Hollywood has been making comedies and heart-tugging sagas for over a century, but the best feel-good movies have a little something special: the game-winning goal, the ultra-romantic kiss, the musical number that takes you totally by surprise. Ahead we’ve gathered 47 titles that are good movies to watch when you need a pick-me-up and a guaranteed happy ending.

City Lights (1931)

God help you if you can make it through the final scene of this silent-film classic with a dry eye. In between bouts of uproarious slapstick, his Little Tramp befriends a blind woman who sells flowers on the street. What little he has, he gives to her, which leads her to believe he must be a wealthy and powerful person—a fiction the Tramp indulges. When her sight is restored at the end of the film, she sees the Tramp for what he really is—taking pity on him, but not recognizing him. She places a coin in the poor man’s hand, and the touch sparks her recognition. Her benefactor this whole time was a man in desperate need himself. —Anthony Breznican

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Six years before he’d steal hearts in It’s a Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart starred as another lovestruck everyman whose life gets upended upon meeting the One. Ernst Lubitsch’s ensemble comedy centers on employees at a general store in Budapest run by Mr. Matuschek, portrayed by Frank Morgan, best known for playing the titular Wizard of Oz the year prior. But the story really centers on the romance secretly playing out between Stewart’s Alfred and the shop’s new clerk, Klara (Margaret Sullavan). Although they despise each other at work, they’ve been unknowingly penning love letters to each other under pseudonyms. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Nora Ephron adapted The Shop Around the Corner into another feel-good movie about falling in love: 1998’s You’ve Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. —Savannah Walsh

The Bishop’s Wife (1947)

Every holiday season I gorge on this treacly confection of forbidden love: between the angel Dudley (Cary Grant) and the mortal Julia (Loretta Young), wife of the local bishop (David Niven). The enchanting nighttime skating scene encapsulates the film’s essence when taxi driver Sylvester (James Gleason) tells his passengers—skaters Dudley and Julia—that they needn’t bother with the fare: “My pockets are just bulging with the coins of self-satisfaction…. because you and the little lady have restored my faith in human nature.” —David Friend

Harvey (1950)

In this fanciful small-town comedy, James Stewart is an amiable local oddball who believes he is accompanied at all times by a six-foot-something invisible rabbit named Harvey. Filmmaker Henry Koster (who also, coincidentally, directed The Bishop’s Wife) has crafted a lighthearted variation on the Don Quixote story, romanticizing the role that terminal dreamers play in making others see the world not as it truly is but as it could or ought to be. The moral of Harvey is delivered by a cab driver who regularly takes patients to and from the mental health clinic. When Stewart’s character finally goes in for his treatment, the cabbie declares: “After this, he’ll be a perfectly normal human being…and you know what stinkers they are!” —A.B.

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

This ebullient musical was weirdly underrated in its era, which might be yet another reason it’s been so celebrated since—everybody loves an underdog. Sure the songs are famous, and the dancing from Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and Debbie Reynolds is dazzling. But the Hollywood in-jokes, the swooning romance, and the “lets put on a show!” energy make it the most uplifting musical of its era. —Katey Rich

Roman Holiday (1953)

I shouldn’t have to sell you on the premise of Audrey Hepburn gallivanting around Rome with Gregory Peck (for which she received her first and only Oscar as best actress!). But for the modern Hepburn head who finds a dated mainstay like Breakfast at Tiffany’s too queasy for comfort, it is with my distinct pleasure to inform you that every inch of Roman Holiday ages well. What a relief, to watch the trope of the off-duty princess and her unwitting chaperone play out to wholesome ends. It’s a deservedly iconic film for all the romantic escapism, but it’s also easy to forget that Roman Holiday, which features some truly top-shelf slapstick comedy, is also very, very funny. —Delia Cai

Lilies of the Field (1963)

This is the role that won Sidney Poitier the best-actor Oscar, and 60 years have done nothing to diminish the charisma he brings to the role of Homer Smith, an itinerant handyman who befriends a group of refugee nuns and helps them construct a church in the middle of nowhere.

Though a story about overcoming racial differences, Lilies of the Field is remarkably free of cringe. It sees its characters as individuals first, and gradually each of them comes to see each other that way too, not so much looking past their respective differences of race, faith, or nationality, but sharing them, blending their traditions, and finding common cause that bonds them. —A.B.

Harold and Maude (1971)

If you glanced at a plot summary of Harold and Maude, you might gasp: A death-obsessed teen boy falls for a free-spirited 79-year-old woman. Harold is frittering his youth away staging realistically gruesome fake suicides. Then he meets the magnificently salty Maude, close enough to the grave to teach him the value of life. Hal Ashby’s flop flipped itself around into a cult classic and one of history’s best rom-coms, as generations of goths and weirdos embraced Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon’s captivating coupling. —Joy Press

Grease (1978)

From that dreamy oceanside opening to those final moments of changity-chang-shoo-bops, Grease remains one of the most upbeat movie musicals to grace the screen. (And its 1982 sequel starring Michelle Pfeiffer is an irresistible guilty pleasure.) The forbidden cross-clique love story between Olivia Newton-John’s hopelessly devoted Sandy and John Travolta’s greased-up Danny drives Randal Kleiser’s adaptation of the hit stage musical. Some of the show’s harder edges, like Stockard Channing’s stirring rendition of “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” and her pregnancy scare, only serve to bolster the movie’s overall jubilance when the Rydell class of 1959 breaks out into one final song at the end-of-year carnival. And the less attention you pay to the movie’s messaging about Sandy’s makeover, the more fun there is to be had. —S.W.

Gregory’s Girl (1981)

Set at a Scottish high school and made for a miniscule budget, Bill Forsyth’s second film

became a surprise hit around the world. Every character is beautifully sketched, from the teenage pastry wizard to the luckless geek dead set on hitchhiking to Caracas where women supposedly vastly outnumber men. But the tender heart of the movie is the romantic triangle between goofy dreamer Gregory (John Gordon Sinclair), female soccer star Dorothy (Dee Hepburn) and Susan, a sly pixie in a beret played by Clare Grogan, soon to be a pop star as singer of New Wave group Altered Images. Gregory’s Girl is a perfect coming-of-age comedy, blending unsentimental realism and first-crush sweetness. —J.P.

Back to the Future (1985)

Great Scott! The classic ’80s film stars Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly (even his name is fun!), who time-travels to 1955 with his eccentric scientist friend Doc Brown played by Christopher Lloyd. The film is such a good time that you can ignore some of its weirder aspects (so, Marty McFly almost has sex…with his mom?). Potential incest aside, Back to the Future is an absolute classic that spawned two sequels and was recently adapted into an incredibly popular Broadway musical. Clearly, everyone loves taking a spin in a time-traveling DeLorean. — Chris Murphy

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Another classic 80's film, high school senior Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) goes to extreme lengths to make his ditch day with his girlfriend (Mia Sara) and uptight best friend (Alan Ruck) the most magical day of their lives, full of joyrides in a Ferrari, art museums, and parade crashing. John Hughes’s love letter to Chicago is packed with quotable lines and charismatic scenes, but what really makes it a masterpiece is the pure joy of this film, a story about one friend showing another how much there is to live for. —Rebecca Ford

The Princess Bride (1987)

The adaptation of the beloved William Goldman novel has everything a nine-year-old could want from a movie. Romance! Adventure! Rodents of unusual size! And more than a few innuendos that you totally pretended to understand until realizing, on subsequent rewatches, just how little you had. A grandfather (Peter Falk) reads his grandson (a pre–Wonder Years Fred Savage) the sweet story of Buttercup (Robin Wright), Westley (Cary Elwes), who are separated when his ship is attacked by the Dread Pirate Roberts. Their multiyear journey back to each other includes a betrothal to the smarmy Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon) and a kidnapping by a rag-tag team of outlaws (Mandy Patinkin, Wallace Shawn, and André the Giant). In need of an eminently quotable postmodern love story with a happy ending? As you wish. —Natalie Jarvey

Working Girl (1988)

The opening moments of Mike Nichols’s workplace comedy—those sweeping helicopter shots of the Statue of Liberty and the Staten Island Ferry set to Carly Simon’s Oscar-winning original song “Let the River Run”—are all that’s required to sell the Cinderella story of aspiring businesswoman Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith). But there are a lot more gems to follow: Sigourney Weaver’s vampy villain as WASP-y boss Katharine Parker, Harrison Ford’s top-tier dreamboat status as Tess’s collaborator turned love interest Jack Trainer, Joan Cusack’s wacky best friend, Cyn, quipping, “Coffee, tea, me?” and, of course, the iconic—if debated—line: “I have a head for business and a bod for sin.” It's such an iconic film, it's no surprise that Selena Gomez is reportedly working on a Working Girl remake with 20th Century Fox. —S.W.

Field of Dreams (1989)

It’s not really about baseball, or cornfields, or Iowa. It’s about second chances. Field of Dreams is a story of magical realism that indulges the fantasy of a do-over. Kevin Costner’s salt-of-the-earth farmer hears an ethereal whisper that says, “If you build it, he will come.” The “who” of this is never fully specified, but he takes it to mean that he should convert a large portion of his already struggling farm into a baseball diamond. Ghosts of disgraced ballplayers appear, a reclusive author (James Earl Jones) dissolves his cynicism, a doctor who abandoned his dream of the big league (Burt Lancaster) is pulled from the past, and Costner ultimately reconnects with his own lost father in a simple game of catch. It’s rooted in fantasy, but Field of Dreams reminds us that the only way to live is to swing for the fences every time. —A.B.

Sister Act (1992)

They just don’t make ’em—that is, fizzy musical comedies about blowsy lounge singers witnessing a murder, taking refuge in a convent, and teaching its buttoned-up residents how to rock out—like they used to. Whoopi Goldberg’s so perfectly cast as nun-on-the-run Deloris Van Cartier that it’s tough to believe the role was originally intended for Bette Midler. (The fact that Goldberg can’t really sing only makes her more right for the part.) And she’s surrounded by a cast of pros—Maggie Smith, Harvey Keitel, Kathy Najimy—all elevating what could have been a forgettable bit of ’90s schlock into an endlessly rewatchable classic. Even Pope John Paul II can’t watch Deloris and her chorus without wanting to give a standing ovation. —Hillary Busis

The Sandlot (1993)

Grab your mitt and hit the field. It’s impossible not to love The Sandlot, the classic 1993 coming-of-age baseball comedy written, directed, and narrated by David Mickey Evans. Reminiscent of another beloved baseball flick, The Bad News Bears, The Sandlot follows fifth grader Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry), who recently moved to the San Fernando Valley with his widowed mother, played by Karen Allen, and new stepfather, Bill (Denis Leary). While that beginning doesn’t necessarily sound feel-good, Scotty soon makes his way to the neighborhood sandlot, playing baseball with an eclectic group of tweenage friends over one unforgettable summer. Although he’s the worst player on the team at first, Smalls winds up making lifelong friends in the sandlot, getting into plenty of mischief along the way. With a cast of talented child actors plus beloved ringers like Leary and James Earl Jones, it’s simply impossible not to crack a smile as Smalls goes from the hapless new kid in town to a star left-center outfielder, and learns important life lessons too. —C.M.

The Pelican Brief (1993)

A legal thriller that begins with hit jobs on two Supreme Court justices does not sound like warm and fuzzy viewing, but The Pelican Brief, adapted from John Grisham’s 1992 bestseller, is powered by something better than romance: young Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington, playing tender truth seekers against a rotten political core. Roberts, with a luminously vulnerable performance, is a Tulane law student whose titular theory about the assassinations catches her in the crosshairs. Washington is a hot-shot journalist, the only one left she can trust. Well-paced enough to drive a rainy-day matinee (car bombs, Mardi Gras chase scene), it’s peppered with cameos, like a baby-faced Cynthia Nixon and bad guy Stanley Tucci. Nineties nostalgia is part of the feel-good designation, but so is the arc of good over big-money evil bent on defiling the environment. If only we could be so lucky. —Laura Regensdorf

Groundhog Day (1993)

It isn’t every day that a mainstream rom-com also works as a human-rebirth allegory, distinguished by its cyclical rhythm, experimental structure, and undercurrents of Buddhist, Hindu, and Judeo-Christian beliefs and ideals. But, wait. It is every day. Because the film repeats the same 24-hour period ad infinitum—until TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) finally embraces the joys of living a life vitalized by truly loving one’s partner and spreading loving kindness. If you get to the closing snowfall scene and your heart doesn’t swell two sizes, see your cardiologist. —D.F.

Clueless (1995)

Clueless has everything a feel-good movie should have: low-stakes drama, an iconic lead character thanks to Alicia Silverstone, and an instantly recognizable soundtrack. Sure, the love story between ex-step-siblings is somewhat weird but c’mon, who could resist a baby-faced Paul Rudd?! It’s the movie that launched many questionable trends (mini backpacks and fuzzy-tipped pens!) and a slew of annoying catchphrases (“As if!”). It remains a perfect film to queue up when looking for a pick-me-up. —Kelly Butler

French Kiss (1995)

When it comes to feel-good movies, Meg Ryan is the queen: You’ve Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle. But unfortunately, one of her finest works requires a DVD player (or a VCR…if you still own one of those). In an attempt to get her longtime boyfriend back after international infidelity, plane-afraid Kate (Ryan) hops on a flight to Paris, where she meets Luc (Kevin Kline), a sleazy and debauched Frenchman. If those two stars are not enough to convince you, there’s French countryside, talk of tasty wine and cheese, and endlessly quotable dialogue. It’s a bold movie, with a hint of sophistication and lacking in pretension. —Kathleen Creedon

The Birdcage (1996)

Pleasures abound in this deliriously funny (and strangely topical!) update of La Cage aux Folles from Mike Nichols and Elaine May, which casts Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a gay couple forced back into the closet—sort of—when their son (Dan Futterman) reveals that he’s engaged to the daughter of a conservative senator. It’s a top-notch farce with quotable lines for days, as well as one of the deepest benches (Gene Hackman! Dianne Wiest! Christine Baranski! Hank Azaria, for God’s sake!) you’ll find in any ensemble comedy. It is scientifically impossible to watch this movie without smiling like a loon for more than 100 minutes—probably. (I haven’t tried, and I don’t intend to.) —H.B.

The First Wives Club (1996)

Sure, a movie about three women getting divorced doesn’t necessarily scream “feel-good.” But rest assured, The First Wives Club is an absolute riot. Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, and Bette Midler deliver pitch-perfect performances as the central trio of divorcées who team up to get revenge on their husbands for leaving them for younger women. The hijinks they come up with—particularly one that involves window-washing a sky scraper—are as crazy as they are delightful. Plus, there are great supporting turns from Sarah Jessica Parker, Elizabeth Berkley, Marcia Gay Harden, and Dame Maggie Smith, to boot. The First Wives Club is a comedy about women coming into their power and getting what they want and ends with a rip-roaring rendition of “You Don’t Own Me.” What’s not to love? — C.M.

Good Will Hunting (1997)

There’s no underdog story as heartwarming as Will Hunting’s (Matt Damon). With each visit to therapist Sean Maguire’s (Robin Williams) office, Will’s odyssey unfolds onscreen, as he sheds his tough Southie armor and evolves away from fear and insecurity, blossoming into a self-actualized young man. As Damon shared with Vanity Fair earlier this year, the genius of Robin Williams shines through at the end of the film, with an improvised line that, if you’re like me, has you sitting through the entire movie just to get to it. As you smile through salty tears at the end of Good Will Hunting, it’s enough to make you want to take a chance on yourself too. —Burake Teshome

Cinderella (1997)

The sweetest sound you’ve ever heard is Brandy and the late great Whitney Houston harmonizing together. The dynamic duo stars as the timeless princess and her fairy godmother in the beloved film adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, which aired on ABC in 1997. Not only is Cinderella an absolute delight of a movie musical, with splendid performances and a fairy tale ending, it also was groundbreaking for its implementation of nontraditional casting, with a Black princess falling for a Filipino prince (Paolo Montalban) whose parents were Whoopi Goldberg and Victor Garber. So, whenever you feel that something is impossible, go to Disney+ to remind yourself that impossible things are happening every day. – C.M.

The Parent Trap (1998)

Break out the Oreos and peanut butter. The 1998 remake of The Parent Trap stars a precocious Lindsay Lohan pulling double duty as the American Hallie and British Annie—identical twins separated at birth due to their parents’ messy divorce. They meet at summer camp, decide to swap places, and concoct a massive scheme to get their parents, Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson, back together. It’s an absolute gem of a movie with delightful supporting performances from Abbot Elementary’s Lisa Ann Walter as babysitter Chessy and Elaine Hendrix as the twins’ evil potential stepmother, Meredith Blake. Plus, there are dreamy shots of Napa and London, as well as devilish G-rated pranks. (Remember when Meredith wakes up on an air mattress in the middle of a lake?) To top it all off, The Parent Trap ends with, perhaps, the best credit sequence of all time—there’s a reason they play “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” at every wedding these days.  — C.M.

How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)

With How Stella Got Her Groove Back, the good feelings are literally in the title. The one and only Angela Bassett stars in this ’90s classic as Stella, a 40-year-old stock broker and single parent who has been single for a concerning amount of time. After seeing an ad for a two-week Jamaican vacation, Stella packs her bags and jets off to the Caribbean—only to meet and fall for Winston Shakespeare (yes, Shakespeare), a chef’s assistant 20 years her junior played by Taye Diggs. Bassett’s warmth plus Diggs’s effortless charm and their undeniable chemistry are more than enough reason to revisit How Stella Got Her Groove Back. But as a bonus, you also get to spend time with Stella’s hilarious and supportive friends, played by Whoopi Goldberg, Regina King, and the late Suzzanne Douglass. There’s never a bad time to watch Stella let her hair down and learn how to love again. —C.M.

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

The early aughts were the heyday of the teen rom-com, and with its 1999 release, I’d go as far as saying that 10 Things set the standard for all those to come. An adaptation of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, the plot is as high school as it comes: dueling sisters, a seemingly unattainable popular girl, and “fake” dating that leads to real feelings. But Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles’s performances—and sizzling chemistry—rise above the froth, and make it endlessly rewatchable. Throw in a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a killer soundtrack, peak ’90s outfit inspiration, and you have the makings of movie magic. Plus, only Ledger could melt hearts with an inherently cringey public performance of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.” —Jaime Archer

Galaxy Quest (1999)

I was not a Trekkie, but I am eternally here for this smart send-up of Star Trek culture in which the washed-up actors from a series called Galaxy Quest get swept out of their dismal circuit of fan conferences and local ribbon-cuttings into a real-life adventure with a bunch of extraterrestrial visitors who worship the show’s fictional characters more than any earthling ever could. Alan Rickman lends Shakespearean pathos to his Spock-inflected Dr. Lazarus, while Sigourney Weaver (who knows from aliens!) makes comedy gold out of her one job: translating the crew’s orders to the ship’s computer. There’s even an architectural cameo by that paragon of LA modernism, the Stahl House. (Tim Allen wakes up in the living room, desperately hungover.) It’s part parody, part adoring homage, and all a reminder of why we love television…and the movies. —Radhika Jones

Spirited Away (2001)

Hayao Miyazaki’s sweeping epic follows Chihiro, a spunky tween girl whose big move to a new neighborhood is interrupted when her family happens upon a quiet, quirky town that, come nightfall, bursts into a bustling spirit-world vacation spot. When Chihiro’s parents are turned into pigs by the wicked Yubaba, she’s left with no choice but to scrub floors in the witch’s bathhouse. Has being 10 years old ever been more difficult? Inside Miyazaki’s breathtaking animation and set to Joe Hisaishi’s aching score, Chihiro tangles with river spirits, learns the power of true friendship, and—in one of modern cinema’s most relatable moments—stuffs her face with rice balls while sobbing. You can’t free your parents from an evil witch’s curse on an empty stomach. —Mark Alan Burger

Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

In this charmer directed by Gurinder Chadha, Jess Bhamra, an Indian teen growing up in Hounslow, defies her parents to play on the local girls’ soccer team with new pal Jules (Keira Knightley). Goals are scored, the cute coach (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is crushed on, dreams are fulfilled, and the power of sport to foster camaraderie and excellence is affirmed. You haven’t seen team spirit until you’ve seen the Hounslow Harriers help Jess change into a sari in the locker room postgame so she can dash back to her sister’s wedding. And if Ted Lasso had watched Jules’s dad explain the offside rule using table condiments, it wouldn’t have taken him three seasons to figure it out. —R.J.

Before Sunset (2004)

For all the talk of romance across Richard Linklater’s lovelorn trilogy about the decades-long courtship of Ethan Hawke’s Jesse and Julie Delpy’s Céline, these movies don’t always inspire sunny feelings. The first installment, 1995’s Before Sunrise, in which the young couple meets on a train bound for different parts of Europe, ends on a wistfully mournful note—it’s unlikely that these two will ever meet again; 2013’s Before Midnight centers on the often unsexy realities of lifetime commitment, ending on a tense argument between Jesse and Céline. But sandwiched in between is Before Sunset, an 80-minute nostalgia trip that reconnects the onetime lovers after nine years apart. It culminates in one of the most deceptively carefree but absolutely consequential endings of all time. Reminiscing to Nina Simone’s “Just in Time,” Céline warns Jesse: “Baby, you’re gonna miss that plane.” Hawke’s cheerful delivery of “I know” remains one of the most genuinely hopeful line readings ever committed to screen. —S.W.

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Few things can combat the modern ailments of being chronically online, but Joe Wright’s 2005 take on Pride & Prejudice offers a near perfect escape. Complete with rich cinematography and exquisite performances, the slow-burn chemistry between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy—portrayed by Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen—is enough to cure any bad day. As Jane Austen once wrote, “There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort.” —Sarah Morse

Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

Even as a kid, Keke Palmer exuded charisma and confidence, and her performance as 11-year-old Akeelah Anderson is one of the joys of this underappreciated gem. The little girl is a troublemaker, headstrong, and frequently absent from school. Her widowed mother (Angela Bassett) is doing her best, but struggling to give her daughter the support she needs. When Akeelah displays an aptitude for spelling, she becomes an unexpectedly formidable contender on the spelling bee circuit. This could be the gateway to a better life, but competing at the national level requires training, focus, and money—the middle one she has, the other two she doesn’t. Laurence Fishburne plays a grieving professor who becomes her coach, but as her mother tells her: “If you just look around, you’ve got 50,000 coaches.” Akeelah’s triumphs lift up her entire community, and seemingly everyone in the neighborhood rallies to help her fulfill her promise. —A.B.

Stick It (2006)

Do you miss the rush of watching Simone Biles dominate at the Olympics? Well, there’s a cinematic way to scratch that itch. Stick It (2006) follows 17-year-old Haley Graham (Missy Peregrym) who, after a run-in with the law, is forced to dive back into the world of elite gymnastics to avoid further punishment. A former world-class gymnast, Hayley inspires her fellow gymnasts to rail against the sport’s unfair and antiquated judging practices and stand up for themselves. Stick It marks the directorial debut of Jessica Bendinger, who wrote the flipping fantastic Bring It On, and shares a lot of the same DNA as the cheerleading comedy—from the impressive stunts to the focus on female rivalry and friendship. It also features a surprisingly funny and uncharacteristic turn from Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, who plays Burt Vickerman, Hayley’s gymnastics coach. The flips plus the camaraderie you’ll feel as you watch talented teen girls band together and stick it to the man will leave you feeling like a perfect 10. —C.M.

The Great Debaters (2007)

Denzel Washington stars as Melvin B. Tolson, a professor and debate coach in this heartwarming and inspiring film. Based on a true story, The Great Debaters follows Thompson’s efforts to start a debate team at Wiley College, a historically Black college in 1930s Texas. In the face of Jim Crow segregation, Tolson is able to persevere and lead his debate team to face off against the reigning national debate champions, Harvard University, in a thrilling and engrossing competition. Along with Washington’s formidable performance, The Great Debaters stars Forest Whitaker as theologian and educator James L. Farmer, Denzel Whitaker as his son, James L. Farmer Jr.—the student president of the debate team—and Jurnee Smollett as Samantha Booke, the first female member of the team. Watching the talented yet underestimated students from Wiley College defy the odds is enough to make anyone who’s ever been an underdog feel good. —C.M.

Mamma Mia! (2008)

My, my, how could I forget you? The film adaptation of ABBA’s smash-hit musical, starring Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, and Meryl Streep, couldn’t be more feel-good if it tried. I dare you not to sing along with Streep as she belts out “The Winner Takes It All” while trying to determine if Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, or Stellan Skarsgård fathered her child. Try not to get up and boogie to “Dancing Queen” as Streep leads a procession of Greek townspeople through the fictional island of Kalokairi. Years later, the cast can’t stop talking about how much fun they had making it. Even better: If you happen to leave Mamma Mia! wanting more (which you will), you can watch the equally delightful, perfectly titled sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. —C.M.

Sing Street (2016)

Are you one of those people who are into love, dreams, Irish people, yearning, rebellion, tough-loving big brothers, nostalgia, creativity, teenagers pouring their hearts out on acoustic guitars, music in general, and ’80s pop in particular with all the cool eye makeup and overcoats? Sing Street was directed and cowritten by John Carney, who gave the world the Oscar-winning movie about buskers in love, Once. This one’s just as pure of heart and just as full of transportive original music, but I’d argue that it’s also—what’s the word?—better. It’s 1985, in inner city Dublin. Young Conor is thrust into a Christian school full of bullies and run by a creepy totalitarian named Brother Baxter. Over the course of the movie, Conor starts a band to impress an aspiring model named Raphina, casts her in his new band’s music videos, finds his voice in all senses of the word, and imagines a future that even we are not quite sure is possible. Is there sad stuff in the movie? Yes—did you not hear me say it’s about Irish people? But it’s just so damn moving and funny and true that it sticks in your head like a great pop song. —Jeff Giles

Lady Bird (2017)

The movie that introduced the world to director Greta Gerwig perfectly captures the agony and ecstasy of being an adolescent girl. Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) dreams of breaking free from life in small-town Sacramento, where she regularly clashes with her flinty mother (Laurie Metcalf) and stumbles through romances with Lucas Hedges’s Danny and Timothée Chalamet’s Kyle. Lady Bird is flawed, yes, but also relatable. And the movie’s more melancholy moments are lightened by Gerwig’s delightful wordplay and a killer soundtrack. If only growing up in real life was imbued with this much whimsy. —N.J.

Coco (2017)

Is a feel-good movie still a feel-good movie if it reliably makes you cry every single time? I vote yes, at least if we’re talking about the kaleidoscopic fantasy that just might be Pixar’s last true masterpiece. Our hero is young Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), who stumbles into the Land of the Dead one fateful Día de Muertos and unwittingly sets off on a quest to right an ancient family wrong. The animation is beautiful; the music is compelling; the jokes are really, really funny, particularly when they involve the self-important ghost of Frida Kahlo. And yes: The emotional climax, when it comes, is shattering enough to melt even the iciest adult heart. (Really—when the movie first came out, it became a whole thing!) You’ll weep, and it’ll feel great. Also, you can always watch cast member Gabriel Garcia Bernal's sweet and touching performance of Coco's Oscar-winning song “Remember Me” at the Academy Awards to keep those tear ducts moist. —H.B.

Yesterday (2019)

Are your troubles here to stay? Do you need a place to hide away? Just turn on this movie, in which a struggling singer-songwriter named Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) gets in an accident, hits his head, and wakes up in a world where the Beatles never existed but miraculously he can remember their songs. And remember them he does—writes them down, performs them, and rides their greatness to global fame. Like the Beatles songbook, this movie (written by Richard Curtis and directed by Danny Boyle) contains multitudes: love, via a winning performance by Lily James; comic relief (Kate McKinnon as Jack’s deliciously crass manager; Ed Sheeran as himself); surreality (the premise!); the infectious joy of music; and the glory of finding someone who’ll still need you when you’re 64. —R.J.

Booksmart (2019)

“Nobody knows we’re fun,” Beanie Feldstein’s Molly laments at the start of Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, which devotes the remainder of its runtime to proving just how freewheeling straight-laced teens Molly and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) can get before high school graduation. During their night of debauchery, the studious best friends take drugs with Billie Lourd’s Gigi, then trip at a murder-mystery dinner party hosted by the theater kids (Noah Galvin and Austin Crute) before finally getting some one-on-one time with their crushes, both of which pan out in expected fashion. By the next morning, Molly must break Amy out of jail so that they can make it to their graduation—where one of them is delivering the valedictorian speech—their mission to make some trouble more than accomplished. —S.W.

In the Heights (2021)

Though its theatrical release was unfortunately marred by the pandemic, In the Heights wound up being the right movie at the right time. Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning musical hit theaters (and the service then known as HBO Max) in June of 2021, just as hordes of newly vaccinated, entertainment-starved people were ready to finally leave their homes. A joyous musical about the pleasures (and occasional pains) of living in a vibrant, tight-knit community was just the ticket. But even without that context, In the Heights has myriad pleasures—particularly a showstopping aquatic rendition of “96,000,” and Nina (Leslie Grace) and Benny’s (Corey Hawkins) gravity-defying performance of “When the Sun Goes Down.” Speaking of defying gravity, Chu is helming the Wicked movies, so check out In The Heights for an idea of what his Oz might feel like. —H.B.

CODA (2021)

A feel-good tear-jerker, Coda was designed in a lab to pluck at your heartstrings. Written and directed by Oscar winner Sian Heder, CODA follows Ruby Rossi (Emilia Jones), the child of deaf adults (a.k.a. a CODA) and only hearing member of her family. When Ruby discovers a love of music and singing, she is instantly thrust into tricky territory, having to navigate the pursuit of her passion with helping her family’s struggling fishing business. Ruby’s protective but loving parents, Jackie and Frank, are played by Oscar winner Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur, who won an Oscar of his own for his role, becoming the first deaf man to do so. With emotionally moving family scenes and toe-tapping musical moments, CODA is sure to put a smile on your face and a song in your heart. —C.M.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Only a truly feel-good movie could win like, all the Oscars without prompting a giant backlash. But the knives never came out for Everything Everywhere, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s dizzyingly creative action dramedy. Whether she’s playing a frumpy laundromat owner, a poised international movie star, or a lovelorn woman with hot dog fingers, Michelle Yeoh effortlessly grounds even the movie’s wackiest diversions. And she’s got a perfect foil in her fellow Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan, whose interdimensionally loyal Waymond is the movie’s unquestionable heart. It’s a wild, unforgettable ride—such a crowd-pleaser that even in another life, we would’ve really liked just doing laundry and taxes with this movie playing in the background. —H.B.

Turning Red (2022)

Thanks to Disney’s decision to skip a theatrical release and instead drop Turning Red on its streaming platform, this remains one of Pixar’s most underrated films to date. First-time feature director Domee Shi centers her frank coming-of-age tale on 13-year-old Mei (Rosalie Chiang), whose already tenuous existence as an excitable middle schooler gets irreversibly complicated by the arrival of puberty. While typical embarrassments like cystic acne and tampon application are seismic enough, Mei’s ascent into womanhood gets even more complicated when she awakes one morning in the form of a giant red panda. The ensuing adventure, set in 2002 Toronto, contains period-accurate boy band pop from Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, as well as Sandra Oh’s standout voice performance as Mei’s mother, Ming. —S.W.

Rye Lane (2023)

Looking for a joyful, inventive romcom set in contemporary black Britain? Rye Lane suggests you should be. Raine Allen-Miller’s debut film takes us on an emotional and cinematic journey, though it unfurls over the course of a single day. Accountant Dom (Industry’s David Jonsson) and aspiring designer Yas (Vivian Oparah) meet-cute in the gender-neutral bathroom of an art gallery, where Dom is sobbing over a breakup. Yas is similarly heartbroken, and the two soon find themselves wandering South London together. They order burritos from a food stall called Love Quac'tually (a hat tip to Brit romcom guru Richard Curtis), swap dating flashbacks, untangle their emotional messes, and—ever so sweetly—fall in love. —J.P.

Barbie (2023)

It’s a Barbie world. With over a billion dollars at the box office, most people know that Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is a delight. From the opening sequence where we’re introduced to the perfect pink paradise that is Barbieland to that first glimpse of the beach where Kens frolic, it’s clear that we’re in for a good time. Even though Margot Robbie’s stereotypical Barbie spends most of the film in a depression spiral, there’s still plenty of fun to be had, mostly by Ryan Gosling and his band of Ken bros. Time will tell if the Oscars find Gosling’s Oscar-nominated performance as much fun as the rest of the world did.—C.M.

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