Movies tend to avoid feeling like work, and so it’s surprisingly rare to find a movie that’s either completely or mostly set inside a work environment. Fictional workplaces are a little more common in TV shows, maybe because they’re smaller scale and do not feel the need to be “big” or eventful the same way a two-hour movie does. Also, with a workplace show potentially airing every week, watching it has a similar rhythm to attending an actual job, only the workplace on TV is usually a great deal more fun than a real workplace.
You do not really need to look any further than The Office – which is one of the most popular sitcoms of all time – to see the way fictional workplaces can entertain viewers. But some films do capture a similar feeling, though not all are comedic of course. Here are seven films that are all about surviving an undesirable job, in one way or another. Each focuses on either a different work environment or a different aspect of work that can be difficult to manage, and so no matter what a viewer’s real-life job is, they should be able to find at least one workplace movie here they can relate to on some level.
Clerks (1994): Surviving customer service
Clerks is about as authentic and unglamorous as a workplace comedy can get. It was Kevin Smith‘s first feature film, and he made it for next to nothing, budget-wise, shooting it at night in the same convenience store he worked at during the day. The film is one day in the life of two convenience clerks who are bored and fed up with their jobs, and do all they can to survive the long shift neither particularly wants to do.
As the film goes on, things admittedly get a bit more outlandish and out of control than an average person’s job would ever get, but it still maintains the ground, confined setting, as well as the overall bored, restless feeling a person gets while working. in customer service. Thankfully, the movie itself is not boring, with plenty of humor and quotable lines to keep things funny throughout. With a sequel that made for a strong follow-up in 2006, and a Clerks 3 slated for release by the end of 2022, here’s hoping it ends up a strong trilogy that stands as pure catharsis for anyone who’s worked a dead-end job they hated.
Horrible Bosses (2011): Surviving bosses
Horrible Bosses takes a stab at the bad bosses of the world, which hopefully isn’t something everyone can relate to … but perhaps some can. The bosses in this film – true to the title – are truly horrible, to the point where the three down-on-their-luck protagonists collectively snap, and decide to work together to murder their bosses.
Now, this obviously isn’t the kind of behavior that should be followed in real life (it should go without saying), but the idea of being pushed to breaking point by someone who’s in a higher position within a workplace and abuses that authority is something potentially relatable. Bosses should be survivable without resorting to such drastic means of course, so at the end of the day, Horrible Bosses serves as fantasy wish-fulfillment for the extra frustrated workers of the world.
Office Space (1999): Surviving office life
It should be noted that office life has changed drastically in the 20 or so years since Office Space‘s release. Still, offices do exist as an almost everyday part of life for some workers, and therefore, there’s still a lot to relate to in this loosely plotted but very entertaining film about a trio of workers who rebel against their bosses because of how much they despise their jobs.
Office Space really is one of the definitive workplace movies. Everything from annoying co-workers, awkward office interactions, strange habits that people within a workplace sometimes have, and uncomfortable exchanges with slack bosses are all satirized perfectly. It’s a memorable and fun watch, and only gets better the more you can personally relate to it.
Waiting … (2005) & Waitress (2007): Surviving hospitality
Waiting … and Waitress are two movies with similar titles, somewhat similar premises, and released only a couple of years apart from each other. Waiting … aims to capture the same magic Clerks did about a decade earlier, only with the setting switched from a convenience store to a restaurant. Waitress certainly has a lot more going on, being a character study of a woman who deals with an abusive partner and an unwanted pregnancy whilst also working a difficult waitressing job.
Waitress also balances comedy with drama, and is a great showcase for Keri Russell‘s acting ability. Waiting … is a pretty straightforward comedy, and a crass one at that. The humor’s definitely not for everyone, but maybe some viewers will get a kick out of the gross-out gags and the irreverent attitude. Waitress is the more complete film, but both potentially have something to offer for anyone seeking guidance on how to best survive the often stressful job of waiting at a restaurant.
The Apartment (1960): Surviving workplace romance
The Apartment is one of director Billy Wilder’s very best movies, which is certainly saying something, considering the strength of his filmography. It tells the story of a young worker who wants to do everything he can to make the higher-ups at his work like him, so he rents out his apartment to them so that they can conduct their extramarital affairs there in private, essentially. It’s pretty racy stuff by early 1960s standards, for sure.
Things get further complicated when the protagonist falls in love with a young woman who works in the same building as him … only she’s having an affair with his boss, so things get pretty out of hand. It does a good job at depicting the tedium of working a job your heart’s not in, as well as how far some people will go to make their bosses like them. But as a romantic comedy, it’s the insight into the trials and tribulations of workplace romance that are best explored within the film, and it’s a concept that certainly remains relevant to the workplaces of today, over 60 years later.
Network (1976): Surviving the act of balancing your personal values with your job’s demands.
Network was one of the best movies released in 1976, demonstrated by the fact that it earned a staggering 10 Academy Award nominations. It shows life for the workers at a network TV station that’s struggling with maintaining good ratings. Because of this, those that work on reporting the news are encouraged to entertain more so than inform, given that many people prefer their news to be fun, even if that comes at the expense of neutrality or objectivity.
While the method of delivering news has changed a lot since 1976, the issue around ethics in journalism has only become more and more relevant as news has become easier to produce and consume. Network is a bleak but engaging film that looks at the way employees forced to go against their personal values may unravel in alarming and destructive ways. Its age ends up doing no disservice to the timeliness of its message, as even if news looks a little different today compared to the 1970s, the issue of news as entertainment rather than information undoubtedly endures.