The next entry in our ongoing series of mood-lifting films is a love letter to Robert Zemeckis’s 1978 comedy about Beatlemania fangirls

When it comes to feelgood movies, it might not surprise some that a pick would come courtesy of Robert Zemeckis. After all, he has delighted us with some of cinema’s most enduring and crowd-pleasing blockbusters. But it’s not Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, nor any of the usual suspects who have secured spots on IMDb’s all-time favourites lists that I return to when I need a pick-me-up. It’s his very first film, 1978’s I Wanna Hold Your Hand: a criminally underrated gem of a debut that flopped at the box office but has always felt like something close to magic for me.

Set in 1964, it’s as much a madcap comedy romp as it is a sincere ode to fangirls, capturing a...