My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3’s Magical Trip—Plus Five Other Captivating Cinematic Destinations
These movies provide a stunning vacation to some of the world’s most enchanting locations
In My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (in theaters September 8), writer, director, and star Nia Vardalos takes the extended family of her first two Greek Wedding films back to where it all began—Greece. In the small village her father grew up in, Toula (Vardalos) finds a connection to the land and people. “There's magic in Greece. There's stillness, vibrancy, mysticism, a connection to history and roots,” Vardalos says in the film’s production notes.
While every film is a journey, some provide a first-class ticket to stunning destinations. In making My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, Vardalos says in the production notes that she “wanted to show the best of Greece. I want everyone to finish the movie and then immediately book a ticket.”
To highlight the fun of such destination cinema, we’re checking in on five other travel-worthy films.
The official trailer for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
Mary Steenburgen, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, and Candice Bergen in Book Club: The Next Club
Book Club: The Next Chapter | Italy
In Bill Holderman’s Book Club: The Next Chapter, the four women from the hit 2018 comedy Book Club are flying to Italy. Diane (Diane Keaton), Sharon (Candice Bergen), and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) want to throw their friend Vivian (Jane Fonda) a bachelorette party in Rome, Venice, and Tuscany. Holderman told CNN Traveler, “Italy has a very special, aspirational romanticism, not just in terms of romantic partnerships, but for the romance of friendship.” The four women explore both celebrated tourist spots, like the Spanish Steps and the Gran Canal, and more out-of-the-way locales, like Via dei Coronari and Villa Parisi. In the end, the film, as Screen Rant writes, “pulls on the heartstrings, while also serving as a beautiful travel commercial for Italy.”
The official trailer for Book Club: The Next Chapter
Harry Hadden-Paton, Laura Carmichael, Tuppence Middleton, and Allen Leech in Downton Abbey: A New Era
Downton Abbey: A New Era | The South of France
Simon Curtis’ Downton Abbey: A New Era takes viewers beyond the series’ usual luxurious English trappings to a sunnier locale. When Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith) announces that she has inherited a villa in the South of France, much of the Crawley clan and their staff take off for vacation. Julian Fellowes, who created the series, remarks to Variety, “I wanted to get at least some of them away from their comfort zone.” To get just the right opulent estate, the production team chose Villa Rocabella near Toulon as Violet’s villa. “Everybody loved it,” says production designer Donal Woods in the production notes. “It had to look very Mediterranean and feel open and summery with all that you associate with the South of France.” Slate describes the stunning neoclassical beachside mansion and its grounds as “a treat for the eyes, if not for the brain.”
The official trailer for Downton Abbey: A New Era
Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell in In Bruges
In Bruges | Bruges
Martin McDonagh’s comedy-thriller In Bruges was inspired by an actual trip. “While I was first there,” McDonagh explains in the production notes, “I started thinking of two characters who might respond to Bruges in distinct ways.” The idea evolved into two hitmen, Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson), hiding out in a medieval Belgian city as they await further instructions. In the process, the pair become unlikely tour guides. The blog Travel? Yes, Please! points out, “You get to see a lot of Bruges—the wonderful architecture, Grote Markt and the famous Belfry, old bridges and beautiful parks…it’s like Bruges itself is playing a leading character’s role.” Roger Ebert wrote, “If the movie accomplished nothing else, it inspired in me an urgent desire to visit Bruges. But it accomplished a lot more than that.”
The official trailer for In Bruges
Lesley Manville and Lucas Bravo in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris | Paris
In Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, Anthony Fabian recreates the magical Paris of his childhood. Having lived on and off in the City of Lights since he was 7, Fabian told Pop Entertainment, “I've never really left Paris….It's always been part of my landscape.” In the movie, when Mrs. Harris (Lesley Manville), a London cleaning woman, first sees a Dior gown, she’s inspired to travel to Paris and buy one for herself, witnessing the magical city of love. As The Hollywood Reporter writes, “The movie is a love letter to the French capital and its halls of fashion, so naturally, its sense of style is impeccable.”
The official trailer for Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
George Clooney in The American
The American | Abruzzo
In Anton Corbijn’s thriller The American, George Clooney plays a reclusive gunsmith who makes bespoke weapons for dangerous clients. After a fatal mishap, he holes up in a mountain village in Italy’s Abruzzo region. Corbijn describes in the production notes how the unique rocky terrain provides “a raw environment, an honest landscape of a type that is rarely seen in movies.” To ratchet up the suspense, Corbijn, according to Roger Ebert, “paints an idyllic Italian countryside as lyrical as his dialogue is taciturn. There is not a wrong shot.”
The official trailer for The American