Andy Samberg in Palm Springs, a movie about a guy who lives the same day over and over again. Huh. | Courtesy of Hulu

There’s a reason this summer’s films felt like they were made for quarantine, even though they weren’t.

The movies of summer 2020 mined the horror of isolation, got way too real about life in quarantine, and demonstrated both the promise and limitations of pandemic cinema.

Palm Springs, released in July, was “perfect pandemic viewing” and the “perfect quarantine movie.” Early August’s She Dies Tomorrow was “eerily in sync with the country’s other-people-equals-death mindset,” a “pandemic movie of the moment.” The July release of Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets was a “pre-pandemic fever dream.” First Cow, re-released digitally after a few precious days in theaters in March, was “the perfect quarantine baking film.” Shirley, out in June, was in some respects “the