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Chic-flicks, owing to the emotional experience they offer, are mostly popular on television and streaming platforms rather than in the cinemas. Over the last few years, Netflix has capitalized on the younger population's interest in movies that are best watched passively.
The success of the Kissing Booth trilogy, despite the scathing reviews, is an example of this interest.
However, romantic comedies and chic-flicks aren't genres that are defined by shallow writing and poor performances. Over the past few decades, some fine chic-flicks have found their place among a wider audience and cinephiles too. Netflix is home to some well-made chic-flicks that tell great stories with the warmth that the genre promises.
Here are five of the best chic-flicks currently streaming on Netflix.
Some of the best chic-flicks on Netflix
1) Julie and Julia (2009)
Julie and Julia features Meryl Streep as Julia Child, and it is one of her finest performances. It tells the story of two women who, despite being separated by barriers of time, find commonality and inspiration from their passion for food.
Amy Adams plays Julie Powell, a food blogger who is deeply moved by Julia Child's cooking methods and wishes to emulate them. It explores Powell's life as she overcomes her fears and insecurities to find love and comfort in everything that Julia Child stood for. The film is warm and inspiring as it emphasizes emotion more than on the techniques of cooking.
Powerful performances from Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina makes Julie and Julia stand out as a great chic-flick that stays with you.
2) Made of Honor (2008)
Made of Honor, despite following the same trope of several other popular chic-flicks, is a pleasure to watch. It is a film that does what has already been done in a way that the audience doesn't mind listening to the same story again.
When Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) gets engaged to a man she met on a work trip to Scotland, she appoints Tom (Patrick Dempsey) as her man of honor. However, Tom is secretly in love with her and struggles to make her realize his love for her. The chic-flick predictably ends with the two best friends realizing their love for each other, but leaves you warm and smiling nevertheless.
Monaghan and Dempsey make the characters very likable and get the audience to invest in them from the get-go.
Made of Honor is streaming on Netflix.
3) Our Souls at Night (2017)
Our Souls at Night may not qualify as a perfect chic-flick in terms of its characters and the relationships it explores. However, it does the job of being fairly emotional and leaving you satisfied as well. The film was well received by critics and audiences alike.
Based on a 2015 book of the same name, Our Souls at Night explores the relationship between an older couple - Addie Moore (Jane Fonda) and Louis Waters (Robert Redford). The two have lost their partners and have been neighbors for over a decade when Addie tries to make a connection with Louis. What follows is an emotionally overwhelming romance as the two navigate grief, love, longing and loneliness together.
Both Fonda and Redford carry the film on their shoulders and elevate its emotional experience through powerful silences in the romantic film.
Our Souls at Night is streaming on Netflix.
4) The Intern (2015)
Friendship forms the central theme of some of the finest chic-flicks and even some of the finest films that has come out of Hollywood. From Thelma and Louise to The Perks of Being a Wallflower, films that explore friendship find an easy way into the audience's heart.
The Intern revolves around the friendship between a 70-year-old intern at an online fashion site and an ambitious young boss at the company. The two characters, played by Robert DeNiro and Anne Hathaway, navigate their love lives and professional ambitions together. The film also finds space for a wholesome feminist narrative that is heartwarming to watch.
With phenomenal actors like DeNiro and Hathaway onboard, the film is an engaging chic-flick even in its slowest moments. The Intern is currently streaming on Netflix.
5) Emma. (2020)
Emma. is a period film and romantic comedy, based on Jane Austen's novel of the same name. Emma. is an active commentary on the institution of marriage and everything it brings with it.
This chic-flick follows Emma, a matchmaker, who ends up finding love as she navigates the love lives of her friends. Emma. received fairly positive reviews and was watched widely.
The costume, design and make-up of the film were all widely talked about as the essence of the time-period was captured perfectly through some great visuals. The costumes, hairstyles and make-up were also nominated at the Academy Awards.
Some great performances by Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn and Mia Goth further elevate the cinematic experience that Emma. is.
While chic-flicks were initially believed to be movies made for younger women that had plots that generally lacked texture and conflict, the belief doesn't hold true anymore. The genre is changing and evolving everyday and is contributing to some of the finest cinema out there.
