Looking for a good movie about retirement? Film has explored life after work in plenty of different ways, including the search for purpose, changing relationships, and the adjustment to having more control over your time.
Some movies treat retirement as the beginning of something new. Others take a more complicated look at aging and identity. When people stop working, whole routines change, and many find the extra time and freedom both exhilarating and intimidating. This dynamic makes retirement a profound topic and experience to explore in film.
Here are some of our favorite movies about retirement and later life.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, and Dev Patel lead this comedy-drama about a group of British retirees who move to a hotel in India.
Their new surroundings do not quite match what they were promised, but the move gives each of them an opportunity to reconsider what they want from life in the years ahead.
The sequel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, continues the story with several members of the original cast returning.
About Schmidt
Jack Nicholson stars as Warren Schmidt, a recently retired insurance executive struggling to adjust to a life after the fixed structure of his career.
His retirement leads him to reflect on his familial relationships and the choices he has made throughout his life. It is funny in places, melancholy in others, and explores the emotional reality of retirement.
Cocoon
Residents of a retirement community discover a nearby swimming pool that seems to restore their energy and vitality.
The science-fiction premise gives the film room to explore friendship, aging, mortality, and the temptation to reclaim an earlier version of life.
Quartet
Dustin Hoffman directs this comedy-drama set in a retirement home for professional musicians.
The arrival of a former opera star unsettles several residents while preparations begin for the home’s annual concert. Drama ensues as old rivalries and issues around friendship and pride all play a part.
The Intern
Robert De Niro plays Ben Whittaker, a 70-year-old widower who finds that retirement leaves life lacking something. He wants more structure and involvement in his daily life.
He joins a growing fashion company as a senior intern and gradually becomes a trusted presence in the office.
The film works particularly well as a story about purpose after retirement. Ben is not looking to recreate his old career. He simply wants to remain engaged and useful.
Going in Style
Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Alan Arkin star as longtime friends whose pensions are threatened.
Their solution: they decide to rob a bank, believing they will either become rich or live relatively well in prison.
Beneath the heist-comedy premise is a story about financial insecurity and the desire to retain some control over life after leaving the workforce.
Poms
Diane Keaton plays a woman who moves into a retirement community and decides to start a cheerleading squad with several fellow residents.
The group soon attracts more attention than expected. The film has fun with assumptions about what older adults should or should not be doing.
Last Vegas
Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Kline play four longtime friends who reunite in Las Vegas for a bachelor party.
Much of the comedy comes from the contrast between their expectations and the city around them, but the film is ultimately about friendships that have endured across decades.
Grumpy Old Men
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau play neighbors who have spent years irritating one another.
Their rivalry intensifies when a new neighbor moves nearby. The result is a sharp, warm comedy about romance and stubbornness later in life.
80 for Brady
Four longtime friends travel to see Tom Brady play in the Super Bowl.
The trip gives them a chance to step outside their normal routines and enjoy an experience they have talked about for years.
It’s an easygoing movie about making plans simply because they sound fun.
A Man Called Otto
Tom Hanks plays Otto, a recently retired widower whose tightly ordered life has become increasingly isolated.
His new neighbors gradually disrupt his routine and draw him back into the lives of the people around him.
The film deals with grief and loneliness, but it is also interested in the role that purpose and community can play after a major life change.
It’s Complicated
Meryl Streep stars as a divorced woman whose relationship with her former husband, played by Alec Baldwin, becomes complicated again years after their marriage ended.
Steve Martin also stars in a romantic comedy that treats dating and attraction later in life with humor rather than sentimentality.
Queen Bees
Ellen Burstyn plays an independent older woman who reluctantly moves into a senior living community while repairs are being made to her home.
She quickly discovers its social dynamics and begins forming relationships she had not expected, including a new romance.
The Bucket List
Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play two men who meet while receiving medical treatment and decide to complete a list of things they have always wanted to do.
Their trip takes them around the world on a whirlwind adventure, but the film has a melancholic tint. It dwells on friendship, family, regret, and the decisions people postpone.
Thelma
June Squibb plays a 93-year-old woman who loses money to a phone scam and decides to track down the people responsible.
Her determination leads to an unexpectedly adventurous trip across Los Angeles.
The film is funny, but it also takes independence seriously and gives its older characters far more agency than many movies do.
A Walk in the Woods
Robert Redford and Nick Nolte star as two older men attempting to hike the Appalachian Trail, adapted from the Bill Bryson book.
They’re not exactly ideal hiking partners, and neither is especially prepared for the physical reality of the trip.
Much of the appeal comes from watching two old acquaintances discover how differently they have lived their lives.
RED
Bruce Willis plays a retired CIA agent who is suddenly forced back into action.
He reconnects with former colleagues played by Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren as they try to uncover why they are being targeted.
It’s not a traditional retirement story, but it has plenty of fun with the idea that retiring from a career does not mean losing the skills that came with it.
The Straight Story
Based on a true story, The Straight Story follows an older man who travels hundreds of miles on a lawn mower to visit his estranged brother.
The journey is deliberately slow and quiet, giving the film time to reflect on aging and reconciliation.
Nebraska
Bruce Dern plays an older man who becomes convinced that he has won a million-dollar prize.
His son agrees to drive him to Nebraska, and the trip brings them into contact with relatives, old acquaintances, and unresolved pieces of family history.
Space Cowboys
Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner play retired pilots recruited for a space mission decades after their original hopes of becoming astronauts disappeared.
The movie combines action and humor with a story about aging and unfinished ambitions.
King of Thieves
Michael Caine leads a cast of veteran British actors in this crime drama based on the Hatton Garden burglary.
The film follows a group of older men who carry out an elaborate jewelry heist in London.
This is an interesting choice for viewers who prefer crime films to romantic comedies or feel-good stories.
The Thursday Murder Club
Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie star as four retirees living at an English retirement community who spend their spare time investigating cold cases.
Their hobby becomes considerably more serious when a real murder occurs close to home.
Based on Richard Osman’s bestselling novel, The Thursday Murder Club combines a traditional murder mystery with plenty of humor. Its central characters are curious, capable, and very much involved in the world around them.
More Movies Worth Adding to Your Watchlist
A few more films may be worth considering if you are interested in stories about aging, retirement, or life after a long career:
- Book Club
- The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
- Up
- Calendar Girls
- The Hundred-Foot Journey
- Elsa & Fred
- Youth
Prefer TV Shows?
Television has also produced some memorable stories about retirement and later life.
Grace and Frankie follows two women whose lives change dramatically after their husbands announce they are leaving them. The series spends plenty of time on friendship, independence, work, family, and starting over.
The Golden Girls remains one of the best-known television comedies about friendship and shared life among older adults.
Hot in Cleveland takes a lighter approach, following three women who decide to relocate after discovering that Cleveland offers them a very different social life than Los Angeles.
The Kominsky Method stars Michael Douglas as an aging acting coach and Alan Arkin as his longtime friend and agent. The series takes a dry look at work, relationships, and the realities of getting older, without treating its characters as though their most interesting years are behind them.
Making More Time for What Interests You
One thing many of these movies get right is that retirement can change the way people think about their time.
Work may no longer dictate the shape of the week. That can create more room to pursue interests, spend time with others, stay active, and try something new. No work could also mean you simply enjoy having the freedom to do as you please.
At Waterstone Senior Living, that sense of choice is an important part of daily life. Residents have the support, surroundings, and opportunities they need to build a retirement around what matters to them.
Explore life at Waterstone Senior Living.
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Waterstone Senior Living offers independent living and assisted living communities designed for older adults who want an engaging lifestyle with added convenience.
Residents enjoy thoughtfully designed, luxury residences, quality restaurant-style dining, fitness and wellness opportunities, cultural programs, concierge services, transportation, and a calendar shaped around the interests of the people who live there.