While many movies seem to exist in a world where it is always sunny, it always seems to be raining just when it would have the most impact. Sad breakup? Rain. A chance to show a character as quirky for enjoying the rain? Summer storm time! Rain often creates some of the most enjoyable scenes in movies, and even where there is no rain in sight, directors often wet roads because it just has a better look on screen.
But some movies go above and beyond using the weather as a way to comment on the emotions of the main character, or the storyline itself. Whether characters are being overly emotive, saying goodbye, or sharing a kiss, the pouring-down rain has always added a level of feeling.
11 Garden State (2004)
This coming of age movie follows Andrew Largeman trying to understand where his life is going after his mother passes away, and as he goes on a journey with his friends that includes the invention of silent velcro, bizzare hotel concierges, and a whole cinematic tour of New Jersey.
But the movie culminates in Largeman climbing onto a digger that’s unsafely sitting in front of a quarry. It’s pouring rain, and Largeman screams into the infinite abyss, letting out all of the emotions he’s been too afraid to show throughout the rest of the movie. And given that Simon & Garfunkel’s “Only Living Boy In New York” plays over the top, it makes it that much more iconic.
10 The Truman Show (1998)
The Truman Show is a movie that even the MCU has taken inspiration from, as it’s about a guy whose whole life is a reality show, only he doesn’t know it, which is pretty close to Vision’s arc in WandaVision. The world almost literally revolves around Truman, as the whole world watches the show and a fake moon is the control room for the series.
Given that the director of the show has to create artificial scenarios that Truman believes is real, when Truman is down in the dumps, a rainstorm appears out of nowhere, but only above Truman. As Truman walks around, the rain follows him. It’s one of the sillier moments of what is a rare dramatic Jim Carrey movie, but it’s just as hilarious.
9 John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)
Each John Wick movie gets bigger and better with each release, and that’s no different when it comes to Parabellum. The third movie covers a short span of time in New York, which is seemingly going through a massive rainstorm, but it isn’t Wick who has the most iconic scene. The Bowery King, who runs a whole network of homeless people and pigeons, holds up a children’s umbrella with red lines and dots on it as he speaks to the Adjudicator. The Adjudicator tells him he has to step down from the thrown as he helped John Wick, to which the King responds, “I am the Bowery!”
8 The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
The Matrix Revolutions disappointed fans in many ways, whether it was the CGI mess that was the battle of Zion or the hefty amounts of exposition. Not only that, but the fight scenes were dull too, which was the only thing that The Matrix Reloaded had going for it. However, the final fight between Neo and Agent smith has become iconic.
The CGI in the fight might be visible in parts, but overall, the scene, which takes place on a street in which the heavens have opened in a monsoon-like way while hundreds of other agents watch, is the most riveting moment of the whole movie. And it’s the last time fans ever heard “Mr. Anderson” spill out of Smith’s mouth.
7 Spider-Man (2002)
There are thousands of movies that feature romantic scenes in the rain, as rain and romance go hand in hand in Hollywood. But none have become more memorable than the kiss between Mary Jane and Spider-Man in the alleyway in the original 2002 movie. The shot is taken right out of a comic book. As Spidey hangs down from a web, MJ lowers his mask half the way, and they share a kiss in the pouring rain. It’s one of the many iconic moments in that movie, and it’s why Spider-Man arguably remains the best movie about the hero to this day.
6 Gothika (2003)
Gothika is a very rainy movie, as from beginning to end if it isn’t pouring down it’s at least visible on the roads. There are so many memorable scenes in the rain in the psychological horror movie, but one stands out above the rest as being iconic, which is when Miranda crashes her car in the middle of the street, as she swerves to avoid a little girl. When Miranda gets out of the car to try to help the girl, who is standing dead still in the middle of the road, they both spontaneously catch fire.
5 Blade Runner (1982)
In the final scene when Deckard faces off against Roy Batty, it’s on top of a rooftop and the characters are getting soaked. Though the whole of Blade Runner essentially takes place in the rain, this scene is what people remember the movie for.
It’s home to not only one of the most iconic scenes, but one of the most iconic lines of dialogue in the movie ever, as Roy Batty says in his final monologue, “All those moments will be lost in time…like tears in rain.” It’s extremely poetic, and for such an iconic line, it was improvised by Rutger Hauer.
4 Point Break (1991)
Though it inspired The Fast and the Furious, not only because they’re almost identical in terms of narrative but because they both take place in the sun-drenched LA, Point Break features an atypically rainy LA day in the final scene. After finally having caught Bodhi on a breach where giant waves are crashing against rocks, Johnny Utah doesn’t arrest him, but instead lets him surf to his death, or that’s at least what is insinuated. Utah then throws his FBI badge into the ocean, and it’s one of the most powerful endings to a ’90s action movie.
3 The Equalizer (2014)
Being an alternative to John Wick, and unfairly living in its shadow as they were released at the same time, The Equalizer follows an expert killer who comes out of retirement and kick-ass, just like John Wick. The finale takes place in the pouring rain, but also in a hardware store. After blowing up some gas canisters in a microwave, the sprinklers come on, and the place starts flooding with water. At the same time, Robert is on the hunt for the last Russian mobster standing, who is limping through the rain in the dark, and it’s one of the most fist-pumping finales of any action movie.
2 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption is one of the best philosophical moves of all time, and what would a philosophical movie be without rain? Whether it’s Blade Runner or The Fugitive, movies that make you think always feature rain for some reason.
And just like in Raising Arizona, the big rain scene in The Shawshank Redemption comes when Andy Dufresne escapes prison after 20 years of digging, only instead of feeling fear, audiences were overwhelmed with joy just as much as Andy himself. Even though the cover of the DVD spoils the whole movie, as it’s the image of Andy holding his arms out shirtless in the rain, it remains one the most iconic shots in the rain ever.
1 Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
The scene barely even needs to be described, as unlike all of the other movies, it’s a certainty that absolutely everyone knows the scene from Singin’ In The Rain. The scene has been parodied to death and referenced throughout TV and movies for the past 70 years. In the movie, After walking Kathy home, Don Lockwood is absolutely euphoric, as he dances down the street in the pouring down rain and jumping on lampposts. It teaches viewers that life isn’t just about waiting for the storm to pass.
