If you want to watch a feel-good movie, then pull up a chair and look to Netflix to give you that fix. Netflix may not have a feel-good button in its movie section, but the streamer knows that its subscribers are looking for some uplifting content. You won’t find tragedies or heartbreaking dramas here. These are the movies that are life-affirming.
The latest feel-good movies on Netflix include an original film, The Life List, as well as a classic sports drama, Rudy, and an underrated flick called Last Christmas. But that’s just the top of the list. Keep scrolling down to find all of the best feel-good movies on Netflix right now. Almost any of these films can help put you in a good mood.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
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Last Christmas2019
The Life List (2025)
Starting out a movie with the aftermath of a parent’s death may not sound like a feel-good experience, but The Life List isn’t about wallowing in grief. Before she died, Elizabeth (Connie Britton) stripped her daughter, Alex (Sofia Carson), of her cushy job and put her inheritance on the line. Elizabeth felt that Alex was settling in life, and challenged her daughter to complete the list of things she wanted to do when she was 13 to claim what she’s owed. Alex has one year to finish the list, but the hardest item to check off might be finding her one true love. She realizes pretty quickly that she doesn’t love her current boyfriend. Finding the right man proves to be a lot harder.
Rudy (1993)
71%
7.5/10The full veracity of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger may have been questioned by some, but no one can deny that Rudy is an all-time great feel-good movie. Certain parts of the movie took creative liberties with what happened, but the conclusion of Rudy’s story is more or less accurate.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy’s Sean Astin was never better than as the title character of Rudy. Because Rudy didn’t have an athletic build or an academic mind, his dream of going to Notre Dame and playing for the football team seemed like an impossibility. But following the death of his close friend, Rudy dedicates himself to seeing that dream through to the end. He hits a lot of setbacks along the way, but it’s impossible not to root for Rudy to make his dream into a reality.
Last Christmas (2019)
50%
6.5/10There aren’t many movies that are based on a song by Wham!, but Last Christmas lives up to that odd billing. Critics didn’t like it very much, but almost everyone praised Game of Thrones‘ Emilia Clarke as Kate Andrich. Kate is recovering from a near life-ending health ordeal, but she knows that she isn’t living up to her full potential.
That’s when Kate meets Tom Webster (Henry Golding), a man she finds charming and unusual. He’s the kind of guy that she’d love to give her heart to, if he didn’t disappear from her life at odd intervals. But Tom’s influence is enough for Kate to start putting her own life back on track while hoping that she may find love as well.
13 Going on 30 (2004)
57%
6.3/10The year 2004 was when Jennifer Garner was at her peak in the rom-com scene. 13 Going on 30 casts Garner as the older version of Jenna Rink (Christa B. Allen). Much like Tom Hanks’ Big, Jenna makes a heartfelt wish to be 30 and awakens to discover that it’s been granted by skipping over the 17 years in between.
Although Jenna is outwardly successful, she discovers things about her life that give her pause. The future Jenna isn’t the good person that young Jenna tried to be, and she’s estranged from her oldest friend, Matty Flamhaff (Mark Ruffalo). However, Jenna is determined to put her life back on track and rediscover the romantic spark she once shared with Matty.
Race (2016)
56%
7.1/10Imagine being so good at a sport that you set records at the Olympics and take home the gold. Jesse Owens (Stephan James) did more than that in 1936. He came to Germany during the Nazi reign and proved that their racial superiority myths were just that. Plus, he did it in front of Hitler. Race doesn’t pick up Owens’ story there, but it does get to it.
This biopic demonstrates that Owens’ biggest battle wasn’t at the Olympics; it was back at home as he trained relentlessly to become a world-class athlete while dealing with racism in his own country. Ted Lasso‘s Jason Sudeikis co-stars as Larry Snyder, the former competitive runner who helps train Owens, while Game of Thrones‘ Carice van Houten has a small role as Nazi propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. And even Leni is impressed by Owens’ accomplishments, much to the disdain of Joseph Goebbels (Barnaby Metschurat).
The World's Fastest Indian (2005)
68%
7.8/10The title of The World’s Fastest Indian is a little misleading, as it’s not referring to the main character, Burt Munro. Rather, it’s Munro’s customized Indian Scout motorcycle that made him a folk legend in his native New Zealand. For this feature film, The Silence of the Lambs‘ Anthony Hopkins plays Burt as an elderly thrill-seeker who has already done all he can in his home country. What he really wants is to show off his bike’s speed on an American racetrack.
After suffering a heart attack, Burt is even more determined to fulfill his life’s dream. After making the journey to America, Burt faces a number of complications that could have ended badly. Instead, he perseveres and moves closer to his goal of achieving speeds that few others have.
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
85%
8.3/10It would take a stone-cold heart to remain unmoved by a man like Fred Rogers. For decades, he was the host of the beloved PBS children’s program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which he used to gently teach kids how to be kind and generous people.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is a behind-the-scenes look into Rogers’ show, as well as an intimate portrait of the man himself. Fred Rogers practiced what he preached, and he dedicated his life to educational programming for children. This is a very moving film, and it only makes us wish that Mister Rogers was still with us. The world could surely use more men like him.
The Long Game (2024)
65%
6.6/10Does Dennis Quaid star in anything anymore that isn’t an inspiring drama of some kind? Because he’s been in a lot of those in the last few years. Quaid may have the top credit in The Long Game, but he’s actually second banana to Jay Hernandez in this true story. In Texas during the ‘50s, anti-Mexican bias is so prevalent that even the superintendent of schools, JB Peña (Hernandez), is denied admission to a golf club despite his good buddy, Frank (Quaid), vouching for him.
When JB’s ambition is denied, he turns his attention to a group of young Mexican-American caddies who are so eager to learn how to play golf that they built their own mini golf course. This inspires JB, and later Frank, to help guide the teenagers and give them the lessons they need to succeed in golf and in life.
Love at First Sight (2023)
55%
6.8/10Do you believe in love at first sight? It’s hard enough to find any person who will return your love, much less make an instant connection. But it does make for some fun romantic comedies. Netflix’s Love At First Sight centers on Hadley Sullivan (The White Lotus‘ Haley Lu Richardson) and Oliver Jones (Ben Hardy), a pair of strangers who meet at an airport and spend time together before getting on a long flight to London.
Fate steps in to give the two a push towards love by moving Oliver into the vacant seat next to Hadley during the flight. From there, it’s pure love right until the duo lose track of each other in customs. Hadley realizes that they may have had something special, and the only question is simple: How far will she go to find Oliver again?
The Greatest Night in Pop (2024)
69%
7.9/10There’s something almost quaint about the idea of the biggest music stars in the world coming together to record a charity song to combat a famine in Africa. But it really happened in 1985 with the recording of We Are the World. Some of those superstars, including Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Kenny Rogers, and Harry Belafonte, are no longer with us.
One of the best Netflix movies of 2024 so far, The Greatest Night in Pop features an intimate look at the chaotic recording session that brought all these acts into the same room. Some participants, including Bruce Springsteen and Lionel Richie, participate in new interviews as they share their memories of the night they spent together almost 40 years ago.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023)
The Redeem Team (2022)
76%
7.4/10Hustle (2022)
68%
7.3/10Wine Country (2019)
56%
5.4/10The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)
68%
7.6/10The Half of It (2020)
74%
6.9/10Dumplin' (2018)
53%
6.5/10Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
50%
6.5/10Concrete Cowboy (2020)
67%
6.3/10The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)
55%
7.3/10Set It Up (2018)
62%
6.5/10Work It (2020)
58%
6.1/10The Princess Switch (2018)
6/10Always Be My Maybe (2019)
64%
6.8/10To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018)
64%
7/10
