Making Sense of Retirement — 48 Great Movies About Retirement

Admin 21 min read

Movies – like all art forms – can be a great way to explore important themes in your life. Here is our list of movies related to retirement and aging. While you should probably do more to prepare for retirement than watching movies, use the Boldin Retirement Planner or consult a financial advisor for example, you can probably find inspiration, solace, and a good laugh in these films.

How Movies Help Us Make Better Financial Decisions

Tragedy without Personal Loss

In real life, people often make major changes — retiring early, moving, giving more generously — after experiencing or witnessing a serious illness or loss. Watching a tragic movie can help remind you that life is fragile, time is limited, and planning with intention can help us make the most of the moments we still have.

Comedy Can Provide Unexpected Clarity

Sometimes, humor is the best teacher. A good comedy can highlight how absurd and fragile our assumptions can be. Laughing at our own lives helps disarm shame and encourages us to look at our own habits with curiosity instead of judgment. The result? More openness to change.

Movies Start Conversations We Might Avoid

Watching films with loved ones — especially those that touch on life transitions, inheritance, aging, or financial hardship — can open the door to deeper discussions. A movie night might lead to questions like: “What would we do in that situation?” or “Have we talked about our plan if something happened?” These conversations, sparked by fiction, often lead to real-world planning.

Inspiration

Movies can give you a glimpse into what life might be like and inspire you to make bold choices with your time and money.

Best Movies About Money, Retirement, and Aging

On this list you’ll find everything from animated films to watch with your kids or grandkids, comedies, dramas, action flicks and more.

Start a retirement movie club or just start watching on your own! Email us your suggestions!

Recommendations from the Boldin Team

Here are a few selections highlighted by Boldin team members:

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023): An aging Indiana Jones teams up with his goddaughter, Helena Shaw, to find the powerful Archimedes Dial—and race to stop a former Nazi-turned-NASA scientist from using it to rewrite history.

Playing with FIRE: The Documentary (2019): A couple discovers the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement and radically changes their spending habits to pursue a simpler, more intentional life—while questioning the norms of consumerism and traditional retirement.

Knives Out (2019): This super fun murder mystery with lots of twists touches on legacy.

Dad (1989): A workaholic son reconnects with his aging father after a health scare, prompting a heartfelt journey through memory, identity, and what it really means to be a family—reminding viewers that it’s never too late to rediscover purpose and connection.

Cocoon (1985): A swimming pool fountain of youth? These retirees find one!

Up in the Air (2009):
A corporate downsizer who spends his life flying from city to city begins to question his detached lifestyle when unexpected relationships force him to confront what truly matters—connection, commitment, and meaning beyond the next flight.

The Intern (2015): A 70-year-old widower becomes a senior intern at a fast-growing fashion startup, bringing unexpected wisdom, calm, and perspective to a driven young CEO—and discovering purpose and connection in the process.

St Vincent (2014): A grumpy, hard-drinking war veteran unexpectedly forms a bond with the young boy next door, becoming an unlikely mentor and showing that redemption and goodness can come from the most surprising places.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011): A British film about retirees traveling to India.

Knox Goes Away (2023): A hitman diagnosed with rapidly progressing dementia tries to right his wrongs and reconnect with his estranged son—while racing against time and memory to carry out one final act of redemption.

Nonnas (2025): A heartwarming true‑story dramedy starring Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella, who honors his late mother by opening Staten Island’s Enoteca Maria and hiring grandmothers—“nonnas”—from around the world to serve traditional family recipes. The film celebrates grief, cultural connection, and the power of food and community.

Toy Story 3 (2010): You may be surprised to learn that this animated film deals with many retirement themes. In this installment the toys’ boy Andy is now seventeen years old and headed to college. As a result his toys are facing a kind of forced retirement. (Great choice with grandchildren.)

Up (2009): Another animated film? Yes – a beautiful one at that!A grouchy old man loses his zest for life until a persistent 8 year old enters into his world. (Great choice with grandchildren.)

Thelma (2024): A 94-year-old woman teams up with a friend to reclaim her money from a phone scammer, led by June Squibb in her first action-comedy role. It’s energetic, heartfelt, and refreshingly fun—it celebrates older protagonists taking charge and staying resourceful.

Materialists (2025): A sharp, smart comedy-drama—starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal—that investigates how wealth, status, and marital goals intersect as people navigate visions of long-term happiness. It teases out the tension between emotional connection and economic value in relationships.

 Familiar Touch (2025): This moving debut explores aging, dementia, and identity through the experience of an elderly former cook in assisted living. It redefines how we see aging—not as decline, but as a meaningful transformation.

The Last Showgirl (2024): Middle-aged Las Vegas showgirl Shelly faces the end of her long career when her revue closes. The film explores how identity and life purpose evolve when long-assumed roles come to an end.

The Blue Trail (2025): A poignant Brazilian drama about a 77-year-old woman forced into elderly relocation who embarks on a journey through the Amazon to fulfill a final wish. It’s a testament to purpose and autonomy in later life.

Sentimental Value (2025): A Cannes-awarded dramedy featuring Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård in a meditation on emotional inheritance, aging, and the true worth of our relationships and past. It’s wry, elegiac, and full of heart.

The Life List (2025): A grieving woman revisits her childhood dreams after her mother’s passing. What begins as a sentimental journey becomes a deeper reckoning with identity, loss, and rediscovery—definitely a reflection on life purpose.

 Oh, Canada (2025): Richard Gere stars as a dying filmmaker documenting his life. Non-linear and introspective, it asks: what truths do we choose to preserve before it’s too late?

F1 the Movie (2025): Brad Pitt portrays an aging former racing star making a comeback in the high-stakes world of Formula 1. It’s all about second acts, the lure of legacy, and chasing passion later in life

Best Movies About Money, Retirement, and Aging, from 2022 and 2023

The Fabelmans (2022): Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story grapples with choosing an unconventional life path, family breakdown, and the long tail of our parents’ choices.

Living (2022): A remake of Kurosawa’s Ikiru, this film follows a bureaucrat who, after a terminal diagnosis, tries to leave behind something meaningful. A quiet, profound exploration of regret and redemption in old age.

A Man Called Otto (2023): Tom Hanks plays a grumpy widower ready to give up on life until unexpected friendships breathe meaning back into his world. It’s a gentle reminder that even late in life, connection can spark renewal.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022): A darkly comic story of a friendship’s abrupt end — and the existential fallout. It probes the difference between living a “nice” life and leaving a lasting mark.

Nyad (2023): Based on the true story of swimmer Diana Nyad’s late-life attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida at age 64. A great real-life example of aging as transformation, not decline.

The Lost King (2022): A middle-aged woman becomes obsessed with proving the location of King Richard III’s burial. It’s quirky and based on a true story — about self-belief, reinvention, and rewriting history.

EO (2022, Polish): Told through the eyes of a donkey (!) moving through different human environments. It’s allegorical and poignant — a reflection on dignity, aging, and how we’re shaped by forces beyond our control.

Best Retirement Movies 2020 and 2021

Nomadland (2020): Frances McDormand plays a widow in her 60s who loses everything in the Great Recession and embraces a transient lifestyle. It’s a deeply reflective meditation on aging without a safety net — and reimagining freedom in later life.

The Father (2020): Anthony Hopkins won an Oscar for his portrayal of a man experiencing the erosion of memory and independence. It’s a haunting, intimate look at aging from the inside out — and its emotional toll on families.

Minari (2020): A Korean-American family moves to rural Arkansas in search of a better life. The film subtly explores what it means to build a future for your children — and how legacy is both financial and emotional.

King Richard (2021): This biopic about Venus and Serena Williams’ father is really a film about long-term planning, relentless belief, and what parents give up to shape their children’s futures. It’s inspiring, but it also raises questions about control, vision, and identity.

Driveways (2020): A quiet, overlooked gem. An elderly veteran forms an unlikely connection with a young boy, showing how small relationships can bring dignity and meaning later in life. Reflective, warm, and human.

One Night in Miami… (2020): This imagined meeting between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke digs into how each man balances fame, money, activism, and long-term impact. Great for reflecting on how we use our influence and resources.

The Dig (2021): Set before WWII, this British drama tells the true story of a historic archaeological excavation. It explores what we leave behind — literally and figuratively — and who gets remembered. Quiet, poetic, and powerful.

Supernova (2020): A couple confronts one partner’s early-onset dementia on a final road trip. It’s a meditation on time, memory, and what matters when we know time is running out.

I Care a Lot (2020): Dark, sharp, and satirical — this thriller follows a woman who exploits the guardianship system for profit. While exaggerated, it surfaces real issues around aging, trust, and vulnerability.

Best Movies About Retirement and Aging — 2019

Ford vs. Ferrari (2019): Enjoy Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby, the first American race car driver to win Le Mans. His second act, later in life, is his attempt to build a car to win the race for Ford.

Pain and Glory (2019): Pain and Glory talks about creation, about the difficulty of separating it from one’s own life and about the passions that give it meaning and hope. In recovering his past, Salvador finds the urgent need to recount it, and in that need he also finds his salvation.

Diane (2019): Rotten Tomatoes describes Diane as a, “beautifully human portrait of a woman rifling through the wreckage of her life in search of redemption.”

Gloria Bell (2019): Growing old isn’t easy for Gloria Bell… Between friends being laid off, concerns about retirement, and adult children navigating their own troubled romantic paths, Gloria makes her way through middle age with a brave face, finding temporary solace on the dance floor and, for a time, in the arms of Arnold (a magnificent John Turturro), a recent divorcé struggling to break free from his ex-wife and two needy daughters.” is how Esquire describes this film, starring Julianne Moore.

The Irishman (2019): Scorsese’s film is also a flashback-layered drama about the passage of time, and the impact – or chilling lack thereof – that regret, treachery and immorality have on a man’s soul.

Late Night (2019): A washed up late night host (Emma Thompson) rediscovers her passion for truth telling.

Judy (2019): Stars Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland, 30 years after she first shot to global stardom in The Wizard of Oz. While her voice has weakened, its dramatic intensity has only grown.

The Truth (2019): Catherine Deneuve plays an aging French movie star who, despite her momentary lapses in memory, remains a venerable force to be reckoned with.

Downtown Abbey (2019): The movie continues the themes from the series: both the continuity and breaking of tradition within a family.

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019): This artful and intimate meditation on the legendary storyteller examines her life, her works and the powerful themes she has confronted throughout her literary career.

Knives Out (2019): This super fun murder mystery with lots of twists touches on legacy.

The Farewell (2019): The Farewell humorously and poignantly captures complicated family dynamics when they discover that a beloved grandmother only has a short while left to live.

Best Movies About Retirement and Aging — 2018

Tea with the Dames (2018): Join Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Eileen Atkins and Dame Joan Plowright for a weekend in the country to reminisce and share their entertaining thoughts on art, aging, and love.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (2018): A fun music-filled romp about how relationships forged in the past resonate in the present.

The Wife (2018): A portrait of nearly forty years of marriage, secrets, betrayals and love. Starring Glen Close.

What They Had (2018): The familiar theme of the pain of Alzheimers’ and how it impacts the family dynamic.

The Old Man & the Gun (2018): Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek deliver warm charming performances.

Mirai (2018): An animated film from Japan explores love passed down through generations. Common Sense Media says: “The type of animated film parents might enjoy more than kids, this magical sibling adventure is a dreamy, touching look at the importance of family ties and knowing your personal history.

Bumblebee (2018): Even Transformers can find a second life after retirement.

2017

A Man Called Ove (Released in U.S. in 2017): Adapted from a popular book, this was an Oscar nominee in 2017. Ove, an ill-tempered, isolated retiree who spends his days enforcing block association rules and visiting his wife’s grave, has finally given up on life just as an unlikely friendship develops with his boisterous new neighbors.

Faces Places (Visage, Villages) (2017): A portrait of an unlikely cross generational friendship between a 30 something street artist, JR, and older filmmaker, Agnes Varda.

Logan (2017): Part of the X-Men franchise, Logan must face off against dark forces and a villain from his own past on a live-or-die mission, one that will set the time-worn warrior on a path toward fulfilling his destiny.

Coco (2017): A Disney animated feature that is a vibrant, musical and joyful film about questions of culture, family, life and death.

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017): Bittersweet comedy and intergenerational tale of adult siblings contending with the influence of their aging father.

Lost in Paris (2017): The New York Times describes the style of the married directors of this film as “equal parts Jacques Tati, Jerry Lewis, Wes Anderson and “Wallace & Gromit.” Co stars the late Emmanuelle Riva as an 88-year-old down to party.

Marjorie Prime (2017): Eighty-six-year-old Marjorie spends her final, ailing days with a computerized version of her deceased husband. A.O. Scott of the New York Times describes this movie as, “…an alternately stately and brisk story in which the metaphor poses questions about mortality, loss and who our imagined “best selves” might turn out to actually be once they’re released from our own assessment.

Downsizing (2017): We talk a lot about downsizing as an opportunity for retirement. This movie takes the concept to the extreme. This film was not terribly well reviewed, but entertaining enough with Matt Damon in the lead.

The Lovers (2017): Starring Debra Winger and Tracy Letts as aging everyday people asking questions about intimacy and love.

2016

The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (Released in U.S. in 2016): An Oscar award nominee, this film is about Allan Karlsson who finds himself stuck in a nursing home after living a long and colorful life. On his 100th birthday, he leaps out a window and begins an unexpected journey.

Fences (2016): New York Times Reviewer A.O. Scott has this to say about “Fences:” “What is most remarkable about this film is how thoroughly — how painfully, how honestly, how beautifully — it answers the question “What about my life?”

20th Century Women (2016): Set in 1970s Santa Barbara, this film is a story about generation gaps.

2015

45 Years (2015): A portrait of a long happy marriage in sudden crisis. There is just one week until Kate Mercer’s (Charlotte Rampling) 45th wedding anniversary and the planning for the party is going well. But then a letter arrives for her husband (Tom Courtenay).

Grandma (2015): A teenager facing an unplanned pregnancy seeks help from her acerbic grandmother, a woman who is long estranged from her daughter. Stars Lily Tomlin and Marcia Gay Harden.

Chronic (2015): A home care nurse works with terminally ill patients.

I’ll See You in my Dreams (2015): A widow and former songstress discovers that life can begin anew at any age. Stars Blythe Danner.

The Meddler (2015): Susan Sarandon stars as an aging widow who follows her daughter to Los Angeles in hopes of starting anew life.

2014

Cyber Seniors (2014): Cyber ludite seniors discover the world of the internet through teenage mentors.

St. Vincent (2014): A comedy where a hedonistic retired war veteran finds a second career as a babysitter.

Birdman (2014): A washed up actor who once played a superhero tries to reinvent himself and reclaim past glory by producing a Broadway play.

The Expendables 3 (2014): Even action heroes struggle to stay relevant as they age.

The Giver (2014): Your teenage grand child has probably read the book by Lois Lowry about a young boy chosen to learn from an elderly man about the world.

Elsa & Fred (2014): It is never too late for love — Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer.

2013 – 2000

Nebraska (2013): Aging father and son embark on a road trip.

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (2013): A Swedish movie about the events of Allan Karlsson’s life following his excape from the old folk’s home on his 100th birthday.

Armour (2012): Critically acclaimed German movie about a couple in their 80s struggling after the wife has had a stroke.

Quartet (2012): A home for retired musicians, directed by Dustin Hoffman.

The Artist (2011): Academy award winning movie about early retirement in Hollywood.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011): A British film about retirees traveling to India.

Up in the Air (2009): A corporate downsizer who spends his life flying from city to city begins to question his detached lifestyle when unexpected relationships force him to confront what truly matters—connection, commitment, and meaning beyond the next flight.

Arthur Christmas (2011): Santa refuses to retire? Grand Santa comes out of retirement? A cute holiday movie. (Great choice with grandchildren.)

Late Bloomers (2011): Adjusting to retirement.

Red (2010): Retirees save the world.

Up (2009): Another animated film? Yes – a beautiful one at that!A grouchy old man loses his zest for life until a persistent 8 year old enters into his world. (Great choice with grandchildren.)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): A man who starts aging backward.

Get Low (2009): Robert Duvall as a hermit wants to plan his own funeral.

Is There Anybody There? (2008): A family turns their house into a retirement home and copes with their decision.

Freezer Geezers (2009): Follow 83 year hockey coach Ray Tuller and his team as they take all challengers in the over 75 hockey league. (A hockey league created by Charles Schulz, creator of Charlie Brown and Snoopy.)

Gran Torino (2008): Acclaimed movie withClint Eastwood as a retired Korean war vet.

The Bucket List (2007): Two terminally ill men try to accomplish everything on their list before they kick the “bucket.”

Young at Heart (2007): A documentary on a chorus of senior citizens from Massachusetts who cover songs by Jimi Hendrix, Coldplay, Sonic Youth, and other unexpected musicians.

Away from Her (2006): After a 45 year long marriage, Fiona is admitted to a long term care facility for Alzheimer’s treatment.

The Notebook (2004): A World War II love story is brought to life through the readings of a man, out of his notebook.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2004): This touching movie follows an 83 year old retiree through his death and into the tale of five people he meets in the afterlife.

Secondhand Lions (2003): A 14 year old boy travels to live with his two eccentric uncles who have a sketchy past and a seemingly endless supply of money.

Calendar Girls (2003): A true story based on a group of older women who become international celebrities by taking it all off for charity.

Something’s Gotta Give (2003): Love after 50.

About Schmidt (2002): A retired insurance salesman’s plans are altered and his life changes forever after the death of his wife and the imminent marriage of his daughter to a man he doesn’t like.

1999 and Before

Tuesdays with Morrie (1999): An old student visits his retired professor who has fallen ill and learns what is truly important in life.

Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993): Two retired men become best friends and travel together along a path of new insights into their lives.

Grumpy Old Men (1993): The title says it all. Stars Walter Matheau, Jack Lemmon and Ann Margret. See also Grumpier Old Men.

Unforgiven (1992): Clint Eastwood as a retired gunman.

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991): Stories of women gathering strength for themselves through other women.

Cocoon (1985): A swimming pool fountain of youth? These retirees find one!

The Trip to Bountiful (1985): An elderly woman yearns to break free from her son’s small home and return to her old life in the town where she was born.

Lost in America (1985): Comedy from Albert Brooks about retirement gone wrong.

On Golden Pond (1981): In this classic, Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn deal with what could possibly be a last birthday spent together.

Going in Style (1979): A comedy with George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg living off Social Security.

Harold and Maude (1971): A story of how two complete opposites make their life happy together.

The Lion in Winter (1968): Who should inherit the throne from aging Henry II?

The Long Gray Line (1955): A retired army hero greatly influences generations of military leaders.

Shane (1953): Alan Ladd as a retired gunfighter.

The Quiet Man (1952): Retirement in Ireland in the fifties.

High Noon (1952): A man plans for his life as a retired marshal of a small town, but his plans soon change.

As Young As You Feel (1951): A comedy about a man who after being forced into retirement, pretends to be the president of his parent company.

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946): A truly wonderful classic that follows a down-and-out George Bailey through the “what if’s” of life.

What is Your Favorite Retirement Movie?

Your Turn: Please share your favorite retirement-related movie. Email us !

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