Obviously, we’re dealing with some tough times at the moment, staying home instead of out traveling. But that doesn’t mean we can’t plan future adventures!
One of my favorite ways to gain inspiration is through movies and television shows. If you’re subscribed to our email newsletter, you got a recent newsletter about the best Southern television shows and where to watch them. You can sign up here!
I’ve adapted this list from one I created for my book, This Is My South: The Essential Travel Guide to the Southern States. They’re listed alphabetically and include where you can watch them right now. Share your favorites in the comments!
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
A Streetcar Named Desire is perhaps the best-known work by Mississippi native Tennessee Williams. It was turned into a film starring Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, and Kim Hunter.
Set in New Orleans, the story tells of troubled Blanche DuBois, who goes to live with her sister Stella and her husband Stanley. The couple’s tumultuous relationship becomes increasingly volatile as Blanche flirts with Stanley.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
A Time to Kill (1996)
Based on the novel by John Grisham, A Time to Kill is about a young black girl that is brutally beaten by two white men. When they are acquitted, her father takes justice into his own hands. A young lawyer is tasked with saving him.
The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Oliver Platt, Kiefer Sutherland, Donald Sutherland, Kevin Spacey, and Ashley Judd.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
Big Fish (2003)
Based on the book Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace, the Tim Burton film is about Edward Bloom and his unusual life full of unbelievable characters. On his deathbed, his son tries to discover what, if anything, his father told him is actually true.
It stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman, and Marion Cotillard. Big Fish was filmed almost entirely in Alabama and many locations from the set are open to visitors.
Watch on Crackle for free
Bull Durham (1988)
Bull Durham revolves around the lives of baseball players for the Durham Bulls, a real-life team. Filmed in Durham and other North Carolina towns, it stars Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Costner.
Baseball groupie Annie Savoy hooks up a minor league player every season and soon becomes involved with both rookie pitcher “Nuke” LaLoosh, and the veteran catcher assigned to deal with him, Crash Davis.
Watch for free on Tubi and Vudu
Cape Fear (1962/1991)
Cape Fear is a classic film about a lawyer that must defend a convicted rapist. When he makes sure the man ends up behind bars, the criminal seeks revenge on the lawyer and his family. They try to escape on a boat trip but he follows them.
The original 1962 film stars Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, and Polly Bergen. The 1991 remake stars Robert DeNiro, Nick Nolte, and Juliette Lewis. Despite the name, neither were filmed in the real Cape Fear.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)
Based on the life of singer Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner’s Daughter tells of her early life as a poor young wife taking care of her children and eventual rise to fame as a country legend.
Sissy Spacek stars with Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D’Angelo, and Levon Helm are featured in supporting roles. Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff, and Minnie Pearl also make cameos.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
Cold Mountain (2003)
In the film based on the book, a wounded soldier deserts his post in the Civil War to find the woman he loves. But a bounty hunter is on his tail. At the same time, his wife is keeping their farm with the assistance of a drifter.
Cold Mountain stars Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jack White, Giovanni Ribisi, and Donald Sutherland.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Driving Miss Daisy is about an elderly Jewish woman, played by Jessica Tandy, and her African American chauffeur, played by Morgan Freeman. They develop their relationship over the years in the American South. Dan Aykroyd also stars.
Watch on Netflix
Forrest Gump (1994)
Forrest Gump covers moments in American history and was filmed throughout the country and primarily in the South and California. Forrest Gump is, in his mother’s words, “special.” His friendship with neighbor Jenny is the only constant in his life.
He goes on to receive a football scholarship to the University of Alabama, play professional ping pong, fight in the Vietnam War and become a shrimp boat captain. Tom Hanks, Sally Fields, and Robin Wright Penn star.
Rent on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
Fried Green Tomatoes is based on a book by Fannie Flagg. In it, an unhappy housewife seeks the advice of an elderly woman at a nursing home.
Ninny Threadgoode describes the life of Idgie Threadgoode, who grew up in 1920s Alabama. Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker, Chris O’Donnell, and Cicely Tyson star.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Gone with the Wind is one of the most well-known films of all time. The epic tale tells of Scarlett O’Hara, the spoiled heroine who goes through the tribulations of the American Civil War while falling in love with rough and tumble Rhett Butler.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
Hidden Figures (2016)
Hidden Figures tells the untold true story of a team of African-American women who team up with NASA to compute mathematical data to launch the first successful space shuttle mission. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, and Jim Parsons star.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
Hustle & Flow (2005)
Hustle & Flow is about a Memphis pimp as he goes after his dreams of becoming a hip hop artist. Terrence Howard, Ludacris, Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, and Taraji P. Henson also star.
Rent on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99
Interview with a Vampire (1994)
Interview with a Vampire is based on the book by Anne Rice. In it, a vampire tells his life story, with all the ups and downs, love, and lust for blood. Lestat takes a mortal under his wing and offers him the chance to live forever as a vampire.
Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Christian Slater, Kirsten Dunst, Thandie Newton, and Antonio Banderas share memorable performances. Much of the film is set in New Orleans and the iconic Oak Alley Plantation makes a cameo.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
My Dog Skip (2000)
My Dog Skip is based on the memoir by Willie Morris. In it, a shy boy grows up in 1940s Mississippi comes out of his shell with the family dog. Frankie Muniz, Diane Lane, Luke Wilson and Kevin Bacon star in the film.
Watch on Amazon Prime Video or Hulu
O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000)
O Brother, Where Art Thou is the Coen Brothers’ adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey, set in rural Mississippi in the 1930s. Three convicts escape and encounter a variety of obstacles on their way home, including sirens, a Cyclops, and the Ku Klux Klan.
The movie stars George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, and Holly Hunter.
Rent on iTunes for $2.99
Secretariat (2010)
Housewife and mother Penny takes over her father’s horse stables, even though she knows little about the industry. With the help of a trainer, her horse becomes the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.
Based on a true story, Secretariat stars Diane Lane and John Malkovich. True to the sport, specific scenes were filmed at Churchill Downs and Keeneland racetracks in Kentucky and Evangeline Downs in Louisiana.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $2.99
Selma (2014)
Selma is based on the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and describes the period when the civil rights activist sought to gain equal voting rights for African Americans.
It stars David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Giovanni Ribisi, and Oprah Winfrey. Specific scenes were filmed at the places they occurred in real life, such as Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma and the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta.
Rent on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99
Steel Magnolias (1989)
Steel Magnolias is a story that revolves around the women of Truvy’s Beauty Parlor as they stick together through triumph and tragedy.
It stars Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts as the cast of strong-willed Southern women. It was filmed almost entirely in Natchitoches.
Rent on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99
Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
Sweet Home Alabama tells of a fashion designer in New York City who must return to her small hometown to get a divorce from her high school boyfriend.
In the process, she becomes reacquainted with him along with her family and former friends. It made a star of Tennessee native Reese Witherspoon, along with Patrick Dempsey, Josh Lucas, Ethan Embry, and Candice Bergen.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $2.99
The Big Chill (1983)
The Big Chill is about a group of college friends that reunite in Beaufort, South Carolina for the funeral of a friend. Sparks fly as each compares what they’ve accomplished over the last few years.
The quintessential thirtysomething film made stars of Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, and Jeff Goldblum, along with William Hurt and Tom Berenger.
Watch for free on Crackle
The Blind Side (2009)
The Blind Side is the true story of football player Michael Oher who is adopted by a family and goes on to become an NFL star. Oher came from a drug-addicted mother but was a scholarship student. He is taken in by a local family and later goes on to play professionally.
The Academy Award-winning film stars Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw, along with Quinton Aaron, Lily Collins, Kathy Bates, and Kim Dickens.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
The Help (2011)
Based on the book by Kathryn Stockett, The Help tells of an aspiring writer reckoning between her life in segregated Jackson, Mississippi, and what she knows is right.
She embarks on a journey to tell the stories of the black maids that work in the community but at the cost of her relationships. The movie stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Allison Janney, and Jessica Chastain. It was filmed throughout Mississippi.
Rent on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99
The Notebook (2004)
The Notebook is the story of Noah and Allie, who meet as teenagers one summer. Their romance fades and they go their separate ways until Allie stops by the town before getting married.
The film goes back and forth between the past and present, interspersed with breathtaking scenery of the Lowcountry. It stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams with Gena Rowlands, James Garner, and James Marsden.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
The Patriot (2000)
The Patriot is about a farmer named Benjamin Martin who joins the American revolution after the murder of his son. The story mixes the birth of America as a nation with one man’s revenge against the British soldier who burned down his plantation and hurt his family.
It made a star out of the late Heath Ledger, who acted alongside Mel Gibson, Joely Richardson, and Jason Isaacs. It was filmed in Charleston and in other parts of South Carolina.
Rent on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99
The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
Based on the book of the same name, The Secret Life of Bees is about fourteen-year-old Lily Owens, who is growing up in South Carolina in the 1960s without a mother. To escape her father’s wrath, she flees home with Rosaleen, her black caregiver, in tow.
They stop in a small town where they meet the Boatwright sisters and learn about beekeeping. The Secret Life of Bees stars Dakota Fanning, Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson and Paul Bettany.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Based on Harper Lee’s award-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird is about a single father and lawyer living in the Depression-era South with his children Scout and Jem. Atticus defends a man accused of a terrible crime, teaching his children about prejudice.
It stars Gregory Peck, Robert Duvall, Phillip Alford, and Mary Badham. The courtroom that inspired the book is a real place in the town of Monroeville, Alabama.
Watch on Amazon Prime Video
Walk the Line (2005)
Walk the Line tells the real-life story of Johnny Cash and his rise from a small-town boy in Arkansas to his move to Memphis and connection with June Carter.
The movie won an Academy Award for performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, both of whom led their vocal talents.
Rent on iTunes or Amazon Prime Video for $3.99
What’s your favorite Southern movie?
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Some other movies: Cross Creek; the Butchers Wife; Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood; The Waitress. My favorite is Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias—-