The Big Chill

A group of friends from the University of Michigan gather in Beaufort, South Carolina for Alex's funeral after he takes his own life. They stay in the same house for the weekend. The subject moves off the funeral and somewhere else: the ideals of the sixties, where those ideals went, who is in love with whom and who has lost what. Lawrence Kasdan directed and wrote it with Barbara Benedek. Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt and Kevin Kline are in the cast. One production detail is its most cited feature. Kevin Costner was cast as Alex, the dead friend, and his scenes were shot and then entirely cut. Kasdan gave the reason: it didn't work, and audiences preferred not to see the dead character. The soundtrack became as well known as the film, an album of sixties and seventies soul, R&B and pop rock that was among the decade's biggest-selling film records. On an 8 million dollar budget it took 56.4 million. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 70 percent, the reviews running between mixed and positive and crediting its eye for generational disillusionment. It received three Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Glenn Close. It won the People's Choice Award at Toronto and entered the National Film Registry in 2025. Who it is for: viewers who like large ensembles, films built on conversation and a generation taking stock. Who it is not for: anyone who will find that generation's self-pity too much. The film puts a privileged group's argument with its own conscience at the centre.