What movie were the residents of the settlement watching in HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the sixth episode of HBO’s The Last of Us.

The sixth episode of HBO’s The Last of Us, entitled “Kin,” does not differ much from the previous episodes in that it still made us reach for the tissues. It finally paid off the journey we have been on all season, with Joel (Pedro Pascal) finally finding his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna). In fact, it turns out that Joel was worried about his brother for nothing, as Tommy is thriving in his new commune in Jackson, Wyoming. 

Tommy’s new wife, Maria is on the council of the community, and all of the many survivors there pull their weight so they can live a relatively normal life, outside of bandit raids and encounters with clickers. The commune is located near a dam and it is quite large, complete with Christmas trees, sheep, and a movie theater. After Ellie (Bella Ramsey) gets settled in and has a fresh haircut, she joins other members of the community and watches a movie. 

The show only cuts to the film quickly, so you might be wondering what exactly they were watching. Let’s take a look at the movie and let you know exactly how you can be like Ellie and watch the film they were watching.

What was the name of the movie Ellie was watching in The Last of Us?

The movie that was playing at Jackson’s movie theater was none other than the Neil Simon classic, The Goodbye Girl. Starring Richard Dreyfuss as Elliot Garfield, Marsha Mason as Paula McFadden, and Quinn Cummings as Lucy McFadden. The film was released in 1977 and was directed by Herbert Ross.

The Goodbye Girl is a romantic comedy that sees Marsha, a single mom who is left alone with her daughter in their Manhattan apartment by her boyfriend Tony, who left for Italy for an acting role. Tony sublets the apartment to his friend Elliot, and after moving in and spending time with Marsha the pair fall in love. He also meets her daughter Lucy, and she likes him too, although she’s afraid of her mother getting hurt again. 

It’s a fun parallel between the surrogate father and daughter relationship between Joel and Ellie, compared to the one between Elliot and Lucy. Richard Dreyfuss was nominated for and won the 1977 Academy Award for Best Actor, making him the youngest actor to win the award at the time. You can rent or buy The Goodbye Girl on the Google Play Store, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video. 

New episodes of HBO’s The Last of Us drop on HBO Max on Sunday nights.