How much time do you normally spend browsing streaming services trying to find the perfect film to fit your mood? It is estimated that the average American spends 45 hours per year just trying to decide what to watch next.
Sometimes you may be looking for a nice romantic comedy to unwind after a long day or other days a high adrenaline action movie may be what you need to relax and unwind so it’s important to know exactly what you’re getting yourself in for when choosing your next watch.
Since we are into words here at Ditto Transcripts we decided to analyze over 1000 movie scripts to find out exactly which movie choices are the best for relaxing and which ones are going to make you even more stressed out. This will be especially helpful if you’re in charge of the remote control for ‘Netlfix & chill’.
The Most Relaxing Movies
What makes a movie relaxing? Sometimes it’s the calming melodic music and a heartwarming romantic story or sometimes it can be a feel-good family comedy that gets everyone laughing. Taking the top spot for most relaxing is the 1999 Drew Barrymore movie, ‘Never Been Kissed’, a story of a woman who goes undercover in an American high school to report on students lives but bad memories come back to haunt her. This theme of romantic comedies in educational is recurring throughout our top 10 list with other hits like ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ and ‘Legally Blonde’.
While the classic American romantic comedies are an obvious choice to relax and unwind watching due to their light-hearted nature and fun jokes, there are some movies in our Top 10 that are more suited to a serious viewer. ‘Her’, a story of a man who falls in love with his artificial intelligence system, ‘The Danish Girl’, where Einar Wegener undergoes one of the very first sex-change operations and ‘Anna Keranina’ a period drama about an aristocrat who is battling with forbidden love. Interestingly, these movies appear at face value, less relaxing than comedies such as ‘Hall Pass’ starring Owen Wilson due to their storyline but by analysing each script we have been able to identify the most scientifically stress-free movies.
The Most Stressful Movies
If you’re planning a cosy night in then these choices are probably not the best for you, but all for the adrenaline-seeking thrill-seekers, this is the list for you. 50% of our top 10 list are from the Horror genre and that is no surprise with gory details, jump scares and lots of screaming and shouting. Number 1 in our list is ‘Case 39’, Renee Zellweger stars in the 2009 thriller followed by the divisive ‘Jennifer’s Body’ starring Megan Fox.
The action movie highest in our list is also the most recent, the 1984 hit ‘Dune’, a screen adaption of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel of the same name. This science fiction story sees two rival families battle for control of a harsh desert planet named Arrakis, also known as Dune. This is not the only sci-fi hit to be in our top 10, ‘Alien’ comes in at number 8 on our list and that is no surprise. This movie is notoriously known for the “chestburster” scene which would make even the biggest horror enthusiasts squirm. The suspense and anticipation of these powerful scenes make these movies undoubtedly stressful to watch so you might want to grab a pillow to hide behind.
Jump scares with eerie music and lack of lighting are the key features of horrors and thrillers and are a great way to get you on the edge of your seat waiting for the next scream. ‘Jennifer’s Body’, ‘Bad Dreams’ and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ are great examples of these and by no surprise, they are in our Top 10 most stressful list. Screaming, shouting and crying are some of the key lines for actors in these roles as they face evil spirits and enemies and our script analysis has picked up on this, not only this but fear and being scared are key factors in analyzing the stress of a script.
Overall, the script of your favorite movie is going to be important in determining whether it is a nice easy watch to relax and put your feet up or if it will have you on the edge of your seat with your heart racing. The choice of adjectives, speech and descriptive words all play a part in the skeleton of the production to set the scene for the storyline and characters. At Ditto Transcripts we believe in thorough transcription with 99.9% accuracy echoing the importance of every word spoken.
