Seven cult films about freedom

Since freedom is in short supply right now, there’s much to be said for spending a nostalgic evening recalling the thrill of cutting loose and doing whatever you damn well please. So here are seven classic movies that take freedom to the extreme:

Into the Wild (2007, Amazon Prime)

Every so often, I like to picture myself in the log cabin of my dreams, cut off from the world, chopping wood, shooting deer, and reading a tattered paperback by the dying embers of the fire. Then I remember there’s something on TV I’ve forgotten to record, my back aches, and that the lasagne needs making for supper. Into the Wild is a cautionary tale about the terrible price that sometimes must be paid when you try to live out the Thoreau-esque fantasy of the simple life amid the splendours of unspoilt nature. Adapted from Jon Krakauer’s tragic telling of the life of hiker Christopher McCandless Into the Wild at once indulges and tempers our wanderlust, letting us feel free enough to know that we could follow it we wanted, but reminding us that a life on the road has its drawbacks.