There’s a specific kind of dread that begins to rear its nasty little head around this time of year. While the days are still long, the nights are still balmy and the city-wide depression of winter hasn’t quite dug its roots in just yet, the month of March does mark the end of summer.

Not to fear – the silver screen is here. As the season of sunshine starts to draw to a close, we’ve gathered our vitamin D-filled favourite films to let you sink into summer for just a moment longer – even if the moment only lasts for two hours and a bowl of buttery microwave-popcorn.

There’s a real mix of movie genres throughout this list – sunshine doesn’t discriminate. We’ve got something for the horror-heads and the documentary nerds, something for your inner-child and romantic heart, as well as a slice of classic Australiana bush so you can remember the heat of a Southern Hemisphere summer. Have a squiz at our picks below.

MIDSOMMAR For all you freaks out there, this flick is one hell of a goodie. Ari Aster’s 2019 film takes the meaning of eternal summer quite seriously. Set around an ancestral commune in rural Sweden (*cough* cult *cough*) during the annual midsummer festival, one of the unexpectedly scariest parts of this movie is that the sun doesn't set. While the typical horror film hides its scariness in the darkness of shadows, the unnerving happenings of Midsommar unfold in daylight. Creepy, right?

PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK A gaggle of gorgeous school-girls venture into the unruly Australian bush of 1900, not a phone nor a working wristwatch in sight – what ever could go wrong? Well, a lot, apparently. An eerie exploration of girlhood, time and – of course – the Australian landscape, you can almost feel the heat of the glaring sun as it reflects off the harsh surfaces of Hanging Rock as you’re watching this gem.

ROMAN HOLIDAY Nothing screams summer quite like a destination-romance. A summer fling to end all summer flings, prepare to be whisked away through the streets of Rome on the back of a Vespa as you third-wheel on Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn’s Euro-summer love story. These guys truly know how to put the Rome in romance.  

SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) It’s 1969 in Harlem, New York, and some of the best musicians of the 20th century are taking to the stage. Over six sun-washed Sundays in Mount Morris Park, swathes of festival-goers and music-lovers flock to the Harlem Cultural Festival. Famed musician Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is at the reigns of this epic documentary that explores the music and the memories that live on following the events of one of the most significant summers in music history.

MOONRISE KINGDOM Perhaps there’s no one who does summer quite as quaint as the master of whimsy himself – Wes Anderson. Moonrise Kingdom is one to watch for the aesthetics alone. Think: symmetrical set designs, burgundy berets, knee-high lace socks. Claw your way through the weeds of the set pieces, though, and you’ll discover an insightful exploration of what it’s like to grow up in a world that makes you feel like you don’t belong – until you find the person that you belong with, that is.