

One day someone will look at your story and whisper, “If she could do it… maybe I can too.”

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