Or how about an inspiring true life story to motivate your own talents? Maybe an excuse to be whisked away to another city is what you’re after?
Well you’re in luck: while our cinema is closed, we’re still celebrating everything we love about the big screen. We’ve rounded up our favourite feel-good films below, from some classic rom-coms to recent box office hits, there’s something for every age. Dig in!
Image courtesy of Vertigo Films
HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE – 12A (2016)
Running time: 1hr 41 mins
Where to watch: Amazon Prime or if you don’t have a subscription you can rent it from Amazon for £1.99
Director Taika Waititi bring us this hysterically funny film, it will bring you to tears by the end. It is a truly great movie. A boy (Julian Dennison) and his foster father (Sam Neill) become the subjects of a manhunt after they get stranded in the New Zealand wilderness.
Image courtesy of Buena Vista
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU – 12 (1999)
Running time: 1hr 39mins
Where you watch: Disney+, Buy on Amazon for £3.99, Rent on Youtube for £2.49
A high-school boy, Cameron (Joseph Gordon Levitt), cannot date Bianca until her anti-social older sister, Kat (Julia Stiles), has a boyfriend. So, Cameron pays a mysterious boy, Patrick (Heath Ledger), to charm Kat. A modern and brilliant adaptation of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew.
Image courtesy of Disney
QUEEN OF KATWE – PG (2016)
Running time: 2hrs 4 mins
Where to watch: Disney+, buy on Amazon Prime for £9.99
A 10-year-old girl from a slum in Uganda discovers she has a talent for chess and begins to play her way toward the championships. A feel-good, inspiring family movie based on a true story.
Image courtesy of MGM
LEGALLY BLONDE – 12 (2001)
Running time: 1hr 37mins
Where you can watch: Netflix, rent on Amazon Prime for £3.49
This 00s classic is always a must watch when in need of a pick-me-up. See Reese Witherspoon star as the iconic sorority queen Elle Woods as she heads to Harvard Law School.
Image courtesy of Disney
MOANA – PG (2016)
Running time: 1hr 53mins
Where you can watch: Disney+
Disney’s Moana has one of the catchiest soundtracks including a song from Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. It is uplifting and heart-warming and features zero male protagonists for Moana to chase romantically – it is a story of finding your identity.
Image courtesy of Studio Canal
PADDINGTON 2 – PG (2017)
Running time: 1hr 44mins
Where you can watch: Amazon Prime, Showing on CBBC at 5.30pm on Tue 14 April
We can’t think of a more soul-warming animated film than Paddington 2, with an outstanding comedic performance from Hugh Grant as the wily Phoenix Buchanan, this is one for the whole family.
Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY – 15 (1989)
Running time: 1hr 36mins
Where you can watch: Netflix, Rent on Amazon Prime £3.49
A rom-com classic from writer Nora Ephron, starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal as two good friends who have known each other for years, but fear sex would ruin the relationship. (Can men and women just be friends?)
Image courtesy of Entertainment One
BOOKSMART – 15 (2019)
Running time: 1hr 45mins
Where can you watch: Amazon Prime
This is an instant classic. From director Olivia Wilde, Booksmart is sidesplittingly funny and clever. On the eve of their high school graduation Amy and Molly realise they should have worked less and played more. Determined not miss out, they set-out to have one epic night.
Image courtesy of Lionsgate
CHEF – 15 (2014)
Running time: 1hr 55mins
Where can you watch: Amazon Prime or if you don’t have a subscription you can rent it for £3.49. It is coming off Amazon Prime on 20 April.
Pre-warning, always watch this film with food. It will make you incredibly hungry and crave a cuban sandwich. Accompanying the mouth-watering food is a brilliant soundtrack that will have you on your feet. After losing his job at a popular restaurant, Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) attempts to start afresh by fixing up a food truck.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures
GIRL’S TRIP – 15 (2017)
Running time: 2hrs 2mins
Where you can watch: Rent on Amazon Prime for £3.49
Packed with an all-star cast; Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Hadish take a trip to New Orleans to relive their college days. It is a fresh and filthy comedy that will make you howl with laughter.
Favourite scenes: Keep your eyes peeled for the long line of cameo appearances including Mariah Carey and Ne-Yo.
Image courtesy of Momentum Pictures
AMÉLIE – 15 (2001)
Running time: 2hrs
Where to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime for £3.49
We all have those stranger-than-fiction stories we love to share, and Amélie Poulain’s life is peppered with the fantastical. Isolated as a child, this film delves into her romantic world of hidden treasures and Parisian adventures – a perfect (virtual) city escape for now.
Image courtesy of MGM Home Entertainment (Europe) Ltd
WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN – 12 (1988)
Running time: 1hr 40 mins
Where to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime for £2.49
If silly, slapstick and black comedy is more your vibe, try Pedro Almodóvar’s wacky melodrama starring Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas and a gazpacho laced with sleeping pills. Women on the Verge… was an international breakthrough for Almodóvar, and his pop-art sets and eccentric characters create a ridiculous world to lose yourself in.
Image courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home Ent.
STRICTLY BALLROOM – PG (1992)
Running time: 1hr 34 mins
Where to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime for £2.49
If Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby hold a special place in your heart, take it back to where it all began for Baz Luhrmann with Strictly Ballroom. This is the story of a a male dancer who refuses to follow the accepted rules of ballroom dancing and creates his own style of choreography, which infuriates the ballroom dancing establishment. Immerse yourself in sequins, satin and dance floor drama with this flamboyant Australian romantic comedy.
Image courtesy of Lions Gate UK Ltd
AKEELAH AND THE BEE – 12A (2006)
Running time: 1hr 52 mins
Where to watch: Watch on Hulu or if you don’t have a subscription, sign up to a free trial
Perfect for all the family, this is the story of Akeelah Anderson, an incredibly talented 11 year old girl from south Los Angeles with a gift for words – and spelling bees. Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett star alongside Keke Palmer.
Image courtesy of Pathe Distribution
THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES – 15 (2004)
Running time: 2hrs 6 mins
Where to watch: On Channel 4 On Demand
The Motorcycle Diaries is a tale of Che Guevara’s life prior to becoming a revolutionary political figure, and instead follows 23-year-old Ernesto Guevara on a cross-country journey on the back of a motorbike through Latin America in 1952. Travelling with his friend Alberto Granado, the pair’s adventure takes them through stunning landscapes, meeting people from every walk of life that will go on to shape Ernesto’s outlook.
Image courtesy of Pathe Distribution
PRIDE – 15 (2014)
Running time: 2 hours
Where to watch: Watch it on the BFI Player for £3.50
Realising that they share common foes in Margaret Thatcher, the police and the conservative press, London-based gay and lesbian activists lend their support to striking miners in 1984 Wales. Starring George MacKay, Andrew Scott, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West and Bill Nighy, there’s not a wasted minute in this raucous, moving and uplifting film that goes to show the difference we can all make on an individual scale.
Favourite scene: An impromptu dance-off in a Welsh community hall
Image courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
STEP – PG (2017)
Running time: 1hr 24min
Where to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime for £3.49
If finishing Netflix’s Cheer has left a competitive sports / heart-warming documentary hole in your world, enter Step. This is a true-life story of a girls’ high school dance team in Baltimore. Empowered by their teachers, teammates, coaches and families, the film follows their path to the step championship and college applications, and is a Michelle Obama-favourite.
Image courtesy of Warner Home Video Ltd
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM – 12 (2002)
Running time: 1hr 52mins
Where to watch: Watch it on the BFI Player for £3.50
A feminist family comedy that’s held up remarkably well over the years. Bend It Like Beckham follows Jess Bhamra’s summer of football and friendship with Jules Paxton, as both girls rebel against their respective families’ expectations and refuse to conform. Football practise, coach crushes and Sikh wedding preparations collide – with a banging soundtrack and gorgeous shots of London in the sunshine.
Image courtesy of WDSMP UK
INSIDE OUT – U (2015)
Running time: 1hr 42 mins
Where to watch: Watch on Disney+
Set almost entirely inside the mind of an 11-year-old girl named Riley, this Disney Pixar film is creative, clever, heartfelt and beautifully animated. Expect to see emotions as you’ve only ever felt them before, with a timely over-arching message that it’s okay not to be okay. Listen out for Joy played by Amy Poehler, Disgust played by Mindy Kaling and Fear by Bill Hader.
Image courtesy of
20th Century Fox Film Co. Ltd
LIFE OF PI – PG (2012)
Running time: 2 hrs 7 mins
Where to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime for £3.49
Ang Lee directs this adventure drama based on Yann Martel’s best-selling novel. Pi Patel finds a way to survive in a lifeboat that is adrift in the middle of nowhere. His fight against the odds is heightened by the company of a hyena and a Bengal tiger. Pi’s unlikely crew spend 227 days battling against the odds in this visually stunning parable of survival and adaptation.
Let us know your tweet-sized review @richmixlondon, or tweet us if you think we’ve missed a clear contender!
