Artists, writers, poets. People want to be them, but then there’s a stigma attached to the reputation of being creative. Whether it’s the starving artist or pampered heir that decides writing is their true calling, it’s undeniable there’s a particular interest in those who see the world a bit differently. And, perhaps, that’s why films have turned to make their protagonists writers again and again because they can take their story and rewrite it before the viewer’s eyes.
Indeed, there’s also something special about these tortured creative types: unlike a normal desk job, they tend to go wherever inspiration and creativity hits. While writing itself may not be the focus, having your main character be a creative writer is a pretty bold decision. Making them a journalist (à la The French Dispatch) changes the tone and plot of a movie—someone who’s a nurse or lawyer doesn’t give off the same creative energy. These are the best movies where characters are writers.
8 Dead Poets Society
Touchstone Pictures
Dead Poets Society may not be the best representation of writers and literary criticism in the movie world, but it nails down a core concept behind many films and works of literature: make the ordinary beautiful. Maybe that’s why the movie is considered to be a favorite among Generation Z, making it an emblem for the Dark Academia subculture. While the film offers more on the superficial love of literature, it allows young boys living within a rigid structure to discover more about themselves and their interests, especially within a closed-off world that cuts off creativity.
7 Certified Copy
MK2
Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami returned in 2010 with the French movie Certified Copy, in which the lead actress, Juliette Binoche, would take home the Best Actress Award at Cannes Film Festival for her role. In Tuscany, a British writer (William Shimell) has come to discuss his latest book about authenticity in the art world. A French antique dealer (Juliette Binoche) comes to the author’s discussion with her eleven-year-old son to have books signed, and she later delves into a strange relationship with the writer. Certified Copy is surprisingly authentic and a breath of fresh air.
6 In a Lonely Place
Santana Productions
Humphrey Bogart’s 1950 In a Lonely Place has him portraying a troubled screenwriter, Dixon Steele, who hasn’t had a Hollywood hit since World War II. In a Lonely Place is said to be one of the greatest film noirs of all time, and one of Bogart’s best performances as an actor. Steele falls in love with a new tenant in the building, Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame), who is afraid of him after seeing the extent of his temper. The movie is unique in its tone and themes for the genre, allowing it to be a solid film that refuses to bend to the conventions and tropes of film noir.
5 The Shining
Warner Bros.
The Shining is a cult classic, but did you remember that the protagonist, Jack Torrance, was a writer? Jack accepts a job at the Overlook Hotel and relocates his family in hopes of turning a new life and revitalizing his writing career, but things quickly go awry. Stephen King might’ve been upset at the movie and its portrayal of Jack, but if there are no other characters to embody the stereotype of a writer driven insane, then The Shining comes out on top with Jack.
4 Little Women
Columbia Pictures
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women routinely gets a new update every few generations, and Greta Gerwig took up the task in 2019 to readapt Little Women with a feminist spin. Jo March (Saoirse Ronan) is the female writer that the 1800s needs; she’s intelligent, refuses to settle down with a man despite her childhood best friend (Timothée Chalamet) begging to marry her, and she wants to write about women. While her sisters outgrow the plays they perform in childhood and discover differing paths of womanhood, their tale is clearly both modern and timeless.
3 Poetry
Pine House Film
Lee Chang-dong’s 2010 movie Poetry is devasting, a quiet tour de force that touches on literature, aging, and mutual empathy between women. Its protagonist is Mi-ja, a woman in her sixties suffering from Alzheimer’s and slowly is losing her memory. She enrolls in a poetry class to try and remember the words she’s forgetting, but she lacks the creative inspiration to write an actual poem. But, at the same time, the grandson she takes care of has committed a crime against a local schoolgirl, leading Mi-ja into a tangled mess that she may not be able to escape from.
2 Barton Fink
Working Title Films
Barton Fink was a box office bomb when it was originally released in 1991, although it won the Palm d’Or, Best Director, and Best Actor awards at Cannes Film Festival. New York playwright Barton Fink (John Turturro) has just entered a contract to write scripts for a Hollywood studio and moves to a hotel in Los Angeles. Barton Fink is a complex film, as a stubborn theater artist (Fink) is trying to enter an entirely new world in cinema, and he refuses to assimilate or conform.
1 Sunset Boulevard
Paramount Pictures
The year 1950 was clearly abundant with movies about writers, specifically films that critiqued society and Hollywood itself. Like In a Lonely Place, Sunset Boulevard stars William Holden as a screenwriter struggling in the business. His glory days are behind him, but when he meets the former silent film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) she becomes obsessed with him. Sunset Boulevard refuses to stay superficial and continues the narrative that Hollywood is all glitter and diamonds, and instead shows the dark side of fame and the industry.
