History Main / HappierHomeMovie

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', [[spoiler: The Director is found watching a video of the last time he saw Allison. [[RewindReplayRepeat Over... and over... and over.]]]]

[[quoteright:350: [[Film/AllGoodThings https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/allgoodthings_9289.jpg]]]]

* The opening credits of ''Film/AllGoodThings'' are underlaid with home video footage depicting the protagonist's happy childhood.

* ''Film/JustLikeHeaven'', with David and his wedding videos.

* Played with in the ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "Wedding Videography" when Abed and Annie deliberately create such footage of her just in case she gets murdered or goes missing at some point in the future, satisfying Abed's need for tropes.

* ''Series/MadMen'' has a variation in the season one finale, when Don shows a slideshow of photographs (he's rolling out an ad campaign for the Carousel) of his happy family (which anyone who's watched the show would know is not exactly the truth).

* A variation occurs in an episode of ''Series/HomeImprovement''. After Mark gets dumped by his girlfriend, he reverts to his goth persona and shaves his head. Tim tries to talk with him but Mark refuses to and storms off. After he's gone, Tim looks down at a photo album the family has been working on and picks up a picture of Mark from the first season smiling and happy.
* Season five of ''Series/{{Fringe}}'': While going through his lab, Walter finds a home video of one of the deceased [[spoiler:Etta]]'s birthday parties from her early childhood. He encourages her mother to watch it so she can face her grief, hoping it will prevent her from doing anything outrageous to cope. The scene of her watching the tape and dealing with the death is contrasted with the father going to nearly suicidal lengths to get revenge.
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Clark Kent goes on a self-destructive, rage-filled course after his father Jonathan died. In the episode "Vengeance", he finally snaps out of it and cries when he sees an old video of Jonathan playing with him as a child and teaching him how to drive the tractor.
* Played with in the ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "Wedding Videography" when Abed and Annie deliberately create such footage of her just in case she gets murdered or goes missing at some point in the future, satisfying Abed's need for tropes.
* In the ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "The Road", the victim's fiance is seen watching a video that's a montage of their greatest moments that was played at their engagement party.
* On ''Series/{{ER}}'', after Doug's father dies, he and Mark watch home movies of his family, presumably taken before his father abandoned him and his mother.
* In the ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'', Drew announces that he broke up his engagement to Nicky during his and Oswald's bachelor party. After he gets home he puts in his VCR the homemade porno movie he and Nicky were filming days before. [[spoiler: When she takes off her clothes, Nicky sees how fat she's become and [[DownerEnding blames Drew for regaining the weight she had spent years losing and keeping off, and dumps him.]]]]
* ''Series/{{Motive}}'': In "Undertow", the killer is shown sitting at home alone watching a video of his dead son a rocking horse. The death of his son provided the motive for the murder, and earlier he had been shown disposing of the rocking horse because he couldn't stand to look at it any longer.
* It's not a ''video'', but in ''Series/BreakingBad'', Jesse calls [[spoiler:his former girlfriend's]] cell phone over and over after [[spoiler:she]] dies just to hear [[spoiler: her]] voice telling him to leave a message. The line is eventually disconnected by the phone company (presumably for non-payment). This puts him in a sort of DespairEventHorizon, but then repeatedly dialing the number to hear the message wasn't exactly a healthy way of dealing with it either, and it does prompt him to eventually put some effort into trying to get over it.
* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': In "Hidden Depths", a has been celebrity who used to host a TV quiz show is shown at home watching a video of a command performance where he got to meet Princess Diana. He constantly rewinding and re-watching the part where Diana shakes his hand.
* In the ''Series/MidnightCaller'' episode "Mercy Me," a man watches videos of his now-comatose son learning to walk and playing baseball.
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': Reese is shown sitting on a sofa and watching some of these, featuring his deceased ex-girlfriend. Only, it's not his house. He's waiting for her husband to come home so he can kill him.[[note]]Or possibly dump him in a Mexican prison under a fake name, it's not entirely clear.[[/note]]

[[folder:MusicVideo]]
* The end of Music/{{Ultravox}}'s "Dancing with Tears In My Eyes" features a young couple (of which the male component is played by Midge Ure) and their little girl having fun having at what looks to be a picnic in their back yard. [[TearJerker The last scene is of the little girl playing around in the yard,]] during which the film is [[GoingCritical burned by the nuclear radiation]].
* Music/PhilCollins' music video for his [[CoveredUp take on "A Groovy Kind of Love"]] has hints of this. The "home movies" he's watching are clips from ''Buster'', in which he played a real-life criminal who staged a "Great Train Robbery" during the 60s and spent much of his life on the run.

* Used and subverted for creepiness in ''VideoGame/SilentHill2''.
** The movie that serves as the opening to ''VideoGame/SilentHillShatteredMemories'' falls under this trope by implication. It's rewound and replayed several times consecutively, as if to suggest that the watcher is really hung up on their loss. It's also [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] during the MultipleEndings, [[spoiler: and often {{Subverted}} with a final scene giving a clearer look at what Harry was really(?) like]].
*** Also, the first time the player sees the video being played over and over, they might think it's Harry watching the video because he's so worried about his daughter. After TheReveal, however, [[spoiler:you realize it's the opposite, and that Cheryl is the one watching it obsessively because [[TearJerker she misses her dad so much.]]]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Sanitarium}}'', we see a father doing this after his daughter's death.
* In ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'', you can make Ethan watch a home movie of his dead son -- how many times he watches it (and whether he even makes it all the way through) is up to the player.

* One scene in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare3'' puts you in the POV of a man filming his wife and daughter on vacation in London just before they are [[ApocalypticLog killed by a gas attack]].

* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' animated TV special did a segment where a wolf is watching old home movies of his mate, the last one of which is said mate fooling around with a large animal trap.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'', Jake Morgendorffer transfers old home movies to videotape, but cannot get past one of him falling off his bike as a child that serves to bring back traumatic childhood memories and unresolved conflicts with his father. He sits and watches the same thirty seconds on an eternally repeating loop until well into the night...
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' episode "I Was a Teenage Stimpy", where Stimpy goes through puberty and Ren (acting as a father to him) watches an old home movie of him playing catch with a baby Stimpy.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker''. The Joker and Harley Quinn kidnap Robin and torture/brainwash him into becoming their surrogate child Joker. Joker shows Batman their happy home movie, but it's of Robin StrappedToAnOperatingTable at the Joker's mercy.
* On ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', an old ''JustForFun/HorsinAround'' episode serves as one of these after [[spoiler:Bojack's former costar Sarah Lynn dies]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "Ketchup," Marceline finds an old USB drive and asks BMO to download whatever's on it for her. It turns out to be slides of Marceline when she was a little girl, playing on the beach with her mother.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Played with in ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' when the crew receives a mysterious antique videotape, which leads first to amusing escapades as they try to locate a matching player and then to MoodWhiplash when it turns out to be a happier home movie the amnesiac Faye sent to her future self during the childhood she can't remember. Eventually, however, it becomes the key that unlocks her memories of the past.. only to trigger another MoodWhiplash when she realizes [[YouCantGoHomeAgain that world is gone for good.]]

* ''Film/DeathSentence'' (2007 film with Creator/KevinBacon) -- the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gi0eNvM2Ng#t=5m13s "I am dying" version.]]
* ''Film/StrangeVoices,'' a LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek about schizophrenia, features one of these, about the happy family life the family had before schizophrenia struck.

* A lighter version is the son in ''Film/AllIWantForChristmas'', about before his parents split up.
* ''Film/SoylentGreen'' has something similar in the suicide booths, only with footage from the world before its ecology was destroyed rather than home videos.
* ''Film/{{Matinee}}'' (1993, with John Goodman) combines this trope with [[UsefulNotes/ColdWar Nuclear Nightmare]], because the hero's DisappearedDad is on a boat in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
* ''Film/TheDayAfter'' features one of these, in the form of flashbacks in the mind of the dying-of-radiation-poisoning Dr. Oakes, of the life he had before the nuclear war.
* ''Film/JustLikeHeaven'', with David and his wedding videos.
* This was actually deconstructed on ''Film/{{Rollerball}}'', where the main character manages to get his ex-wife, whom he has seen in old home videos only to see how empty she is and erase said videos.
* ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' features flashes of the home movie of Rob and Beth's trip to Coney Island a month before the events of the film, offered in glimpses as the malfunctioning camera is taping over the trip.
* One scene in ''Film/{{Knowing}}'' has Caleb watching a video of his late mother.
* This is one of Creator/VincentPrice's most effective scenes in ''Film/TheLastManOnEarth''.
* ''Film/{{Philadelphia}}'' ends with home movies of Andrew Beckett's childhood being shown at his funeral.
* In ''Film/{{Akunin}}'', the father of the girl the main character murdered is seen sitting alone watching home movies of her childhood during her funeral.
* Mr. Freeze watches one from his wedding in ''Film/BatmanAndRobin''
* Less dramatic version in ''Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation''. Clark, stranded in the attic while the rest of the family is out shopping, kills time by watching old filmstrips of his childhood Christmases. It skirts the trope because he's looking at older, happier Christmases while the one ''he'''s trying to host is slowly [[HilarityEnsues and hilariously]] falling apart around him.
* In ''Film/{{Super 8}}'' Joe watches a home movie of himself as a baby with his mother.

* The opening credits of ''Film/AllGoodThings'' are underlaid with home video footage depicting the protagonist's happy childhood.

* ''Film/TheFighter'' shows home video footage of the protagonists' happy teenage years.
* In ''Film/TheBoyWhoCouldFly'', Milly's DisappearedDad left one for the family [[spoiler: before killing himself due to his terminal illness.]]
* ''Film/{{Taken}}'' start off with video footage of the daughter's fifth birthday.
* In ''Film/{{Contact}}'', the heroine is shown video footage of her happy childhood.

* The opening of ''Film/DeadMansShoes'' consists of heartwarming video footage of Richard and Anthony as little kids.
* ''Film/RedDragon'' has a very gruesome example of this, as the home videos of the two murdered families not only show them in happier times, but watching them is what made the man who edited them decide ''to kill them''.
* Towards the end of ''John Doe: Vigilante'', as the titular character prepares to kill the man who raped and murdered his wife and daughter, he makes him watch a video that was taken of the three of them.
* In ''Film/DontBreathe'', the Blind Man has a video of his dead daughter running on his television when Money breaks into his bedroom.
* In ''Film/MurderOnTheOrientExpress2017'', Colonel Armstrong is shown in flashback watching a home movie of his (now-dead) family before he commits suicide. [[spoiler:Another flashback shows the murderers watching the same movie as they make their pact to kill Casetti]].
* ''Film/SmartHouse'' has Ben and PAT watch one of younger Ben and Angie cooking with their now-deceased mother.
* Played with in ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'', which opens with a video [[CutenessProximity some children have made]] where they interview Superman at the scene of some of his heroics. The video abruptly cuts off, and after a BatmanColdOpen the audience is shown a world where people have lost hope because Superman is dead.
* In ''Film/ParisTexas'', Travis watches a home movie of the time he and Jane were still together.
* ''Film/DeathSentence'' opens with a montage of home movies showing the progress of the Hume family. After his family seemingly wiped by Billy Darley and his gang, Nick Hume goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge to wipe out the gang. At the end of the movie, with his family now avenged, Nick returns home, watches his own family's movies and awaits his inevitable arrest. Detective Wallis comes to arrest Nick, but informs him that Lucas has moved and will now live. Nick becomes relieved and looks at the television, which shows the family singing on the couch.
* ''Film/IntoTheForest'': This trope becomes SeriousBusiness for two sisters living alone during a society-collapsing BigBlackout. Eva wants to use some gasoline to power the generator and, in part, see their late parents again through home movies, but the more practical Nell argues that they need to save the gas for emergencies, driving a wedge between the sisters. After a serious trauma, Nell relents, and the pair bond over happy home movies.
* ''Film/TheKingOfMarvinGardens'': After [[spoiler:Jason is killed]], Grandpa watches a film of a younger David and Jason playing on a beach.
* In ''Film/DogDays2018'', the elderly widower Walter watches a video from 2002 of his wife receiving their yellow car as a gift.

* The Creator/IsaacAsimov short story ''The Dead Past'' has a variation where, at the urging of a professor, an inventor produces an improved chronoscope (a device that allows you to view images from the past). The professor is horrified that his wife intends to use it to relive scenes from the life of their daughter who died as a child in a house fire, worried that she would be dangerously obsessive and end up living in the past. [[spoiler:He's also afraid that she might end up discovering the potential that it was his accidentally dropped cigar that started the fire that killed her.]]
* In [[Literature/TheHungerGames Mockingjay]], Peeta's brainwashing is heavily repaired after watching videos of his and Katniss's time together.
** Although the videos in question are of the Hunger Games so "happier" is probably not the right word.

* ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'': Callen is introduced as a man with no past. He goes by G, but doesn't even know what G stands for. It was simply on the paper work that accompanied him to the orphanage. The series eventually reveals that Callen was brought to the US with an older sister who died several years after the two were placed in separate orphanages. Later as Callen delves into the mystery of his family and his repressed childhood memories, he finds a video of himself, his older sister, and his father. They were playing together on a swing set in times that were clearly much happier than the childhood that would follow after his mother was murdered and his father, a spy, was forced into hiding, requiring him to abandon his children for their own safety.
* ''Series/HappyDays'': A couple:
** The 1978 episode "Richie Almost Dies" (a show where Richie is critically injured in a motorcycle accident and is clinging to life), where Fonzie's girlfriend Leather plays the mournful ballad, "Find Strength in Your Friends" in the Cunningham living room as a cross-fade to a montage of Richie clips plays. Several are stock footage clips, while others come from the first 4,1/2 seasons of the show.
** The Season 9 opener, "Home Movies," which features Joanie and Chachi in happier times ... not long after which we see them fighting and their first major breakup.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds''
** In the episode "Slave of Duty", [[spoiler:Haley's death]] is pounded home when her son watches home movies of them because he "can't remember her".
** Also, in "Hanley Waters", the [[spoiler:[=UnSub's=] ex-husband]] managed to overcome the grief for their [[spoiler: son]]'s death by watching videos of them together.
** What kind of a "happier" home movie would a serial killer watch? [[spoiler: His abusive father killing his mother in a fit of jealous rage]], of course!
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "And The Children Shall Lead". Captain Kirk shows the children tapes of them playing with their parents to remind them of the happy life they had before Gorgon the Friendly Angel corrupted them.

* The ending of the ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' episode Jordan first appears in, which is actually a video from the actress's real life wedding.
* Happens on ''Series/{{Monk}}'', after a JerkAss jokes about [[DudeNotFunny the title character's wife's death]], Monk watches their Wedding Video alone.
* In one episode of ''Series/HannahMontana'', Miley watches a family Christmas from when her mom was still alive before she undergoes a throat surgery that might leave her never being able to sing again.
* The ending of "I Don't Remember Mama" from ''Series/TheNanny''. Then Gracie finally remembers her.
* Alcoholic Tommy in ''Series/RescueMe'' lost his cousin and best friend in 9/11, his wife and kids have left him and he is in a relationship with a woman he hates who was also married to said friend. After watching an old home movie, he pours vodka all over and nearly immolates himself.

* In one episode of ''Series/FullHouse'', the family watches the video of the now-dead mom arriving home from the hospital with then-newborn baby Michelle.
* In the ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' episode "Selfish", when a young girl goes missing, we see the girl's grandfather watching a video tape of his family playing in the park as he falls OffTheWagon (the granddaughter, in question, being his main reason for having originally sobered up).
** A later episode begins with a video of a young girl singing, which cuts away to reveal that the girl, now in her teens, has become a celebrity singer. The episode ends with the same video clip being played on the news as part of the reporting on [[spoiler:the girl's death.]]

* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' had a less dramatic version of this. Mr. Matthews watches videos of Cory as a kid after Cory gets his driver's license and decides to spend his birthday with his friends instead of his family. The videos appear to be the actor's actual home movies with overdubbed audio by the actors who play Mr. and Mrs. Matthews.

* Parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', where an aged Dr Hibbert is watching old video footage of his patients and lamenting that all he has left now is his tapes (its explained earlier in the episode that he had been videotaping his examination room for years because he suspected his nurse was stealing sponges), with the video he's now watching being the ending of that particular episode. The nurse then walks past the camera with an arm full of sponges.
--> '''Old!Hibbert''': So she WAS stealing sponges!
** Another episode has Patty and Selma accidentally bringing old home movies of the Bouvier family vacations to an island resort, which was Marge's favorite place as a child. She quickly becomes submerged in old memories, and is devastated when Homer brings her back to the resort, and finds it is now an impoverished slum.

* After [[VillainProtagonist D-FENS]] of ''Film/FallingDown'' reaches his ex-wife and daughter's house, he starts looking through some home videos of when they were together. It brings him comfort, but at the same time [[HeelRealization makes him recognize the emotional abuse his wife left him over]]. The audience is treated to another view of the same video in the end [[spoiler:right after he dies]].

* ''Strange Voices,'' a LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek about schizophrenia, features one of these, about the happy family life the family had before schizophrenia struck.

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': Reese is shownsitting on a sofa and watching some of these, featuring his deceased ex-girlfriend. Only, it's not his house. He's waiting for her husband to come home so he can kill him.[[note]]Or possibly dump him in a Mexican prison under a fake name, it's not entirely clear.[[/note]]

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': Reese is shown watching some of these, featuring his deceased ex-girlfriend. Only, it's not his house. He's waiting for her husband to come home so he can kill him.[[note]]Or possibly dump him in a Mexican prison under a fake name, it's not entirely clear.[[/note]]

* The beginning of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'' presents us with a non-death yet nostalgically reminiscent of the events after ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2''.

* ''Film/TheButterflyEffect''

* A video log version of this trope appears in ''Disney/BigHero6'' when Hiro is shown the footage of Tadashi's test runs of Baymax [[spoiler: to pull him out of his HeroicBSOD]].