10 Feel-Good Movies To Ease Your Existential Dread

There is a time and a place for intense movies, and maybe that time is not right now. Other things are intense, and so if you get the chance to sit down and actually watch a movie, maybe intensity is best avoided. It’s understandable if you feel that way, and so if you’re after comfort, good vibes, and whatever the cinematic equivalent of a nice hug is, then the following movies have got your back.

Many of these aim to be crowd-pleasing, while others are a little more obscure and out-there, and maybe not conventionally entertaining, though undeniably easy to appreciate if you’re in the mood for something a little different. They’re not ranked in any particular order, either, since having to decide between which movie, say, is #6 and which is #7 can be stressful in itself, and stress is not what we’re here for right now.

10

‘Amélie’ (2001)

Image via UGC Fox Distribution

Essentially, Amélie is a movie about being nice. The titular character is withdrawn and has admittedly unconventional ways of being a good Samaritan to strangers, but that’s what she does anyway, and that’s what most of the movie shows her doing. She also has her own arc that involves falling in love and becoming less withdrawn in the process.

It’s all done without too much concern for story, or at least less concern for telling an intricate/unpredictable story than most movies out there. The approach works, and it’s helped by how stylish Amélie is, too. It’s a movie about niceness that also looks incredibly nice, with a bold use of color throughout and an overall energy that makes it feel quite fantastical at times, on top of being romantic and gently comedic.

9

‘My Neighbor Totoro’ (1988)

Image via Studio Ghibli

My Neighbor Totoro is another movie that’s not about too much narratively, and that’s okay. It’s potentially the gentlest and most comforting of all the movies Hayao Miyazaki has directed, which is saying quite a lot, and it’s mostly about two sisters having to deal with a move to the countryside because their mother’s sick. And, while there, they discover fantastical creatures living in a nearby forest.

The animation here is as great as you’d expect, given the director and the fact that it’s a Studio Ghibli production, and My Neighbor Totoro is also great to just sink into, or let wash over you, if you can let a movie do that. The likes of Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke might be better films, but My Neighbor Totoro could well be the most worth checking out if you’re after a comfort watch.

8

‘Hot Rod’ (2007)

Image via Paramoutn Pictures

Thoroughly committed to being as silly as possible for pretty much its whole runtime, Hot Rod is incredibly funny, and even the jokes that sort of miss the mark are endearing in their own ways. It’s a movie that just wants you to have a good time for a while, pretty much encouraging the turning off of one’s brain in the process, and something so purely and wholeheartedly comedic in tone is sometimes just what you need.

It’s an entertaining and chaotic movie about someone who’s obsessed with being a stuntman, but he’s not very good at actually doing stunts without getting hurt or causing destruction. There’s also something to be said about a movie that looked like it was fun to make, since that can rub off on the people watching it, proving sort of infectious, and Hot Rod is that kind of fun-looking (and feeling) film.

7

‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1946)

Image via Liberty Films

Doing everything you could ask for, from a Christmas movie, and maybe even a little more on top of that, somehow, It’s a Wonderful Life is naturally going to be one of the first things that comes to mind when you hear the phrase “life-affirming movie.” And, no, not just because it was the word “Life” in the title, and also not because it’s nothing but good vibes for a couple of hours or so.

The vibes are eventually good, but It’s a Wonderful Life puts you through some turbulent stuff before then, and does the same for its main character, who slowly learns that he has more worth than he initially thought, largely thanks to some fantastical influences. There’s a tremendously rewarding and well-earned ending here, and even 80 years later, it’s still about as uplifting and cathartic as movies have ever gotten.

6

‘Paterson’ (2016)

Image via Bleecker Street

In Paterson, there’s a man named Paterson, and he goes about what seems to be a pretty relaxed life, and it’s one he finds satisfaction in, even if it might look a little boring on the surface. And Paterson, the movie, might also sound a bit boring, if you lay it out in that way, even with that way being accurate to what it is and what it’s going for.

There’s plenty to like and appreciate here, though, once you get on the film’s wavelength. Paterson feels meditative and peaceful, and just being those things ends up being enough to make it genuinely compelling for a couple of minutes shy of two hours. Even watching a person go about a strict routine over the course of a week turns out to be compelling, if you’re a sufficiently good filmmaker (Jim Jarmusch) and equipped with a perfectly utilized Adam Driver.

5

‘Perfect Days’ (2023)

Image via Bitters End

Another movie about a simple lifestyle and a routine being followed, Perfect Days is easy to compare to Paterson, but it’s about a man in a different profession living in a very different environment, too. While Paterson in Paterson was a bus driver, the protagonist of Perfect Days is a toilet cleaner, and his work – plus the other things in his life – take him around Tokyo.

It might sound cheesy, but Perfect Days is a movie about just enjoying and trying to appreciate small or seemingly insignificant things, and also being in touch with one’s emotional state. It manages to be very touching at times, even with the seemingly low stakes, and calling it, ironically enough, one of the most perfect movies in recent memory doesn’t feel hyperbolic.

Image via Universal Pictures

With E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, there was both a noble and successful attempt to make a science fiction movie that could appeal to anyone, all centered on the unlikely friendship between a boy and an alien. The latter gets stranded on Earth, and the former endeavors to help him reconnect with his own kind and get him home, even if that’ll ultimately mean they have to part ways.

In that sense, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is bittersweet, and certainly feels quite sad at times for something that’s ultimately life-affirming, yet the emotional balance is pulled off perfectly here, and it’s the right kind of touching for such a film; emotional without being devastating and all that. If you want to see Steven Spielberg’s sentimental streak at its most effective, that’s exactly what you get here.

3

‘Cinema Paradiso’ (1988)

Since you’re reading (or maybe skimming over) an article about movies right now, there’s a pretty good chance you like movies, right? If you do indeed like movies enough to also enjoy movies that are about movies, then Cinema Paradiso is about as essential a watch as a film could be, since it might well be the ultimate movie about cinema that’s not a biographical/historical movie about the making of a specific film.

It’s more of a coming-of-age movie about a young boy who finds that cinema is a great escape from the hardships of the real world, and a way to connect with people, too. Also, even when finding a connection with others gets hard, later in life, the movies are always there for him, and the love for cinema keeps enduring in one way or another. Cinema Paradiso is also a good deal less cheesy than all those words might make it sound, but it’s hard to break down and analyze such a film; one you’re much better off just feeling instead.

2

‘Toy Story’ (1995)

Image via Pixar Animation Studios

Since the sequels are a good deal more devastating (though not without some sweet to go along with the bitter), Toy Story, as in the original, is the one being singled out here. It’s also got a bit of sadness with the whole arc Buzz Lightyear goes through, which is somewhat heavy-going for an animated family movie, but it doesn’t overwhelm or prove suffocating when the rest of the movie is breezy and comforting.

Toy Story is a fun, colorful movie when you’re young, and to some extent, it’s still that if you watch it as an adult, but then you also appreciate what it’s going for beyond just entertainment once you’re of a sufficient age. Not that it’s deep by the standards of, like, arthouse cinema, though there is still a fair bit here to think about, which is cool considering it’s, at first glance, a kind of goofy kids’ movie about toys that come alive and talk.

1

‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952)

Image via MGM

Singin’ in the Rain is, out of all the classic Hollywood musicals, maybe the easiest to get into and appreciate. It’s got a breezy story about the film industry transitioning from silent movies to talkies, done in a way that’s a good deal more lightweight than, say, Babylon (which does reference Singin’ in the Rain, both the movie and the song of the same name, more than once throughout).

If you don’t usually like broad and cheery old-school musicals, it’s still worth watching Singin’ in the Rain, since it could well be the one to convert you. There’s a focus on comedy here, above all else, and then a bit of romance thrown in for good measure (not an overwhelming amount, though). It’s a film that wants you to have a good time, and one where it’s hard to imagine too many people watching it and not having that sort of experience throughout. It’s inherently (or maybe even intensely, for what it’s worth) likable, as a film.