Movies on Netflix That Are Easy to Write About
The best feelgood movies on Netflix UK
Brighten your spirits with some of the best feelgood films Netflix has to offer
When the world feels like it's on the verge of spinning off its axis – which is all the time these days – sometimes the best way to deal with the stress is to draw the blinds, hit the couch and turn on a movie. Of course, not every movie is designed to provide the dopamine rush to help ease your anxiety; some will exacerbate it. But if you plan ahead, the ideal injection of warm fuzzies to stream into your nervous system is out there – and Netflix has plenty to choose from. From musicals to romantic comedies to animated flicks that appeal to both kids and adults, these 25 movies will cure whatever ails you.
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Best feelgood movies on Netflix
Matilda (1996)
Director: Danny DeVito
Cast: Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, Pam Ferris
Danny DeVito's snappy, kinetic visual adaptation of this Roald Dahl classic fits the cartoon feel of the source material, and the cast is great. It's a modern-day pantomime about childhood solidarity and self-empowerment: the real joy here is the view of generational war, the children's assumption of zero tolerance for injustices inflicted by absurd adults, and the recognition that the big meanies should be punished, by fair means or foul.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Director: John Hughes
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara
Sure, it's got a secondary arc about Alan Ruck learning to stand up for himself, but the real message of John Hughes's good-natured teen comedy is that skipping school to screw around in your hometown once in a while can be more educational than anything you would have learned in class that day. An instant pick-me-up for geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies and dickheads of any generation – and a vicarious thrill for the goody-two-shoes with a perfect attendance record.
The Iron Giant (1999)
Director: Brad Bird
Voice cast: Eli Marienthal, Vin Diesel, Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr
Brad Bird's pre- Invincibles breakthrough about a boy who befriends a metallic alien colossus in 1950s Maine can squeeze a tear from a piece of aluminum siding. But its melancholy tone ultimately serves an emotional antiwar message – the kind of uplift we could all use right now after being plastered to the news all day.
Set It Up (2018)
Director: Claire Scanlon
Cast: Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Taye Diggs, Lucy Liu
Director Claire Scanlon resurrects that tragically neglected genre, the romcom, with this amiable caper. The premise – two put-upon assistants (Glen Powell and Zoey Deutch) try to trick their bosses-from-hell as payback for their own stresses – is relatively well-trodden territory, but it's executed deftly and boasts no little heart. There are even a few genuine laugh-out-loud moments sprinkled among the romantic fare, with Lucy Liu proving that when it comes to comedy she knows how to deliver.
The Farewell (2019)
Director: Lulu Wang
Cast: Awkwafina, Shuzhen Zhao
On paper, Lulu Wang's deeply personal The Farewell sounds like a heartbreaker: It centres on a Chinese-American girl (Awkwafina) traveling to China to say goodbye to her grandmother, who is blissfully unaware that she has terminal cancer. Under the guise of a fake wedding, the family gets together for one last celebration with their matriarch. It sounds grim, but what unfolds is a stirring and affirming story of family, one that finds vibrant life among its ensemble even as the spectre of death looms. This is a film about embracing individualism and celebrating life, and it's a joy from beginning to end… especially when the mid-credits stinger pulls the rug out from under viewers in the best way imaginable.
Amélie (2001)
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Cast: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus
'Feel good' doesn't begin to describe the pure dopamine rush of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's modern fairy tale. The incandescent Audrey Tautou could power every other film on this list with the pure joy she brings to the role of the titular Parisian waitress who wants to help the world, but has to first learn the importance of helping herself.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018)
Hugo
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Lee
Not many Martin Scorsese movies could be described as 'fun for the whole family', but this outlier in the legendary director's vaunted filmography will enrapture nearly everybody. Based on Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret , it's effectively a mash-up of Amélie and Cinema Paradiso , following a young orphan in 1930s Paris (Butterfield) as he sets out to finish a project left behind by his late engineer father that ends up intersecting with pioneering French filmmaker Georges Méliès. And nobody ends up getting whacked!
Paddington (2014)
Director: Paul King
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Nicole Kidman,
Paul King's adaptation of the lovable Peruvian bear's adventures as an immigrant in London has become internet shorthand for feelgood entertainment (even if some curmudgeonly critic recently took the sequel down a peg ), but the films more than live up to their hype. The first Paddington, like its more vaunted sequel, is a silly, sincere tale of a curious critter whose dedication to kindness and decency are downright infectious, a film that is as bighearted as its hero and as sweet as a marmalade sandwich. Bring on the threequel !
Okja (2017)
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Cast: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Seo-hyun Ahn
Like his international breakthrough The Host , Bong Joon-ho's precursor to Parasite is an allegory for capitalism's globally destructive force, only with a much cuter giant beast at its center: a genetically modified pig the size of an elephant. When the docile animal is abducted by a multinational corporation that plans to sell its meat, a young South Korean girl (Ahn Seo-hyun) travels to America to save it. The movie is a bit of a jumble tonally, but it ultimately strikes a more hopeful note than many of Bong's films.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Directors: Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam
Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle
It may lack the satire-with-a-purpose edge of Life of Brian, but Holy Grail is the sillier, funnier film, packed with goofy laughs rather than hey-I-get-that cleverness. It's aged better too, less beholden to notions of revolutionary politics and more reliant on slapstick violence, sudden explosions, surrealist wordplay and scatological asides. You'd be an empty-headed animal food-trough-wiper not to tee it up asap.
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Director: Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
Voice cast: Jack Black, Ian McShane, Angelina Jolie
Jack Black leads a superstar voice cast – in addition to the names above, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and Seth Rogen also lend their larynxes to the proceedings – in this adoring tribute to classic martial arts films. Black plays the titular roly-poly aspiring kung fu master tasked with protecting his homeland from a dastardly snow leopard (McShane).
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman (English dub)
Like My Neighbour Totoro , Hayao Miyazaki's fleet, whimsical tale of a young witch coming of age in Scandinavia is a rare animated adventure almost completely void of conflict, peril or villainy: It is, in essence, a hangout movie about a young girl and her smartass talking cat making friends, exploring nature and getting into mischief. As such, it's a pure delight. And lest that description make things sound slightly dull, there's a climactic incident involving a runaway blimp that ranks among Studio Ghibli's most exciting action set pieces, full stop.
Mixtape (2021)
Director: Valerie Weiss
Cast: Gemma Brooke Allen, Julie Bowen, Audrey Hsieh
Depending on when you were born, 'feel-old movie' might be the more appropriate category for this late '90s period piece about a tween girl learning about the parents she never knew through the music they shared with each other. On the plus side, it's spunky and heartfelt and has a legit great soundtrack, so it might momentarily shock your creaky bones back to life.
Bad Trip (2020)
Director: Kitao Sakura
Cast: Eric André, Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish
Bad Trip takes its cues from prank movies Bad Grandpa and Borat in telling the story of a lovestruck loser (Eric André) road-tripping across the American south in pursuit of true love. But something truly unexpected happens amid the gushes of blood and vomit André unleashes on unsuspecting bystanders who have no idea they're in a movie: he finds genuine compassion. Unlike Sacha Baron Cohen, André doesn't end up exposing the creeps lurking in America's dark underbelly. He unearths kindness and helping hands in even the most ludicrous set-ups. That he does so while spraying bodily fluids everywhere is some kind of miracle that borders on genuinely moving. No film this gross should make you feel this good about humanity.
Someone Great (2019)
Director: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Cast:Gina Rodriguez, Brittany Snow, DeWanda Wise
This romcom might not be the most original or groundbreaking addition to the genre, but sometimes if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Instead, focus on friendship and the chemistry that this film's three female leads have in abundance.
Chicken Run (2000)
Directors: Pete Lord, Nick Park
Voice cast: Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha, Phil Daniels
Those delightful animation nerds at Aardman made their feature-length debut – and first giant hit – with this stop-motion, poultry-based riff on The Great Escape . A group of grinning British chickens partner with a cocky (ahem) American rooster (Gibson) to flee the farm where they're being held captive before the owners can grind them into meat pies. A sequel is coming to Netflix in 2023 – and don't worry, Mel Gibson is no longer involved.
Falling Inn Love (2019)
Director: Roger Kumble
Cast: Christina Milian, Adam Demos, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman
The concept of this film is preposterous: an American woman loses everything but then happens to win a New Zealand inn (?!) which she attempts to renovate and flip with the help of her hunky contractor. Naturally, their relationship gets complicated. Essentially it's a hit of sugar and who can complain about that?
The Little Prince (2015)
Director Mark Osborne
Cast Rachel McAdams, Jeff Bridges, Mackenzie Foy (voices)
This sweet, faithful adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's much-loved book skipped the cinema and landed straight on Netflix. It's a charming mix of computer animation and stop-motion, as it follows a young girl who is told the familiar tale by the book's now elderly pilot, who recalls crashing in the desert where he meets the titular alien.
Always Be My Maybe (2019)
Director:Nahnatchka Khan
Cast:Ali Wong, Randall Park
Netflix continues its romcom reign with this touching and funny film about childhood friends Sasha and Marcus (played by Ali Wong and Randall Park) who have a falling out and don't speak for 15 years. Brought back together when Sasha, now a celebrity chef, returns to her hometown of San Francisco to open a new restaurant, she finds her former friend to be a happily complacent musician still living at home and working for his dad. Naturally, things become complicated... especially when an unexpected actor makes one of the best cameos of the 21st century.
Hairspray (2007)
Director: Adam Shankman
Cast: John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky
What started out as John Waters' most accessible film turned into a Broadway musical and then returned to the screen as an explosion of pure, pastel-coloured joy. Most of the attention went to John Travolta dressing in drag to the play the mother of a dance-loving 1950s teenager, but the big, bright production numbers and pro-integration message make the whole thing a heart-swelling good time.
Easy A (2010)
Director:Will Gluck
Cast:Emma Stone, Penn Badley, Stanley Tuccci
Will Gluck's twenty-first-century take on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is a film that brings the spunk back to the teen comedy. Stone plays Olive, a straight-A student who taps into her school's rumour mill for social clout and financial gain. If you like your teen comedies with real jokes and skewed morals, this one is for you.
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
Director: David Dobkin
Cast: Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens
This is one of those films that on paper really should not work. And, depending on your taste, you might feel that Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is, in fact, a disaster. If you're able to take it at face value, though, then this very sweet musical about two aspiring musicians from Iceland whose life-long dream is to represent their country at the Eurovision Song Contest is a real delight. It features cameos from previous Eurovision contestants, and the songs are genuinely good. Don't believe us? Play 'Jaja Ding Dong'!
Enola Holmes (2020)
Director Harry Bradbeer
Cast Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Helena Bonham Carter
Do we need another film set in the world of Sherlock Holmes? Is it weird for Sherlock to take a back seat in it? Is Millie Bobby Brown a movie star? This light-footed caper answers all those questions – yes, no and hell yes – over two hours of giddying, female-led crime-solving. It's an action-packed, super-sleuthing rush.
Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)
Director: Lasse Hallström
Cast: Richard Gere, Joan Allen
Okay, hear us out: yes, this is a movie about a dog whose owner (Gere) dies suddenly and who keeps vigil for him at the train station where they first met. Not exactly 'feel good' on its face. But for one thing, the dog, a fluffy Akita named after the Japanese word for 'eight', is awfully cute. And secondly, this is schmaltz master Lasse Hallström directing, which means you know it's going to end on a note of uplift. Hope that's not a spoiler.
The best films on Netflix UK
The 30 best movies on Netflix UK
Feeling overwhelmed or uninspired by the choice on Netflix UK? We've all been there. If you can't decide what to watch, try one of these solid gold winners – and take your pick from hilarious comedy movies, reach-for- the-tissues heartwarmers and Oscar-winning nail-biting dramas.
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Source: https://www.timeout.com/film/the-25-best-feelgood-movies-on-netflix
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