Lake- and seaside movies of all sorts
by arosfors | created - 10 Jul 2015 | updated - 06 Jan 2023 | PublicThis list consists of movies/series that have at least one thing in common, namely that all of them have part of their plot set either on the coast or lakeside. I have them all and i have bought them specifically for this reason. Some are more action oriented movies some are pure drama and some are what most people would call "feelgood-movies".
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1. The Perfect Storm (2000)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An unusually intense storm pattern catches some commercial fishermen unaware and puts them in mortal danger.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly, Diane Lane
Votes: 177,965 | Gross: $182.62M
Great acting and a plot that really captures the the spirit of a coastal Community where everybody knows someone who might be the one who doesn't come back to port. Many great shots of the harbor.
2. The Shipping News (2001)
R | 111 min | Drama
An emotionally beaten man with his young daughter moves to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to reclaim his life.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett
Votes: 33,924 | Gross: $11.43M
A movie that grows on you. Today i find myself actually thinking about this movie - something about the plot being set in a Alaska and about reconnecting with your roots i think. The beginning isn't really my cup of tea, but it's needed to tell the rest of the story. Great movie.
3. The Love Letter (1999)
PG-13 | 88 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The life of a provincial town becomes stormy after the appearance of an anonymous love letter.
Director: Peter Ho-Sun Chan | Stars: Kate Capshaw, Tom Everett Scott, Tom Selleck, Blythe Danner
Votes: 4,691 | Gross: $8.28M
A pity this isn't available in bluray - i would have paid a lot for it. This is a true feelgood-movie. No big dramas here - the plot just slowly progresses in a very, very pictoresque seaside town. Again, not many shots of the harbor or the sea, but rhe atmosphere is there. At least i think so. This movie was shot in Rockport, New England.
4. The Guardian (I) (2006)
PG-13 | 139 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A high school swim champion with a troubled past enrolls in the U.S. Coast Guard's "A" School, where legendary rescue swimmer Ben Randall teaches him some hard lessons about loss, love, and self-sacrifice.
Director: Andrew Davis | Stars: Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, Sela Ward, Melissa Sagemiller
Votes: 98,039 | Gross: $55.01M
Big dramas at sea like in "The perfect storm".
5. Ryan's Daughter (1970)
R | 200 min | Drama, Romance
Set in the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising, a married woman in a small Irish village has an affair with a troubled British officer.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Christopher Jones
Votes: 10,685 | Gross: $30.85M
This entire movie have a great sence of 'place' - in this case Ireland. Beutiful beach scenes. And even if the sea isn't always before your eyes you can always feel it's presence.
6. Jaws (1975)
PG | 124 min | Adventure, Mystery, Thriller
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
Votes: 659,570 | Gross: $260.00M
I hesitated long before ordering this. But - well, let's just say i like the first part of the movie better, since what i value is the depiction of the people and seaside life - not the sharkhunt.
7. Mystic Pizza (1988)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Three teenage girls come of age while working at a pizza parlor in the Connecticut town of Mystic.
Director: Donald Petrie | Stars: Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, Lili Taylor, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 32,483 | Gross: $12.79M
A nice, simple movie with some good seaside atmosphere.
8. Half Light (2006)
R | 110 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Rachel Carlson, a successful novelist moves to a small Scottish village to move on with her life after the death of her son. Strange things start to happen when she is haunted by ghosts and real life terror.
Director: Craig Rosenberg | Stars: Demi Moore, Henry Ian Cusick, Nicholas Gleaves, James Cosmo
Votes: 14,532
A really great movie with tons of seaside atmosphere. Takes place on the west coast of scotland. The only film i've gotten hold of that has a lighthouse in it - which is nice.
9. Message in a Bottle (1999)
PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Romance
A woman discovers a tragic love letter in a bottle on a beach, and is determined to track down its author.
Director: Luis Mandoki | Stars: Kevin Costner, Robin Wright, Paul Newman, John Savage
Votes: 40,364 | Gross: $52.88M
Great movie which has most of the plot set in a small town on the US east coast. Everything, even the interiors are very maritime.
10. Summer in February (2013)
Not Rated | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A true tale of love, liberty and scandal amongst the Edwardian artists' colony in Cornwall in 1914.
Director: Christopher Menaul | Stars: Dominic Cooper, Emily Browning, Dan Stevens, Jane Cussons
Votes: 4,298
Great shots of the Cornwall coast in this one, and good movies with lot of seaside scenery seem to be hard to find.
11. On Golden Pond (1981)
PG | 109 min | Drama
Norman is a curmudgeon with an estranged relationship with his daughter Chelsea. At Golden Pond, he and his wife nevertheless agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and a most unexpected relationship blooms.
Director: Mark Rydell | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon
Votes: 34,870 | Gross: $119.29M
A masterpiece! Experience the last golden summer in the lakeside summer cottage with Norman Thayer and his wife. Involves some trout-fishing in a beautiful Chris Craft (atleast i think it is).
12. Local Hero (1983)
PG | 111 min | Comedy, Drama
An American oil company has plans for a new refinery and sends someone to Scotland to buy up an entire village, but things don't go as expected.
Director: Bill Forsyth | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Fulton Mackay, Denis Lawson
Votes: 26,701 | Gross: $5.90M
Kind of odd this movie. Feels a bit dated, but seaside atmosphere there is plenty of here. Also a few quirky Characters among the townspeople.
13. Safe Haven (I) (2013)
PG-13 | 115 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, Cobie Smulders, David Lyons
Votes: 116,341 | Gross: $71.35M
Just your average chick-flick i would say. But nice surroundings. And directed by a Swede.
14. Loch Ness (1996)
PG | 101 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A scientist tries to prove the existence of the Loch Ness monster.
Director: John Henderson | Stars: Ted Danson, Joely Richardson, Ian Holm, Harris Yulin
Votes: 4,853
A real gem. Don't miss out on this one. Great atmosphere. And the accent. And all the quirky houses. AND i'm a sucker for movies with a Message attached.
15. The Winter Guest (1997)
R | 108 min | Drama
A recent widow, who is determined to leave Scotland for Australia with her son, gets an unexpected visit from her aging mother.
Director: Alan Rickman | Stars: Phyllida Law, Emma Thompson, Sheila Reid, Sandra Voe
Votes: 3,748 | Gross: $0.78M
Takes place on the northern coast of Scotland, i think.
16. Orions belte (1985)
PG | 87 min | Action, Thriller
A group of seamen from Norway find a Soviet listening station and they become targets for both America and Russia. Another cold war takes place.
Directors: Ola Solum, Tristan de Vere Cole | Stars: Helge Jordal, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Hans Ola Sørlie, Kjersti Holmen
Votes: 2,172
A thriller that takes place on the northern coast of Norway.
17. Haven (2010–2015)
TV-PG | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
Many in the coastal town of Haven, Maine have a dormant curse or "trouble" that could trigger at any time for any reason. FBI agent Audrey Parker, the sheriff and the town's black sheep must deal with the troubles' deadly effects.
Stars: Emily Rose, Lucas Bryant, Eric Balfour, Richard Donat
Votes: 41,352
I think this Sy-Fy series has been more appreciated in US and Canada than in Europe, allthough it's available on Netflix here too. Great seaside feel and great shots of the coast in almost every episode if i remember correctly. Filmed in Nova Scotia, i think.
18. Breaking the Waves (1996)
R | 159 min | Drama
Oilman Jan is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when Jan urges her to have sex with another.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, Katrin Cartlidge, Jean-Marc Barr
Votes: 71,575 | Gross: $4.04M
Small village life in Scotland. Not so many scenes with the sea in it though. But very coastal feel to it.
19. The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
PG | 103 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Young Fiona lives with her grandparents in a small fishing village where she takes an active role to unravel the mysterious secrets.
Director: John Sayles | Stars: Jeni Courtney, Eileen Colgan, Mick Lally, Pat Slowey
Votes: 9,873 | Gross: $6.10M
Slow paced, but very beutifuly filmed on Ireland. A film that plays on the myth of of the "Selkie" - a seal that transforms into a human. But in this case it's the other way around. A VERY different movie. Sadly not available on bluray, because the scenery is great.
20. Limbo (I) (1999)
R | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
In an economically devastated Alaskan town, a fisherman with a troublesome past dates a woman whose young daughter does not approve of him. When he witnesses the murder of his shady brother, he, the woman and the kid run to the wilderness.
Director: John Sayles | Stars: David Strathairn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Vanessa Martinez, Michael Laskin
Votes: 6,389 | Gross: $2.00M
Set in Alaska. Great feel of the life in northern coastal region.
21. Olive Kitteridge (2014)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama
A middle-school math teacher Olive and her marriage with Henry which spans 25 years.
Stars: Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins, Ann Dowd, Ken Cheeseman
Votes: 26,112
When i told my wife this starts with a suicide, she said she would never watch it. But i convinced her to see it. I would say this is a very unamerican production. A woman suffering from depression and her ife with her family on an island off the coast of New England.
22. Ondine (2009)
PG-13 | 111 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
An Irish fisherman discovers a woman in his fishing net whom his precocious daughter believes to be a selkie.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Colin Farrell, Alicja Bachleda, Dervla Kirwan, Alison Barry
Votes: 22,638 | Gross: $0.55M
A movie with a ton of great scenery about a man who literally fishes his true love out of the sea.
23. The Finest Hours (2016)
PG-13 | 117 min | Action, Drama, History
The Coast Guard makes a daring rescue attempt off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers are destroyed during a blizzard in 1952.
Director: Craig Gillespie | Stars: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Eric Bana
Votes: 70,669 | Gross: $27.57M
The finest hours are that of the US Coast Guard. This film tells the story of their most heroic rescue mission.Most, if not all, of the film takes place at night, so it's a dark film visually.
24. The Fog (1980)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
An unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman
Votes: 83,013 | Gross: $21.38M
A classic 80s horror flick. But back then horror movies where actually scary. The plot is fairly simple, but the location and atmosphere is great. Right from the start when the camera just depicts the ordinary island life you get that foreboding creepy feeling. Good acting all around. Filmed in Port Reyes, California. Harmless fun but way better than this sort of films from today. A young Jamie Lee Curtis in the lead here. John Carpenter directing.
25. Manchester by the Sea (2016)
R | 137 min | Drama
A depressed uncle is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies.
Director: Kenneth Lonergan | Stars: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges
Votes: 313,817 | Gross: $47.70M
Terriffic location. Not very uplifting movie though. It certainly belongs on this list. I'll try to remember to update when i've seen it.
26. The Light Between Oceans (2016)
PG-13 | 133 min | Drama, Romance
A lighthouse keeper and his wife living off the coast of Western Australia raise a baby they rescue from a drifting rowing boat.
Director: Derek Cianfrance | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Florence Clery
Votes: 60,103 | Gross: $12.55M
27. Poldark (2015–2019)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, Romance
Ross Poldark returns home after American Revolutionary War and rebuilds his life with a new business venture, making new enemies and finding a new love where he least expects it.
Stars: Aidan Turner, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jack Farthing, Beatie Edney
Votes: 36,110
Beautiful series this is. Shots of the cornish coastline in every episode.
28. The Affair (2014–2019)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama
A struggling novelist and a young waitress strike up an extramarital relationship that promises to forever change the course of their lives.
Stars: Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Maura Tierney, Julia Goldani Telles
Votes: 49,172
A very gripping series and shot in very nice and pictoresque places.
29. Ófærð (2015– )
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In a remote town in Iceland, police desperately try to solve a crime as a powerful storm descends upon the town.
Stars: Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Guðjón Pedersen
Votes: 24,921
30. The Grand Seduction (2013)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy
To survive, a dying Newfoundland fishing village must convince a young doctor to take up residence by any means necessary.
Director: Don McKellar | Stars: Taylor Kitsch, Brendan Gleeson, Liane Balaban, Gordon Pinsent
Votes: 19,258 | Gross: $3.41M
31. Dolores Claiborne (1995)
R | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A big city reporter travels to a small town where her mother has been arrested for the murder of an elderly woman for whom she worked as a housekeeper.
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Plummer, Judy Parfitt
Votes: 48,396 | Gross: $24.36M
32. The Ghost Writer (2010)
PG-13 | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A ghost writer, hired to complete the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister, uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, Jon Bernthal
Votes: 170,831 | Gross: $15.54M
33. I Am Dina (2002)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama
Dina grows up in a village at a fjord in 1860s north Norway. As child, she accidentally kills her mom and loses her rich dad's love. She grows up to be a clever, pretty, wild, and strange woman. She marries a rich Frenchman.
Directors: Ole Bornedal, Tony Spataro | Stars: Maria Bonnevie, Gérard Depardieu, Christopher Eccleston, Bjørn Floberg
Votes: 5,725
A very beautiful movie filmed in Norway. Bonnevie in her best achievement. Some really strong scenes. And the oh so magnificent landscape.
34. Swallows and Amazons (2016)
Not Rated | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Four children (the Swallows) on holiday in the Lake District sail on their own to an island and start a war with rival children (the Amazons). In the meantime, a mysterious man on a houseboat accuses them of a crime they did not commit.
Director: Philippa Lowthorpe | Stars: Bobby McCulloch, Dane Hughes, Kelly Macdonald, Abbie Glozier
Votes: 3,544
Kids on holiday in the Lake District hunting WW1 spies. In the spirit of Enid Blyton's Fabulous Five. A kind of movie i didn't think would be made this day and age.
35. Whisky Galore (2016)
TV-14 | 98 min | Comedy, Romance
Scottish islanders try to plunder cases of whisky from a stranded ship during WWII.
Director: Gillies MacKinnon | Stars: Naomi Battrick, Sean Biggerstaff, James Cosmo, Matt Costello
Votes: 1,973
36. Striking Distance (1993)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
Coming from a police family, Tom Hardy ends up fighting his uncle after the murder of his father. Tom believes the killer is another cop and goes on the record with his allegations. Demoted then to river duty, the killer taunts Tom.
Director: Rowdy Herrington | Stars: Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Farina, Tom Sizemore
Votes: 45,530 | Gross: $23.80M
37. Storm of the Century (1999)
PG-13 | 86 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A dangerous blizzard hits an isolated town and brings along a mysterious stranger intent on terrorizing people for his own desires.
Stars: Tim Daly, Colm Feore, Debrah Farentino, Jeffrey DeMunn
Votes: 24,389
38. In the Bedroom (2001)
R | 131 min | Crime, Drama
A New England couple's college-aged son dates an older woman who has two small children and an unwelcome ex-husband.
Director: Todd Field | Stars: Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Nick Stahl, Marisa Tomei
Votes: 42,431 | Gross: $35.93M
39. Summer of '42 (1971)
PG | 104 min | Drama, Romance
During his summer vacation on Nantucket Island in 1942, a youth eagerly awaiting his first sexual encounter finds himself developing an innocent love for a young woman awaiting news on her soldier husband's fate in WWII.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Jennifer O'Neill, Gary Grimes, Jerry Houser, Oliver Conant
Votes: 9,122 | Gross: $7.38M
40. Nights in Rodanthe (2008)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Romance
A doctor, who is travelling to see his estranged son, sparks with an unhappily married woman at a North Carolina inn.
Director: George C. Wolfe | Stars: Diane Lane, Richard Gere, Christopher Meloni, Viola Davis
Votes: 26,355 | Gross: $41.85M
41. The Water Horse (2007)
PG | 112 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
A lonely boy discovers a mysterious egg that hatches a sea creature of Scottish legend.
Director: Jay Russell | Stars: Emily Watson, David Morrissey, Alex Etel, Bruce Allpress
Votes: 43,002 | Gross: $40.41M
42. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
TV-14 | 124 min | Drama, Romance, War
In the aftermath of World War II, a writer forms an unexpected bond with the residents of Guernsey Island when she decides to write a book about their experiences during the war. Then she learns the secret they are afraid to reveal.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Jessica Brown Findlay, Tom Courtenay, Michiel Huisman, Katherine Parkinson
Votes: 52,684
43. Indian Summer (1993)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Seven friends reunite for a week-long reunion at a summer camp in Ontario they used to attend as children which is now threatened with being closed down.
Director: Mike Binder | Stars: Alan Arkin, Matt Craven, Diane Lane, Bill Paxton
Votes: 6,023 | Gross: $14.90M
44. Fisherman's Friends (2019)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Ten fisherman from Cornwall are signed by Universal Records and achieve a top ten hit with their debut album, "Sea Shanties."
Director: Chris Foggin | Stars: James Purefoy, Meadow Nobrega, David Hayman, Maggie Steed
Votes: 11,350
45. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
R | 108 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.
Director: Michel Gondry | Stars: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Gerry Robert Byrne
Votes: 1,078,171 | Gross: $34.40M
46. Beautiful Girls (1996)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A piano player at a crossroads in his life returns home to his friends and their own problems with life and love.
Director: Ted Demme | Stars: Matt Dillon, Timothy Hutton, Noah Emmerich, Annabeth Gish
Votes: 34,727 | Gross: $10.60M
47. Shetland (2013– )
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A local police team investigate crimes within the close knit island community of Shetland.
Stars: Alison O'Donnell, Steven Robertson, Douglas Henshall, Lewis Howden
Votes: 25,891
48. The Sandhamn Murders (2010– )
45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Viveca Sten's popular novels come to life in "The Sandhamn Murders", a perfect mix of Nordic crime and the beautiful surroundings of the outer Stockholm archipelago.
Stars: Alexandra Rapaport, Jonas Malmsjö, Ping Mon H. Wallén, Nicolai Cleve Broch
Votes: 3,468
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