Culture | Films to Watch Outdoors

Like good food, good films feel a little different when watched outdoors. Here are our favourite films to watch en plein air

Family movie nights

There are so many great films you can watch with a gang of kids but you can’t go wrong with Jurassic Park or The Goonies for an adventure-filled feelgood film. 

Girls back garden film

Thelma and Louise is, of course, the classic female-centred flick. But if you need a film to put the world (and men) to rights, John Tucker Must Die is a great bond-over-it watch for your back garden cinema with the gals.

Films for thrill-seekers

If you want to really scare the wits out of everyone in attendance, The Blair Witch Project will do it. Especially if you have trees nearby to rustle ominously in the wind. Good for drive-thru horror fans is Stephen King’s Christine, the tale of a haunted car. 

Retro movies for outdoor screens

The Sandlot is a heartwarming baseball film that has all the summer feelgood mood you could hope for. Want to go a bit more upmarket? Try The Graduate for that classic end-of-summer coming-of-age feel - with a cracking soundtrack.

Best drive-thru screenings

To really make the most of the atmosphere, if you’re heading to a drive-thru event, you want a film with a classic drive-thru scene. We recommend Grease or One Crazy Summer.

Outdoor big screen ideas

If you’re choosing which big outdoor screening event you’re going to watch our advice is to pick a film that really goes big or goes home visually. The Greatest Showman and E.T. would both be excellent choices.

Outdoor couples film nights

Snuggling up under a blanket with a loved one and a shared bag of popcorn? Up the romance stakes with Roman Holiday Or Baz Lurman’s Romeo + Juliet. 

Movies to watch while camping

American Graffiti says ‘summer’ like almost no other film, set in one night just before a group of high-schoolers make their first moves into adulthood. If you’re arguing over the firelighters and tent pegs, The Great Outdoors will have you all chortling along at camping mishaps. 

To watch on the beach

Well, obviously it’s Jaws isn’t it? Dare you to go for a midnight wild swim after watching. For a less fishy thriller, but with lots of beautiful sea scenery, try The Beach, based on the novel by Alex Garland.

Classic back garden cinema

For hot summer nights, Rear Window with its simmering heat will have you on the edge of your deck chair. Or pick a classic crowd pleaser such as The Wizard of Oz for sing-along fun that everyone can join in with. 

Holding a back garden cinema night? You won’t want to miss our feature ‘Setting the Scene’ with photography and recipes by Catherine Frawley in our August issue. It features a menu of Greek dishes to serve along with your movie. 

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Recipe | Pea, Mint & Ricotta Crostini

A nibble before dinner never goes amiss whether you’re cooking for two or ten, and these crostini are a lovely way to start off your evening.

It’s the season for fresh peas, but if yours haven’t grown well or you can’t find any, just defrost some frozen peas instead – the sweeter petit pois are lovely.

Makes 12

120g petit pois (cooked and cooled)
1 lemon, zested; juice of half
Small handful fresh mint, finely chopped
Sourdough baguette, thinly sliced into 12
150g ricotta

1 Preheat your grill to a medium setting. Meanwhile, add your peas to a bowl along with the lemon juice, the mint, a teaspoon of olive oil and salt and pepper. Mix to combine and leave to marinate.

2 Brush both sides of each baguette slice with olive oil, then toast until golden and set aside to cool.

3 In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, three-quarters of the lemon zest, a drizzle of olive oil and seasoning.

4 When ready to serve, add a spoon of the ricotta mix to each baguette slice, top with the minty peas, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over the remaining lemon zest.

This recipe is taken from our new series, A Good Life, in which we follow Michelle Tansley as she grows food and flowers in her cottage garden in Derbyshire. This month’s pages also feature recipes for Raspberry & Lime Fizz, Tomato & Red Onion Salad with Mozzarella & Basil Dressing, Honey-Glazed Pork with Parmentier Potatoes & Tenderstem and Courgette, Blackberry, Thyme & Chia Loaf Cake. Follow Michelle on Instagram at: @myderbyshirelife

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Sponsored Post | Built to Last with Rhino

Rhino greenhouses are built to last, giving you a space to sow, grow, tend and enjoy your
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August is truly one of the sweet spots in the gardening calendar, when all the sowing, tending and love that you’ve put in over the year comes to fruition and you can finally sit back and enjoy the magical fruits of your labour. The garden is full, the evenings are long, and there’s nowhere better to be than outside. For Rhino customers, summer also means a greenhouse working at its very best – tomatoes ripening on the vine, cucumbers climbing, and a whole array of herbs ready to pick whenever you need them. After many long months of care, you can finally reap the rewards.

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If you’re now hankering after a Rhino of your own, now is a great time to turn your dreams into reality. Whether you’re after something compact for a smaller plot or a serious growing space that you can really stretch out in, there’s an option to suit every garden size and growing ambition. Rhino greenhouses, designed and made by gardeners, for gardeners.

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Playlist | Magical summer

DJ: Karen Dunn

We publish a playlist for each issue of The Simple Things. To mark our MAGICAL new August issue, we’re having a magical summer. Take a listen here

Have a browse of all our playlists here, and you can order a copy of the August issue through our shop, Pics and Ink.

Competition | Win a Farm Stay worth £850

We have a weekend break at Devon’s Collacott Farm to be won, where you can spend time with horses to deepen your connection to loved ones

Sometimes, when you slow life down, the memories ramp up. Whether it’s a long woodland walk with the dog, a spot of family den building, or simply taking a seat and absorbing the nature around you, some of the best moments happen when life eases.

Tucked away in the north Devon countryside, Collacott Farm offers friends and families the opportunity to press pause to create memories that they’ll cherish for a lifetime. With six beautifully restored stone cottages all set within woodland and farmland, Collacott Farm strives to strengthen the connection between people and nature. In order to do this, it hosts Guided Horse Connection ™ sessions, a unique experience where guests can connect with horses in a relaxed environment and learn from the way that these gentle animals respond to the people around them.

If this sounds like pure heaven, then you’ll want to enter our competition. The Simple Things has teamed up with Collacott Farm to offer one lucky reader and up to five guests and two dogs the chance to win a two-night self-catering stay, worth £850. A Guided Horse Connection™ session is included in the prize, giving guests the chance to discover new things about each other, bringing them closer together – no riding required.

So take a moment, enter our competition, and you could soon be enjoying the benefits that being closer to nature, and in particular horses, can provide in strengthening connection.

For more information and to book, visit: collacott.uk or follow on Instagram at: @collacottfarm

How to enter

For your chance to win a stay at Collacott Farm, worth £850, enter our competition by clicking the button below and answering the following question by the closing date of 9 September 2026. 

Q: Which English county is Collacott Farm in?

Terms and conditions

The competition closes at 11.59pm on 9 September 2026. One winner will be selected at random from all correct entries received and notified soon after. Subject to availability. The prize is a two-night stay at Collacott Farm in north Devon for up to six people and two dogs with a Guided Horse Connection ™ session included. The prize must be taken on a weekend (Fri-Sun) between 01.04.27 and 30.09.27, excluding UK school holidays. Booking must be made directly with Collacott Farm within 28 days of being notified. If the winner cannot be contacted or does not respond with 14 days, a new winner will be selected. Transport to and from the venue is the winner’s responsibility. The winner cannot transfer the prize or swap it for cash. Collacott Farm reserves the right to substitute the prize for one of equal or greater value if deemed necessary. Details of our full terms and conditions are on p125 of the magazine and online at icebergpress.co.uk/comprules. 

Competition | Win a Bag for Life from Wildish

Created to add a touch of adventure to your everyday, Wildish bags are built to last and gather a lifetime of stories

When Oscar and Nell started making Wildish bags seven years ago, it wasn’t really because they wanted to make bags. It was because they wanted to spend more time outside, with other people – the bags were almost an accident. They wanted something that could be thrown in the back of the car, taken swimming, stuffed with sandwiches and could make an ordinary Tuesday feel like a bit more of an adventure.

They couldn’t find what they wanted, so they made it. To their surprise, people started buying them. Every bag is made here in Britain in small batches from organic dry-waxed cotton canvas. They’re designed to last for years, and if something goes wrong, Wildish would rather repair them than encourage you to buy another one. Because the best bags aren’t the pristine ones, they’re the faded ones – the ones that have become part of the family. The ones that make you think, ‘Oh, that’s the bag I took to Skye’ or ‘That’s still got sand in it from Cornwall’ – even if, these days, it mostly just carries your laptop to work.

Over the years, that same thinking has shaped everything else the pair has done. Wildish Club – the community-building non-profit funded by the bag sales – their coffee, clothing, enamelware and Snail
Mail Club all exist for much the same reason, to help people spend a bit more time outside and a bit more time together.

If you’d like to bag a bit of the Wildish spirit then we have a Gouthwaite backpack (above), worth £215, to be won, while two lucky runners up will each receive a Ramsgill crossbody bag (below), worth £75 each. So enter today and you could soon be setting off on your own Wildish adventure. They make the bags. The stories are up to you.

How to enter 

For a chance to win a Wildish bag, enter by clicking the button below and answering the following question by the closing date of 9 September 2026.

Q: What is the name of the bag Wildish are offering as the main prize in this competition?

For more info, visit wildishstore.com or follow on Instagram at: @wildish.uk

Terms and conditions

The competition closes at 11.59pm on 9 September 2026. One winner and two runners-up will be selected at random from all correct entries received and notified soon after. Subject to availability. The winners cannot transfer their prize or swap for cash. Details of our full terms and conditions are on p125 of the magazine and online at: icebergpress.co.uk/comprules.