What’s a better pairing than cannabis and the cinema? So far this year, the silver screen has offered a number of movies worth watching. And even better, the rest of the year’s film prospects look promising. Though these releases can be enjoyed sober, some are made all the more entertaining by the effects of Mary Jane. These are the top 2018 movies to watch while high.
1. Isle of Dogs
Wes Andersen does it again with this delightful stop-motion claymation feature. Released in March, this dystopian film set in Japan features a familiar cast of voices: Bill Murray, Brian Cranston, Frances McDormand, and Jeff Goldblum. The film has received some criticism about cultural appropriation. If you’re high enough, the lovable faces of the animated pooches may make you forget their lifelike forms are being given the human ability to think and speak. Which, like the humans that create them, means they’ll inevitably screw up.
2. Black Panther
This anticipated movie offers intense action scenes where a king defends his African nation of Wakanda and its powerful resource, vibranium. Stocked with talented actors and gorgeous futuristic, tradition-inspired costuming, this movie depiction of a Marvel comic does it right. King T’Challa’s suit will even be on display at the Smithsonian soon. Getting high before this film isn’t key to enjoying it, but it does amplify the experience of seeing the beautiful, technologically-advanced Wakanda. It also may make the emotional fight scenes easier to handle.
3. A Quiet Place
Normally getting high makes one want to crank the tunes. Watching A Quiet Place will have the opposite effect. John Krasinski and Emily Blunt must protect their family in a dystopic future where any sound they make alerts killer monsters. Relying on body language rather than dialogue to tell the story, the lack of conversation and sound submerges the viewer into a different sensory state than a normal high. Not to mention, the intensity of some of the suspenseful scenes will have the audience wanting to scream—but like the characters, feel unable to do so. The suspenseful silence will provide a totally different high.
4. Slenderman
This horror film set to be released in August is based on the notorious Slenderman, a fictional character created in the dark bowels of the internet. So, of course, it had to make the list of movies to watch while high. This character has compelled a few real-life crimes, such as the 2014 stabbing of a 12-year-old girl by her friends in Wisconsin. An HBO documentary covered the case, but this film will provide a fictional narrative featuring the creepy character. Warning: if you’re paranoid and prone to becoming violent for the sake of a fake creature, maybe this isn’t the one to smoke before. After all, the girls from Wisconsin weren’t the only ones to fall under his persuasive spell, only to wreak havoc.
5. Bohemian Rhapsody
Following the wild lifestyle of Freddie Mercury and Queen, this biopic promises to make for a fantastic pairing with some ganja. Light up before going to this in theaters, and there’s a strong risk of singing along to the hits. Perhaps you’ll end up crooning to “Killer Queen”, “We Are the Champions”, and of course, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Maybe, if you’re a big enough fan or if you’ve timed your high just right before watching, you’ll find yourself doing that stomp-stomp-clap move to “We Will Rock You.” Just be aware you may not make friends with theater-goers around you.
6. The Franchises: Solo: A Star Wars Story and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Putting these two films together seems appropriate considering most fans of these franchises have lost some love for these childhood narratives. Never fear. Getting high before watching any of the new Star Wars or Jurassic movies will make you forget that Disney and Universal Studios have sabotaged the fantastical worlds you grew up with. As far as movies to watch while high go, these ones almost require being high. It helps with accepting the very harsh truth that these films will never live up to the films you loved as a kid.
7. Mowgli
Coming out in October, this half-animated picture tells the story of the protagonist of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. With the proper daytime high, this children’s story could be made even more epic. Kick back and watch Mowgli follow and talk to the lovable characters Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther. No matter what, be sure to recognize that if you leave the movie still stoned and animals are talking to you, you may need to find a way to come down.
8. Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
What’s better than cartoons and cannabis? Not much, except maybe watching those same cartoons on a giant theater with movie munchies in your lap. Certainly, any animated film would do the trick. But Teen Titans offers adult humor from the mouths of engaging cartoon characters. Get baked early in the morning and enjoy this flick as a cheap matinee. It’ll be a lot like Saturday morning cartoons, but on a higher level.
9. Mortal Engines
Based on the series written by Philip Reeves, this movie will focus on a future London with a steam-punk aesthetic. Viewing that urban-rural divide through a dystopic lens, this movie is one of the more intellectual movies to watch while high. The film literally has roving cities on wheels consume smaller towns in their paths. Coming out in December, this film promises action, adventure, and thrilling cinematic scenes that will only look more visually appealing after some ganja.
10. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Though part of the Harry Potter franchise, this film makes the list of movies to watch while high because it features a young Dumbledore played by Jude Law. J.K. Rowling herself has stated the wizard reached the ripe age of 150 before his death. So imagining this classic sage character in his youth might have proved difficult without this casting. Enjoy the magic of the wizarding world after toking. Maybe it’ll be easier to imagine Jude Law with a floor-sweeping, graying beard.
11. 306 Hollywood
Following two siblings as they excavate the entirety of their late grandmother’s house, this documentary proclaims itself to be a “magical realist documentary”. Rummaging through their granny’s interesting collections of things will likely remind the viewer of episodes of Hoarders. But the protagonists’ granny’s objects have more whimsy. This film does intriguing work probing the question of what our objects mean and how they matter when we leave them behind after death. Not only will getting high help deal with watching this mourning family, but it will further enhance exploring the myriad of odd objects in a collector’s home.
12. Operation Odessa
Often the Discovery channel or other nature documentaries provide stoned viewers the absorbing reality entertainment they want. But certain movies to watch while high depend on a more human reality. That’s definitely the case when it comes to this documentary that follows three friends who take on the ambitious adventure. These real characters hustle the Russian mob, the Cali cartel, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. This epic gangster movie provides true-crime intensity only made more intense when high on cannabis. Since it’s out on Showtime, it makes for a perfect in-home smoke session and viewing.
13. Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist
Sometimes a good high just demands great visuals. This documentary makes the list of movies to watch while high exactly for that reason. Light up and discover the multitude of outfits worn and made by punk icon and activist Dame Vivienne Westwood. As the ex-partner of Sex Pistols’ manager Malcolm McLaren, she defined British fashion for the last 40 years. Truly, she served as a trend-setter, wearing some of the most iconic looks. Maybe with the appropriate amount of marijuana, viewers will feel inspired to don their own rebellious outfits.
14. Suspiria
This modern remake of the 1977 horror film stars Tilda Swinton and Dakota Johnson. Playing the role of a dancer who relocates to Berlin to attend a prestigious dance academy, Johnson unearths something evil in the academy. Sinister and suspenseful, this movie pairs well with marijuana. Just a little will keep viewers on the edge of their seat as she comes psychologically undone in this new environment. Scheduled for release in November, this movie promises some serious heebee-jeebies.
Movies To Watch While High in 2018
Whether there’s still time to catch one of these in the theaters, or they’re an upcoming release, any of these films makes for a great movie to watch while high. Some, like Ocean’s 8, didn’t make this list, but they feature characters enjoying Mary Jane just the same. Maybe plan to take an edible at the beginning of Slenderman or Suspiria. There’s a always chance the high hits right when the movie starts getting intense. Or enjoy the childlike feeling that comes when enjoying a film like Teen Titans Go! To the Movies or Mowgli. Maybe instead, enjoy a powerful sativa before submerging into action-packed movies like Black Panther and Mortal Engines. No matter your viewing pleasure, cannabis and the silver screen go as perfectly together as popcorn and the movies.
“Operation Odessa” – cool to see this movie in this list 😀