The Best Feel-Good Movies to Watch When You Need a Lift

There are nights when the world feels like too much—emails stacking up like Tetris blocks, news cycles grinding away, your brain fried from staring at glowing rectangles all day. And so you retreat into your bedroom and put on a film you’ve probably watched seven times before and you can feel yourself drift away. They just…make you feel all warm and gooey on the inside.

Yes, not all “happy” films make the cut, but a true comfort watch has layers. It’s not just the love story or the laughs; it’s the way School of Rock makes you remember the teacher who once made you believe in yourself, or how About Time sneaks in a gut-punch about appreciating the everyday. It’s Meg Ryan sipping coffee in You’ve Got Mail and making you nostalgic for a New York you maybe never even lived in. These films are our survival kits.

So here’s our shortlist of the movies that never fail to stitch you back together.

The Intern (2015)

The Intern might be Nancy Meyers’ cosiest movie yet. De Niro plays a widower who signs up as an intern at a start-up run by Anne Hathaway, and instead of the obvious clichés, what we get is a friendship that’s all heart and zero condescension. It’s not about reinvention or late-life crises—it’s about respect, patience, and the quiet magic of being seen.

The Intouchables (2011)

The French don’t usually get pegged as masters of the feel-good, but The Intouchables is pure joy. A quadriplegic aristocrat and his caretaker from the projects form a friendship that’s messy, hilarious, and ultimately transformative. It’s never pitying, never saccharine—just alive. This is the kind of film that makes you laugh out loud, then blindsides you with how much you’ll cry at the end.

Ratatouille (2007)

It’s technically a Pixar movie about a rat cooking in Paris, but Ratatouille is secretly a manifesto for anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider. Remy doesn’t belong in the kitchen, but he belongs in his dream—and that’s the whole point. The food looks delicious, the humour lands, but it’s Anton Ego’s monologue about creativity that leaves you unexpectedly misty-eyed. If you’ve ever doubted yourself, this is the antidote.

50 First Dates (2004)

On paper, the movie is a deeply weird premise about short-term memory loss, but it became one of the sweetest rom-coms of the 2000s. Adam Sandler, usually all chaos, dials into tenderness, while Drew Barrymore is luminous as always. The idea of choosing someone every day—even when they forget you by morning—is as close to poetry as Hollywood rom-coms get. Also, the soundtrack is banger after banger.

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

The AOL dial-up tone, the tiny bookshop, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in peak form—it’s rom-com perfection. Sure, it’s dated (nobody’s fallen in love over email since…), but that’s what makes it comforting. Nora Ephron didn’t just make a love story, she bottled up late-90s New York and gave us a warm cup of nostalgia to sip whenever we need it.

About Time (2013)

This one sneaks up on you. You think you’re watching a Richard Curtis rom-com about a guy who can time travel. And then you realise it’s actually a meditation on fathers, sons, and the fleeting beauty of ordinary days. Domhnall Gleeson is awkwardly charming, Rachel McAdams glows, but it’s Bill Nighy who’ll break your heart in the gentlest way possible. A film that basically whispers: slow down, look around, this is the good stuff.

Up (2009)

Yes, that opening montage ruins you. But Up is ultimately a story about adventure in all its messy, everyday forms. A grumpy old man, a wide-eyed kid, a talking dog—together they remind us that even when life derails, there’s still joy to be found in the detours.

Chef (2014)

Favreau ditched the Marvel CGI circus to make Chef, and thank god he did. It’s food porn, yes, but also a story about rebuilding, fatherhood, and finding joy in the basics again. There’s salsa music, Cuban sandwiches, and a grilled cheese that should honestly be in the Louvre. Watch it hungry.

I Love You, Man (2009)

Friendship movies don’t get enough love, which is why I Love You, Man feels so refreshing. Paul Rudd is searching for a best man and stumbles into bromance with Jason Segel’s gloriously weird Sydney. It’s awkward, crude, and laugh-out-loud funny, but under all that, it’s a sweet little ode to the importance of platonic love.

School of Rock (2003)

Jack Black was put on this earth to make School of Rock. Loud, chaotic, and wildly funny, yes—but it’s also weirdly moving. Watching a classroom of anxious kids find confidence through rock ’n’ roll is the kind of thing that never stops working, no matter how old you are.

The Proposal (2009)

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds bantering their way through a sham engagement in Alaska? Instant rom-com comfort. It’s goofy, it’s predictable, but it’s carried by the fact that both leads are ridiculously charming.

Chocolat (2000)

This is one of those films where you can almost smell the screen. Juliette Binoche opens a chocolate shop in a conservative French town, and in come waves of colour, pleasure, and possibility. It’s sensual and whimsical, but also quietly radical—it’s about how joy and indulgence can actually change a community. Also, Johnny Depp in his gypsy jazz phase doesn’t hurt.

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan’s banter still sparkles, and the whole thing is so wise about how messy, funny, and beautiful relationships can be.

Notting Hill (1999)

Sometimes all you need is Hugh Grant bumbling and Julia Roberts saying, “I’m just a girl…” to remind you why rom-coms became an institution. Notting Hill is glossy, sentimental, a little ridiculous—and that’s exactly why it works. The ending in the park is basically a serotonin booster in cinematic form.