"What Is Life" was included on the 1976 compilation "The Best of George Harrison", as the closing track, and 2009's "". The song has also appeared in several popular feature films: Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" (1990), during the "May 11, 1980" sequence; Tom Shadyac's "Patch Adams" (1998); Sam Mendes' "Away We Go" (2009); Judd Apatow's "This Is 40" (2012), for which it was also used in advance promotion; and "Instant Family" (2018), directed by Sean Anders. According to Andy Greene of "Rolling Stone": "Today, many people know it merely as a song from all those soundtracks ... It's almost as ubiquitous as 'Let My Love Open the Door' or 'Solsbury Hill'."