With the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Games fast approaching, we compiled a list of classic films to keep the Olympic torch flickering in your heart a bit longer.
As we enter the second half of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, the event’s ability to inspire a deep passion for lesser-known sports has reached fever pitch. Who among us could have anticipated screaming at ice being polished or knowledgably referring to triple axels with unearned confidence? Well, all of us. Because that is the uniting guarantee of the event: it turns us into rabid fans whose enthusiasm will dissipate as quickly as it appeared.
But if the thought of next weekend’s closing ceremony fills you with ennui, fear not. There’s a remedy to keep that Olympic torch flickering in your heart just a bit longer. Monocle has compiled a list of winter-sports films to keep your appetite for skiing, bobsleighing and hockey sated long after the ice has melted and the skates have been hung up.
1.
‘Cool Runnings’ (1993) directed by Jon Turteltaub
This quintessential winter-sports comedy is the ultimate underdog tale. Cool Runnings is loosely based on the true story of the first Jamaican bobsleigh team, which competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics and uproariously stars Leon Robinson, Doug E Doug and John Candy.
2.
‘I, Tonya’ (2017) directed by Craig Gillespie
‘The Price of Gold’ (2014) directed by Nanette Burstein
The essential figure-skating double bill. Both tell the story of Tonya Harding, the first American woman to land a triple axel in the short programme, whose Olympic dreams were dashed by her dubious involvement in an assault on her rival, Nancy Kerrigan. The films assess how the challenges of Harding’s upbringing and the prejudices of the figure-skating world contributed to her choices. In The Price of Gold, we hear from Harding herself and, in I, Tonya, we’re treated to Margot Robbie’s portrayal of the surprisingly sympathetic anti-hero. Both are compelling and entertaining in equal measure.
3.
‘Miracle’ (2004) directed by Gavin O’Connor
Miracle is based on the 1980 Winter Olympics ice-hockey game dubbed the “miracle on ice”, in which the US men’s team beat the Soviet Union’s – the favoured group and Cold War rival. The film’s real surprise is in its depiction of the Russian players not as villains but simply as the other team.
4.
‘Force Majeure’ (2014) directed by Ruben Östlund
Force Majeure is a black comedy that artfully orchestrates a Swedish family’s emotional implosion over a skiing holiday, after the patriarch makes a questionable decision during a freak accident on the slopes. While the dramatic build-up is delicious, the real pleasure lies in getting an inside look at Les Arcs, the luxury French ski resort where the family stays.
5.
‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ (1977) directed by Lewis Gilbert
We’re stretching the winter-sports theme as far as it will go. In addition to being widely regarded as one of the best in the Bond franchise, The Spy Who Loved Me opens with a rip-roaring chase down the Austrian Alps, which concludes in a pleasingly patriotic ski jump off a cliff – two ski events for the price of one.
