24 Best Feel-Good Movies To Stream Now
Stream any movie from this list if you’re feeling down and have an hour or two to spare
And just like that, it’s July. In June, Metro Manila downgraded to a general community quarantine, and more and more businesses have started to open up, but that doesn’t mean that the threat of coronavirus has disappeared or subsided—the country has close to 40,000 cases, with hundreds of new ones coming in each day. The pandemic continues to wage outside our homes so it’s important that we also continue to stay home as much as possible (and when we do go out, it’s even more important to wear masks!).
If your heart is feeling heavier than usual and you have an hour or two to spare, here are 24 feel-good movies, from old Hollywood classics to Filipino flicks.
The Holiday
What feel-good listicle wouldn’t include a Nancy Meyers film? We’ll kick off this list with The Holiday, a Christmas romcom that deserves to be watched even when we’re five months away from the holidays. Starring Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, and Jack Black, The Holiday follows two women—one from the U.S. and another from the U.K.—who swap homes after a bad breakup with their respective boyfriends. Love in a foreign land, naturally, ensues.
The Holiday is available to stream on Netflix.
Set It Up
Set It Up is a modern romcom with all the comfort and coziness of a good ol’ chick flick from the 2000s. Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell play the assistants of two high-powered executives (played by Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs!), whom they set up with each other, and they fall in love with each other in the process.
Set It Up is available to stream on Netflix.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
The film adaptation of Jenny Han’s highly successful book series, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before tells the story of Lara Jean (Lana Condor), whose secret letters to the boys she has—or had—crushes on are mysteriously mailed out. The cool, popular guy at school, Peter (Noah Centineo), asks her to be his fake girlfriend, but the feelings stop being pretend.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is available to stream on Netflix.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
In this charming 80s teen classic, Matthew Broderick plays the titular role, as Ferris pretends to be sick so he could skip school and spend a day with his girlfriend (Mia Sara) and his best friend (Alan Ruck), all as he tries to outwit his school principal.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is available to stream on Netflix.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
If you’ve never seen a Bollywood film, consider this your order. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as they play best friends Rahul and Anjali. She’s in love with him, but he’s in love with someone else, Tina. Years later, Tina’s daughter attempts to unite Rahul and Anjali, in honor of her mother’s dying wish.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is available to stream on Netflix.
Wanted: Perfect Mother
It’s incredibly hard for me not to recommend Wanted: Perfect Mother especially when talking about feel-good movies because to me, this film is the epitome of a feel-good Filipino movie. Wacky supporting characters? Check. Charming leads? Check. A musical number at the beach? Check. In Wanted: Perfect Mother, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid plays Sam, an aspiring vocalist who becomes the music teacher of one of Dante (Christopher de Leon)’s children. It’s The Nanny meets The Sound of Music.
Wanted: Perfect Mother is available to stream on iWant.
Otherhood
In Otherhood, three suburban moms, all with very suburban mom names—Carol (Angela Bassett), Gillian (Patricia Arquette), and Helen (Felicity Huffman)—travel to New York City to reconnect with their sons, especially after feeling forgotten during Mother’s Day.
Otherhood is available to stream on Netflix.
The Half of It
Alice Wu’s newest work stars Leah Lewis as Ellie, a quiet straight-A student who is hired by—and becomes friends with—the school jock to help woo the most popular girl in school, whom she ends up having feelings for, too. But that’s just the half of it.
The Half of It is available to stream on Netflix.
It Takes Two
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen star in It Takes Two alongside Kirstie Alley and Steve Guttenberg. They play Amanda and Alyssa, two identical 9-year-olds—one orphaned, one incredibly wealthy—who meet at summer camp and decide to switch places to get Alyssa’s dad and Amanda’s social worker together.
It Takes Two is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Leap Year
Leap Year stars Amy Adams and Matthew Good as Anna, a type A real estate worker, and Declan, an Irish innkeeper. Anna flew to Ireland to ask her boyfriend—who is not Declan—to accept her wedding proposal on leap day, a Celtic tradition in which men cannot refuse a woman’s proposal for marriage. Of course, fate has other plans, as Anna realizes she has feelings for Declan. This film isn’t exactly the very best, but if anything, watching two gorgeous actors like Adams and Goode act alongside each other makes it worth it.
Leap Year is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Just Like Heaven
Elizabeth Martinson, played by Reese Witherspoon, is convinced she’s alive. David Abbott, played by Mark Ruffalo, believes her to be a ghost haunting his new apartment (it had been hers), seen only by him. After failed exorcism attempts, they begin to bond and seek out a psychic in the form of a bookstore clerk to figure out what happened to her.
Just Like Heaven is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Down With Love
It’s 1962, and feminist writer Barbara Novak (Renée Zellweger) has become a famous advice author teaching women things like enjoying sex without commitment and replacing the need for a man with chocolate. She and Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor), a playboy journalist, start out as industry enemies due to their differences, until eventually love blossoms between them.
Down With Love is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Funny Girl
Funny Girl, the film that shot an already-famous Barbra Streisand to even greater fame, is a 1968 movie musical loosely based on the life and times Fanny Brice, a Jewish comedienne and actress who makes it big in show business.
Funny Girl is available to stream on Netflix.
Crazy Rich Asians
What’s more feel-good than watching a bunch of crazy rich Asians deck it all out in Singapore? It’s glitzy, it’s grand, and it’s glamorous. In the film adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s popular novel, viewers meet Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) and Nick Young (Henry Golding) as they travel to attend a wedding, where she discovers that his family is among the richest in Singapore.
Crazy Rich Asians is available to rent or buy on Apple Movies.
Emma.
This re-imagined adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1815 novel is uproarious and silly, capturing the essence of Austen’s beloved comedy about a young woman who meddles in the love lives of her friends.
Emma. is available to rent or buy on Apple Movies.
Austenland
Whether you’ve always fancied yourself to meet your own Mr. Darcy or you’ve never touched a single Jane Austen book in your life, you will finish Austenland with a giant smile on your face. In this 2013 comedy produced by Stephenie Meyer (yes—that Stephenie Meyer!), Keri Russell plays Jane Hayes, an American completely obsessed with Jane Austen, who spends her entire life savings on a trip to a Jane Austen-themed resort in England in search for her own Mr. Darcy.
Austenland is available to rent or buy on Apple Movies.
Love, Simon
This 2018 teen romcom-drama is based on the 2015 novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, following the story of Simon Spier, a 17-year old high school student who hasn’t told either his family or friends that he’s gay, and has fallen in love with an anonymous classmate online.
Love, Simon is available to rent or buy on Apple Movies.
The Princess Diaries
In this 2001 cinematic classic (yep—we’re claiming it!), Anne Hathaway dazzles in her first film role ever as Mia Thermopolis, the 16-year old heir to the throne of a tiny European country called Genovia, ruled currently by her grandmother, Clarisse Renaldi, played by Julie Andrews. Mia learns how to be a princess while still juggling being a normal student at school.
The Princess Diaries is available to rent or buy on Apple Movies.
The Parent Trap
It’s no secret that The Parent Trap is my ultimate feel-good film. It’s got a talented little Lindsay Lohan in the lead, acting alongside Natasha Richardson, Dennis Quaid, and herself, but in a different accent. The Parent Trap, similar to It Takes Two, tells the story of identical young girls (only this time they’re actually sisters) who switch places in order to get their parents together.
The Parent Trap is available to rent or buy on Apple Movies.
Mamma Mia!
Greek seascapes, tanned skin, ABBA songs. What more could anyone want? In Mamma Mia!, Sophie Sheridan is getting married and there’s nothing she’d like more than her father to walk her down the aisle. The only problem is she’s not sure which of her mom’s three former lovers is actually her dad, so she invites all three to her wedding! Insert ABBA song here.
Mamma Mia! is available to stream on Netflix, or rent or buy on Apple Movies.
Enchanted
Enchanted features one of Amy Adams’ strongest performances (in close competition with Camille Preaker in Sharp Objects, but we’re talking about feel-good stuff here). This 2007 Disney film is a fairy-tale come to life, when Giselle (Adams) is literally taken from the animated fairy-tale kingdom of Andalasia, and is thrust into New York City, where she meets Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a divorce attorney who does not believe in true love or happily-ever-afters.
Enchanted is available to stream on Netflix, or rent or buy on Apple Movies.
Kung Ako Na Lang Sana
Kung Ako Na Lang Sana tells the story of Emy and Vincent, two college friends whose friendship grows deeper as they navigate the world of adulthood. They see each other through relationships and jobs, ex-friends and new friends, and hide their feelings for each other. If you’re a fan of pining in your onscreen relationships, then this movie is for you. I know it is for me!
Kung Ako Na Lang Sana is available to stream on iWant.
Roman Holiday
The thought of Roman Holiday has always astounded me, because two of the most attractive people in old Hollywood—Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn!—are paired together in a charming romcom about a princess and a reporter. It always feels like a beautiful dream, and in a way, it is.
Roman Holiday is available to rent or buy on Apple Movies.
It Takes a Man and a Woman
It Takes a Man and a Woman, the third installment in the Miggy-Laida trilogy, is, without a doubt, the series’ best film. Even if you haven’t seen the previous two, this one can stand alone and will you feeling giddy and happy, due greatly to John Lloyd Cruz and Sarah Geronimo’s chemistry with each other. Trust us, you wouldn’t want to skip this one.
It Takes a Man and a Woman is available to stream on iWant.
Photos from IMdB and Rotten Tomatoes