"Comfort movies are films that we fall back on, that are our kind of guilty pleasures that we can put on, and we've probably seen them a hundred times, and they're like a warm blanket wrapped around us," Johnston said. "They're comfortable. They don't necessarily challenge us too much, but that's kind of why we like them. They give us a feeling of familiarity and of comfort. So they're warm, they're cozy and we can watch them again and again."

Public relations junior Johanna Williams said the familiarity aspect of comfort movies helps alleviate stress during frustrating times.

"I feel like comfort movies are just something that you go back and watch," Williams said. "Like if you're having a bad day, (and) you just need something familiar."

For college students, there are multiple factors that create stressful periods, such as homesickness, the abundance of assignments, finances and much more. Johnston said comfort movies can provide a break from the harsh reality and individuals can temporarily enter an environment of familiarity and comfort.

"Reality is a certain form of horror, and if we need a break from from that, then we shift into a different mode of watching, a mode of comfort and where we want a chance to shut our brains off," Johnston said. "We're watching comfort movies to sort of slow ourselves down, turn our brains off and have a chance to sort of disconnect a little bit from reality."

Williams also said individuals, especially college students, gravitate towards comfort movies during hard times because of the memories associated with them.

"I feel like often they have an aspect that either reminds them of home, whether that's an aspect of the movie, or (it) relates back to a memory that they had (of) watching with their family," Williams said. 

Williams said one of her comfort movies is "Hannah Montana: The Movie," because it reminds her of home and of growing up.

Political science freshman Sam Sewavi said people may turn to comfort films during hardships to find relief and to calm themselves down. She said she tends to gravitate towards romantic comedies when it comes to comfort films.

"I like romantic comedies because I think they’re pretty light-hearted, but they're still interesting," Sewavi said. "Personally, my favorite is '10 Things I Hate About You.'"

Williams said people can choose to watch comfort movies instead of other genres when the world at large is something they want to escape temporarily. 

"I feel like, right now, we're in a time where people are very unhappy with the state of the world, and I think those types of movies are the ones that they're going to be gravitating towards," Williams said.

Johnston said there are a few common characteristics that comfort movies share.

"I think they typically share a sort of light-hearted tone, low stakes in terms of the plot," Johnston said. "A lot of them might be rom-coms. There's a little bit of comedy. In general, it's sort of a low stakes narrative, and (have) those elements of quirky or fun characters that we just kind of like and want to hang out with."

Furthermore, Johnston said filmmakers can use certain strategies to emulate those feelings of comfort.

"I think cliché and genre tropes are powerful strategies to kind of create a comfort film, like 'The Holiday' or any sort of holiday movie," Johnston said. "But the reason why they call it a formula is because it works. X plus Y equals Z, equals a feeling of familiarity and comfort in the audience and something that they can kind of understand how it works, and they can get into the rhythm of it fairly easily."

Filmmakers sometimes go into creating a film knowing that it will fall into the comfort movies category, Johnston said. However, he said sometimes the movie can just end up falling into that category by chance, due to the viewers.

"Sometimes a film is kind of constructed to be, 'Yes, this is going to be cozy,' like a Nancy Meyers film," Johnston said. "(But) a family movie like 'Paddington' or 'Paddington 2,' I mean that character is so lovable and that could be considered a comfort movie by many, but I'm not sure that the filmmakers knew that it would be so popular with such a broad audience. But I think a lot of times those movies can be embraced by all."

Individuals often have their own ideas about what makes a comfort movie special or unique. Williams said they are unique because of the lack of surprises within the plot.

"You know how it ends," Williams said. "I feel like (a) comfort movie is one that you've seen a lot of times. I wouldn't pick a movie that I've never seen before as a comfort movie. You know how it ends, there's not gonna be any surprises for you, no stress."

Sewavi said comfort movies tend to be catered to the viewer’s personal preferences.

"They lie at specifically what your own personal tastes are," Sewavi said. "They're movies that you think you would have written yourself, or watched in theaters when it came out, so it’s unique."