There’s something magical about New Year’s Eve. It’s a time full of hope, new beginnings and celebrating.
So it’s not surprising that New Year’s Eve often makes an appearance in film — as a moment of confession, drama or a new start.
Whether you’re staying in for New Year’s Eve this year or need a film to watch at home on New Year’s Day, here are the best New Year’s Eve moments in the movies.
‘High School Musical’
In perhaps one of the most iconic New Year’s Eve scenes of the past 20 years, “High School Musical” opens on New Year’s Eve in a cutesy Utah ski lodge.
High schoolers Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) are vacationing with their families and, on New Year’s Eve, they get randomly selected to sing a karaoke duet together. The song is aptly named “Start of Something New.”
Both teens are shy at first, but soon they let loose — and sparks fly.
Troy and Gabriella bond after their duet and watch the fireworks display at the stroke of midnight, but they must eventually part ways.
Of course, that isn’t the end of “High School Musical” — Gabriella ends up transferring to East High, Troy’s high school.
If you’re dying to line up your own New Year’s Eve with Troy and Gabriella’s in “High School Musical,” someone on X suggested, “If you start the original High School Musical at 11:53:24 on New Year’s Eve it will coincide exactly with Troy and Gabriella’s, as it should.”
‘While You Were Sleeping’
In “While You Were Sleeping” — one of the best holiday rom-coms of all time — the New Year’s Eve holiday is rife with comedic misunderstandings and unspoken confessions.
After Lucy (Sandra Bullock) is mistaken for Peter Callaghan’s (Peter Gallagher) fiancee, and after she saves his life, she is quickly welcomed into the folds of the Callaghan family, as they all wait for Peter to wake from his coma. The family group includes Jack (Bill Pullman), Peter’s brother, whom Lucy is unexpectedly drawn to.
On New Year’s Eve, the Callaghan family mistakenly believes that Lucy is pregnant. Jack, upset, goes to Lucy and offers to accompany her to the New Year’s Eve party she’s attending.
The night is full of misunderstandings — Lucy’s friends mistake Jack for Peter, Jack unwittingly announces Lucy’s nonexistent pregnancy to the whole party — and ends with Lucy going home, while Jack follows.
Sparks fly when Jack demonstrates what “leaning” is to Lucy — but the two soon begin arguing again. Lucy ends the conversation by revealing how lonely she truly feels, sadly telling Jack, “I don’t have anybody.”
‘Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!’
“Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!”, one of many classic Charlie Brown specials, follows our titular character as he rushes to finish his book report in time to attend Peppermint Patty’s New Year’s Eve party.
Charlie Brown has been assigned a last-minute book report — on “Crime and Punishment,” no less — and is worried that he won’t finish it in time. Even more, he’s eager to ask his crush, the Little Red-Haired Girl, to the party, but his efforts are thwarted.
“Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!” has a surprisingly disappointing end for our hero. But even though things don’t turn out how he wanted, Charlie Brown ends the special proud of his best efforts.
‘When Harry Met Sally’
While the New Year’s Eve scene in “High School Musical” is the most iconic in the past 20 years, the scene in “When Harry Met Sally” is the most iconic of all time.
After coincidentally bumping into each other repeatedly over a span of 10 years, Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) finally become good friends — until, after a particularly vulnerable moment on Sally’s part, they sleep together.
The two bicker over how that decision impacted their friendship and find themselves celebrating New Year’s Eve without each other.
While on a walk around New York, Harry realizes that he’s in love with Sally and sprints to the New Year’s Eve party Sally is attending to confess his feelings.
At first Sally is resistant, until Harry shares one of the most iconic lines in romantic-comedy history: “It’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”
If you want to sync up your own New Year’s Eve to the scene in “When Harry Met Sally,” someone on X wrote, “Your annual reminder that, when you press play on WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (a perfect film!) at 10:30:28pm, you’ll sync up perfectly with the New Year’s Eve scene at midnight.”