As we don our oilskins for the release of Emerald Fennell’s rain-lashed romance, we count down the films pitting their stars against the elements
Pathetic fallacy is the literary device in which the environment reflects a character’s mood. It is central to Disney’s animated classic, which is about a woman who gets so annoyed that she literally turns her surroundings into a perpetual winter. As such, she is responsible for untold miseries, not least the fact that her stroppiness directly caused the invention of Josh Gad’s annoying snowman.
Perhaps the defining movie on seasonal affective disorder. In The Shining, Jack Nicholson’s family suffer as he succumbs to the madness of snowbound isolation. Although the interior scenes are what really give the film its terrifying reputation, it’s worth remembering that none of the events would occur if the Overlook Hotel was easy to escape. Also a timely reminder that snow really takes the fun out of mazes.
Ridley Scott’s classic is a masterpiece of design, with its rain-drenched futuristic cityscapes playing as much of a role as any of the actual characters. Does the constant rain affect the plot? No, not really, although you’d have to imagine that everyone would be a lot less grimly miserable if the sun came out now and again.
