Film

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Name: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Released: 2013
Cast: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Sean Penn, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott

Other titles called The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: the 1947 film.

Treasure hunt

Ben Stiller plays a meek photo editor whose elaborate daydreams have replaced his actual life. When a crucial image vanishes, he must leave his desk and chase it across the world, discovering that real adventure beats fantasy—barely. Warm, visually gorgeous, and genuinely about the terrifying gap between the life you imagine and the one you're actually living.

TMDb rating

3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy whimsical fantasy-tinged comedy where the daydreams are as vivid as the real travel, and a warm, sincere heart matters more to you than cynicism.

Skip it if you want brisk, punchy comedy; this one lingers on scenic stillness and sentiment, and its daydream sequences can feel indulgent when you're waiting for the plot to move.

What it asks of you: Settle in for just under two hours at an unhurried pace, with long stretches of landscape and quiet reflection between the lighter gags and bursts of action.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

About a Boy2002

A man forced out of his comfortable isolation by genuine connection to another person. Funny and touching in equal measure, with real stakes beneath the comedy and a similar heart about growing up.

But It's a romantic comedy at heart, and if that genre leaves you cold, the emotional arc won't save it for you.

Moonrise Kingdom2012

Whimsical, meticulously composed, and unexpectedly moving. A story about misfits finding each other and briefly escaping the world that doesn't understand them, with the same bittersweet awareness that dreams can't last.

But Wes Anderson's mannered style isn't for everyone; if his twee aesthetics grate, this won't convert you.

The Terminal2004

Tom Hanks as a man trapped between worlds, making an unexpected life in an airport. Like Mitty, it's about finding dignity and purpose in an absurd situation, with real warmth and humour woven through.

But Spielberg's sentimentality can feel heavy-handed, and the film doesn't quite earn all the emotion it reaches for.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Straight Story1999

Both films suggest that the real adventure—the genuine transformation—happens not in the spectacular moments but in the decision to show up and walk toward something hard.

David Lynch films a 78-year-old man on a riding lawnmower taking six weeks to visit his estranged brother. A real story, unadorned. It's about the slow, patient work of actually showing up, with no daydreams or shortcuts—the exact inverse of Mitty's fantasy escape, but reaching the same place.

But It is glacially slow and utterly devoid of plot drama. There is almost no movie here by conventional standards, which is precisely the point you may not be in the mood for.

Amélie2001

A woman who observes the world from the margins decides to intervene in others' lives. Dazzlingly inventive visually, and about the same question: what if you actually engaged instead of watching from safety?

But The whimsy can feel suffocating on a second viewing, and the twee aesthetic hasn't aged for everyone.

The Pursuit of Happyness2006

Will Smith as a man rebuilding his life from nothing. Raw and unglamorous, with real stakes. It asks similar questions about what happens when you stop dreaming and start doing.

But It leans hard on inspiration-porn beats and the sentimentality can feel manipulative.

The Truman Show1998

Jim Carrey in a drama about a man slowly realizing his entire world is false. Like Mitty, it's about breaking through the constructed reality you've accepted and choosing something harder but realer.

But It's more philosophical than funny, and the premise can feel dated now; the commentary on media feels obvious.

Lost in Translation2003

Two lonely people drift through Tokyo together. Quiet, melancholic, unsentimental. It captures the isolation of being present but unreachable, and the ache of connection that can't quite land.

But Nothing much happens; if you need plot or catharsis, you'll find it frustrating and precious.

Good Bye, Lenin!2003

A son constructs an elaborate false reality to protect his dying mother. Funny and heartbreaking, it explores similar territory: the fantasy we build versus the world we actually inhabit, and what we owe to the people we love.

But The tone shifts jarringly between comedy and grief, and the ending won't satisfy everyone's need for closure.

Entr'acte1924

Both films understand daydreaming as an art form—a space where the rules break and visual invention matters more than plot. Entr'acte is what pure fantasy looks like when all structure is removed.

A silent Dada film of pure visual delightfulness and dream logic. Ten minutes of impossible images and joyful absurdity, made in the same spirit as Mitty's daydreams: a celebration of imagination as a kind of resistance.

But It's a fragment from film history with no narrative, no characters, no point beyond the joy of seeing. If you need meaning, you're watching the wrong thing.

Synecdoche, New York2008

Both are about the cost of living in your own head. Synecdoche asks what happens when the daydream becomes so elaborate it destroys the life you're avoiding, rather than saving it.

Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theater director who builds an increasingly elaborate replica of New York inside a warehouse, unable to distinguish between the play and his life. A nightmarish, brilliant version of the same idea: a man losing himself in a constructed world that starts to devour reality.

But It's deliberately confusing, ambitious to the point of collapse, and deeply depressing. It will frustrate you before it moves you, and it may never quite click.