Kind and Feel-Good Movie List

May 11, 2020

Get ready to pop some popcorn and settle in for a movie night. The Ohio State Kindness Committee and the Boo Radley Society compiled this list of kind and feel-good movies that are sure to warm your heart and inspire you to spread kindness.

Anne of Green Gables
Anne Shirley is an orphan who has been adopted by farmer Matthew Cuthbert (O.P. Heggie) and his sister, Marilla (Helen Westley). Although the pair were expecting a young boy to help on their farm, Anne endears herself to them and to the local villagers.
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a 1938 American film adaptation of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella of the same name, starring Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who learns the error of his ways on Christmas Eve after visitations by three spirits.
The Bishop's Wife
The Bishop's Wife, also known as Cary and the Bishop's Wife, is a 1947 Samuel Goldwyn romantic comedy feature film directed by Henry Koster and starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven. The plot is about an angel who helps a bishop with his problems.
The Secret Garden
A young, recently-orphaned girl is sent to England after living in India all of her life. Once there, she begins to explore her new, seemingly-isolated surroundings, and its secrets.
A Dog of Flanders
The emotional story of a boy, his grandfather, and his dog. The boy's dream of becoming a great classical painter appears shattered when his loving grandfather dies.
The Blind Side
The Blind Side depicts the story of Michael Oher, a homeless African-American youngster from a broken home, taken in by the Touhys, a well-to-do white family who help him fulfill his potential. At the same time, Oher's presence in the Touhys' lives leads them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own.
Dolphin Tale
Dolphin Tale is a sweet, feel-good film about a boy who helps save a dolphin, and how the dolphin then helps save him. When we meet young Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble), he has withdrawn into a shell and is a remote loner.
Batkid Begins
A 2015 American documentary film co-produced (with Liza Maek), co-written (with Kurt Kuenne) and directed by Dana Nachman. The documentary follows Miles Scott, an American child and cancer survivor. His wish was to be "Batkid", a sidekick of the eponymous comic book superhero Batman.
Pay It Forward
A 2000 American drama film directed by Mimi Leder. The film is based loosely on the novel of the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde. It is set in Las Vegas, and it chronicles 12-year-old Trevor McKinney's launch of a goodwill movement known as "pay it forward".
A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
Based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Lloyd Vogel.
Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Filmmaker Morgan Neville examines the life and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved host of the popular children's television show Mister Rogers Neighborhood.
The King's Speech
The story of King George VI, his impromptu ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer. Britain's Prince Albert (Colin Firth) must ascend the throne as King George VI, but he has a speech impediment.
Angels in the Outfield
Roger, who has lost his mother, is living separated from his father. As he and his friend J.P. are fans of the California Angels baseball team, he has got only two dreams: living together with a real family and seeing the Angels winning the Pennant.
Wonder
The incredibly inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman, a boy with facial differences, that, up until now, have prevented him from going to a mainstream school. When he enters the fifth grade, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid - but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. His relatives and the school community all struggle to discover their compassion and acceptance.
Charlotte's Web
Based on the beloved children's novel by E.B. White, a young girl named Fern rescues a runty piglet, raises it as her own and names him Wilbur. But when Wilbur finds his life is in danger of being turned into ham and pork, he quickly befriends a tiny yet gentle spider named Charlotte.
Up
Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Junior Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life. UP takes audiences on a thrilling journey where the unlikely pair encounters wild terrain, unexpected villains and jungle creatures.
The Peanuts Movie
The film sees Charlie Brown trying to improve his odds with the Little Red-Haired Girl, while Snoopy writes a book about the World War I Flying Ace as he imagines himself as a legend trying to save his love interest and fellow pilot Fifi from the Red Baron and his army.
Kindness Is Contagious
Interspersing the practical with the theoretical, the documentary explores the impact and infectiousness of human kindness and compassion.
Inside Out
Inside Out is a film about an 11-year-old girl named Riley who moves across the country from Minnesota to San Francisco with her parents. Riley experiences a transformation in her mind and in who she is as a person as she tries to adjust to her new life in San Francisco and to the difficult process of growing up.
I Am Sam
A mentally handicapped man fights for custody of his seven-year-old daughter and in the process teaches his cold-hearted lawyer the value of love and family.
Elf
The film centers on Buddy, a human who was adopted and raised by Santa's elves. He learns about this and heads to New York City to meet his biological father while also spreading Christmas cheer in a world of cynics in the process.
It's A Wonderful Life
An angel is sent from heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed. George Bailey has spent his entire life giving of himself to the people of Bedford Falls.
The Grinch
The Grinch tells the story of a cynical grump who goes on a mission to steal Christmas, only to have his heart changed by a young girl's generous holiday spirit.
Remember the Titans
Remember the Titans is a film based on the true story of Coach Herman Boone, who tries to integrate a racially divided team. In 1970, the Supreme Court ruling in Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education permits busing students to achieve racial integration.
Lucas
A socially inept fourteen-year-old experiences heartbreak for the first time when his two best friends - Cappie, an older-brother figure, and Maggie, the new girl with whom he is in love - fall for each other.
About A Boy
Will Freeman is a hip Londoner who one day realizes that his friends are all involved with the responsibilities of married life and that leaves him alone in the cold. Passing himself off as a single father, he starts to meet a string of single mums, confident in his ability to leave them behind when they start to ask for a commitment. But Will's hope of a continued bachelorhood is interrupted when he meets 12-year old Marcus, in many ways his complete opposite.
My Best Friend's Wedding
When a woman's long-time friend reveals he's engaged, she realizes she loves him herself and sets out to get him, with only days before the wedding.
The Lion King
A lion cub crown prince is tricked by a treacherous uncle into thinking he caused his father's death and flees into exile in despair, only to learn in adulthood his identity and his responsibilities.
Akeelah and the Bee
Akeelah Anderson, an 11-year-old girl from south Los Angeles, despite the objections of her mother Tanya, enters various spelling contests, for which she is tutored by the forthright Dr. Larabee. Akeelah's aptitude earns her an opportunity to compete for a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee and in turn unites her neighbors who witness the courage and inspiration of an amazing girl.