The best feelgood movies on Netflix UK to watch right now

Director: Danny DeVito

Cast: Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, Pam Ferris

Danny DeVito's snappy, kinetic visual adaptation of this Roald Dahl classic fits the cartoon feel of the source material, and the cast is great. It’s a modern-day pantomime about childhood solidarity and self-empowerment: the real joy here is the view of generational war, the children’s assumption of zero tolerance for injustices inflicted by absurd adults, and the recognition that the big meanies should be punished, by fair means or foul.

Director: Claire Scanlon

Cast: Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Taye Diggs, Lucy Liu

Director Claire Scanlon resurrects that tragically neglected genre, the romcom, with this amiable caper. The premise – two put-upon assistants (Glen Powell and Zoey Deutch) try to trick their bosses-from-hell as payback for their own stresses – is relatively well-trodden territory, but it’s executed deftly and boasts no little heart. There are even a few genuine laugh-out-loud moments sprinkled among the romantic fare, with Lucy Liu proving that when it comes to comedy she knows how to deliver.

Director: Susan Johnson

Cast: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo

To deal with her intense crushes, Lara Jean (Lana Condor) writes secret love letters to the boys she lusts after, which no one is ever meant to see. Of course, these letters end up being sent out and Lara Jean must deal with her feelings, and the implications of the letters, head on. The sequel to the sequel –To All the Boys: Always and Forever – landed on Netflix earlier this year. The romcom is officially back, baby.

Director: Greta Gerwig

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern

It took some guts for Greta Gerwig to direct an adaptation of the classic Louisa May Alcott novel, given how beloved the 1994 version is among a certain generation. But Gerwig’s take has a sass and charm all its own, while retaining the original spirit of Alcott’s family drama. Here, it’s Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen stepping into the role of the March sisters, four tightly bonded siblings navigating young adulthood under the watch of their outspoken mother (Laura Dern) while their father (Bob Odenkirk) is off fighting in the Civil War.

Director: Jon M Chu
Cast: Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace

Before Hamilton made him a superstar in the musical theatre realm, Lin-Manuel Miranda first established himself on Broadway with a lively tribute to the community that raised him. Brought to the screen by Crazy Rich Asians’ Jon M Chu, In the Heights practically bursts off the screen, radiating with love for New York’s Washington Heights neighbourhood and its predominantly Dominican American characters. 

Director: Paul King

Cast: Sally Hawkins, Nicole Kidman, 

Paul King’s adaptation of the lovable Peruvian bear’s adventures as an immigrant in London has become internet shorthand for feelgood entertainment (even if some curmudgeonly critic recently took the sequel down a peg), but the films more than live up to their hype. The first Paddington, like its more vaunted sequel, is a silly, sincere tale of a curious critter whose dedication to kindness and decency are downright infectious, a film that is as bighearted as its hero and as sweet as a marmalade sandwich. Bring on the threequel!

Director: Chiwetel Ejiofor

Cast: Maxwell Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Felix Lemburo

It would take a truly hard heart not to feel inspired by this true-life story of a young boy from Malawi attempting to build a windmill that may save his poor farming village in the midst of a devastating drought. Ejiofor, in his directorial debut, also acts, but the standout is 13-year-old Maxwell Simba as William Kamkwamba, who overcomes multiple obstacles in his quest to make a difference for his community. It’s passionate, heartfelt and the very definition of feelgood.

Director: Harald Zwart

Cast: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P Henson

Call us blasphemous, but the reboot crane-kicks the original out of the water. (If you’re old-school – or simply old – the ’80s version is also streaming.) Credit to Jackie Chan and a lil’ Jaden Smith, who bring a fresh energy and chemistry to their mentor-student relationship. A big-up also goes to whoever decided to switch the setting to China, allowing this iteration to have its own unique atmosphere while telling essentially the same story, of a bullied youngster learning self-respect through the ancient art of kicking jerks square in the face. 

Directors: Kirk DeMicco, Brandon Jeffords

Voice cast: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ynairaly Simo, Zoe Saldana

With a colour palette seemingly syphoned from a literal rainbow and a slate of catchy songs courtesy of Lin-Manuel Miranda, this lively animated musical will brighten the mood of even the crankiest curmudgeon. The emotional storyline helps, too: after an elderly Cuban musician passes away, his talking pet kinkajou (Miranda) teams up with a spunky young girl (voiced by Zoë Saldana) to deliver a final song to his long-lost love.

Director: Bong Joon-ho

Cast: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Seo-hyun Ahn

Like his international breakthrough The Host, Bong Joon-ho’s precursor to Parasite is an allegory for capitalism’s globally destructive force, only with a much cuter giant beast at its center: a genetically modified pig the size of an elephant. When the docile animal is abducted by a multinational corporation that plans to sell its meat, a young South Korean girl (Ahn Seo-hyun) travels to America to save it. The movie is a bit of a jumble tonally, but it ultimately strikes a more hopeful note than many of Bong’s films.

Directors: Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam

Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle

It may lack the satire-with-a-purpose edge of Life of Brian, but Holy Grail is the sillier, funnier film, packed with goofy laughs rather than hey-I-get-that cleverness. It’s aged better too, less beholden to notions of revolutionary politics and more reliant on slapstick violence, sudden explosions, surrealist wordplay and scatological asides. You’d be an empty-headed animal food-trough-wiper not to tee it up asap.

Director: Stephen Chbosky

Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson

Fifth grade isn’t easy for anyone, but it’s especially difficult for ten-year-old Auggie Pullman. Born with a rare facial deformity, he’s mostly avoided the outside world – and when he does leave the house, he wears an astronaut helmet to shield himself from the stares and insults of cruel strangers. Pushed to finally attend elementary school by his hopeful mother (Julia Roberts), he ends up teaching those around him an important lesson about acceptance. The movie edges up against corniness, but ultimately lands in the zone of genuinely heartwarming thanks to the excellent performances at its core, notably from Roberts and Jacob Tremblay as Auggie, who infuses the role with deep, sweet soul.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman (English dub)

Like My Neighbour Totoro, Hayao Miyazaki’s fleet, whimsical tale of a young witch coming of age in Scandinavia is a rare animated adventure almost completely void of conflict, peril or villainy: It is, in essence, a hangout movie about a young girl and her smartass talking cat making friends, exploring nature and getting into mischief. As such, it’s a pure delight. And lest that description make things sound slightly dull, there’s a climactic incident involving a runaway blimp that ranks among Studio Ghibli’s most exciting action set pieces, full stop.

Director: Valerie Weiss

Cast: Gemma Brooke Allen, Julie Bowen, Audrey Hsieh

Depending on when you were born, ‘feel-old movie’ might be the more appropriate category for this late ’90s period piece about a tween girl learning about the parents she never knew through the music they shared with each other. On the plus side, it’s spunky and heartfelt and has a legit great soundtrack, so it might momentarily shock your creaky bones back to life.

Director: Kitao Sakura
Cast: Eric André, Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish

Bad Trip takes its cues from prank movies Bad Grandpa and Borat in telling the story of a lovestruck loser (Eric André) road-tripping across the American south in pursuit of true love. But something truly unexpected happens amid the gushes of blood and vomit André unleashes on unsuspecting bystanders who have no idea they’re in a movie: he finds genuine compassion. Unlike Sacha Baron Cohen, André doesn’t end up exposing the creeps lurking in America’s dark underbelly. He unearths kindness and helping hands in even the most ludicrous set-ups. That he does so while spraying bodily fluids everywhere is some kind of miracle that borders on genuinely moving. No film this gross should make you feel this good about humanity.

Director: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

Cast: Gina Rodriguez, Brittany Snow, DeWanda Wise

This romcom might not be the most original or groundbreaking addition to the genre, but sometimes if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Instead, focus on friendship and the chemistry that this film’s three female leads have in abundance. 

Directors: Pete Lord, Nick Park 

Voice cast: Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha, Phil Daniels

Those delightful animation nerds at Aardman made their feature-length debut – and first giant hit – with this stop-motion, poultry-based riff on The Great Escape. A group of grinning British chickens partner with a cocky (ahem) American rooster (Gibson) to flee the farm where they’re being held captive before the owners can grind them into meat pies. A sequel is coming to Netflix in 2023 – and don’t worry, Mel Gibson is no longer involved.

Director: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesus, Vanessa Hudgens

Any sceptic looking for an entry point to modern musicals could do worse than this adaptation of late Rent scribe Jonathan Larson’s semi-autobiographical play about his early career struggles. Miranda, in his directorial debut, scales down the song-and-dance numbers, emphasising narrative over flash, and the focus remains squarely on the characters – particularly Garfield’s spirited portrayal of Larson, who battles against his own insecurity as he tries to get his first production off the ground.

Director: Roger Kumble

Cast: Christina Milian, Adam Demos, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman

The concept of this film is preposterous: an American woman loses everything but then happens to win a New Zealand inn (?!) which she attempts to renovate and flip with the help of her hunky contractor. Naturally, their relationship gets complicated. Essentially it’s a hit of sugar and who can complain about that? 

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilson

Steven Spielberg directed this adaptation of the fanciful Roald Dahl book about a little girl’s relationship with a big friendly giant. (What, did you think the ‘f’ stood for something else?) Spielberg being Spielberg, he downplays some of the novel’s darker elements, but the movie remains a sweet pleasure, with British actor Mark Rylance giving a terrific, tender, partially CGI’ed  performance as the benevolent colossus.

Director: John Lee

Cast: Paul Reubens, Joe Manganiello

Three decades after his last feature film, everyone’s favourite wacky manchild returns, older but no less naive – nor wacky. On paper, it’s a pretty straightforward story: Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens) travels across the country to celebrate the birthday of his friend, actor Joe Manganiello playing himself, and as he is wont to do, gets himself in and out of a lot of trouble along the way. But as always with Pee-wee, there’s a lot of winking subversion going on beneath the silly surface.

Director: Nahnatchka Khan

Cast: Ali Wong, Randall Park

Netflix continues its romcom reign with this touching and funny film about childhood friends Sasha and Marcus (played by Ali Wong and Randall Park) who have a falling out and don’t speak for 15 years. Brought back together when Sasha, now a celebrity chef, returns to her hometown of San Francisco to open a new restaurant, she finds her former friend to be a happily complacent musician still living at home and working for his dad. Naturally, things become complicated... especially when an unexpected actor makes one of the best cameos of the 21st century.

Directors: Michael Rianda

Voice cast: Abbi Jacobson, Olivia Colman, Maya Rudolph 

It’s Vacation meets The Terminator in this mega-fun, high-energy animated comedy. The titular Mitchell family is on a grudging road trip that’s interrupted by a robot uprising – and as we all know, nothing brings a quarrelling brood together like navigating a digital apocalypse. It’s one of the best family movies on Netflix, with an all-star voice cast that’s somehow even more impressive than it sounds.

Director: David Dobkin

Cast: Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens

This is one of those films that on paper really should not work. And, depending on your taste, you might feel that Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is, in fact, a disaster. If you’re able to take it at face value, though, then this very sweet musical about two aspiring musicians from Iceland whose life-long dream is to represent their country at the Eurovision Song Contest is a real delight. It features cameos from previous Eurovision contestants, and the songs are genuinely good. Don’t believe us? Play ‘Jaja Ding Dong’!

Director Harry Bradbeer

Cast Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Helena Bonham Carter

Do we need another film set in the world of Sherlock Holmes? Is it weird for Sherlock to take a back seat in it? Is Millie Bobby Brown a movie star? This light-footed caper answers all those questions – yes, no and hell yes – over two hours of giddying, female-led crime-solving. It’s an action-packed, super-sleuthing rush.